Created by Michael Lennox and George Zuckerman Newshawk MARY ROBERTS works the Québec City crime beat in the Duplessis-era Whispering City, an obscure but surprisingly strong noir from 1947. The fatal car crash of a long-retired actress intrigues intrepid reporter Roberts, sporting a rather nifty tam, and she decides to investigate further. She soon discovers … Continue reading Mary Roberts (Whispering City/La forteresse)
Tag: Quebec
Dale Hunter
Created by Delvin R. Chatterson Trouble is his business? Not exactly. It's just that successful young Montreal entrepreneur DALE HUNTER just can't seem to stay out of trouble, in this engaging non-P.I. series of thrillers by Del Chatterson. Chatterson, it should be noted, writes about business like Dick Francis wrote about horses. When we meet … Continue reading Dale Hunter
Colm Steiner
Created by Nicholas Wagner "When night fell, they burned a campfire and ate a kangaroo." A hard-drinking, hard-loving, hard-edged hard man for hire, COLM STEINER works for the London-based Enquiry Service in the years following World War I, doing whatever needs to be done: find a missing person, qualm a gang war, track down a … Continue reading Colm Steiner
Orson Carver
Created by Gary Coffin "I have no interest to dredge up my history. It's over now. I did their crime, and I did the time. All I want is to forget my past and find some semblance of a life." — Mercy Lake "It's a rough town." — All That We Lost Twenty years as … Continue reading Orson Carver
Deirdre O’Hara
Created by Maurice Gagnon(1912-99) DEIRDRE O'HARA is a "vibrant young Montreal lawyer and highly-specialized marine insurance investigator" who appears in three novels (labelled as "The Deirdre O'Hara Files")and at least one short story, by French-Canadian author Maurice Gagnon. She has a Siberian husky called Red Devil, and lives on a yacht, The Siren, that she keeps … Continue reading Deirdre O’Hara
Albert Brien
Created by Pierre Saurel Pseudonym of Pierre Daignault Other pseudonyms include Jacques Régent, Hercule Valjean, Paul Verchères (1925-2003) A popular Montréal P.I., ALBERT BRIEN, appeared in an astonishing number of stories, collectively known as Les Aventures Policiéres d'Albert Brien, created--but not all written--by Pierre Saurel, starting way back in 1944. Albert is a celebrated Montréal … Continue reading Albert Brien
Robert Brien
Created by Pierre Saurel Pseudonym of Pierre Daignault Other pseudonyms include Jacques Régent, Hercule Valjean, Paul Verchères (1925-2003) When his astonishing run (over a thousand stories over twenty-odd years) featuring Montreal private eye Albert Brien (“Le détective national des Canadiens française!") was drawing to a close in 1966, Québecois pulpster Pierre Saurel decided to spin … Continue reading Robert Brien
Jack Carter (Les aventures tumultueuses de Jack Carter)
Created by Sylvie Lussier and Pierre Poirier Non-Montrealers may think the lead character in the Radio-Canada private eye TV show Les aventures tumultueuses de Jack Carter is some sort of hands-across-the-water homage to Michael Caine's character in the iconic 1971 Brit noir Get Carter. But they'd be wrong. It's all given away by numerous publicity stills which … Continue reading Jack Carter (Les aventures tumultueuses de Jack Carter)
Eugène Duchamp
Created by Marie-Ève Bourassa Pas pire. Pas pire... In her first foray into crime fiction, Marie-Eve Bourassa brings it on home with Red Light: Adieuu, Miognonne (2016), scoring an Arthur Ellis for Best French novel and -- even better -- introducing an intriguing new private eye to Montreal's ranks. It's the 1920s, and former cop, … Continue reading Eugène Duchamp
Bill Yates
Created by Malcolm Douglas Pseudonym of Douglas Sanderson Other pseudonyms include Martin Brett (1922- 2002) At first I thought I'd discovered a long-lost Montreal eye here. And in a way I have. And in a way I haven't. BILL YATES is actually just Douglas Sanderson's Mike Garfin with a different name, released by another publisher … Continue reading Bill Yates