Created by Eric Wright (1929-2015) JOE BARLEY is a part-time professor teaching English literature at Hambleton, a small community college in Toronto, while also occasionally moonlighting as a "watcher" by a local security company. Subplots involving the college and his sometimes-messy personal life with longtime partner Carole crop up frequently in this smart, light-hearted … Continue reading Joe Barley
Tag: Toronto
Lucy Trimble (aka Lucy Brenner)
Created by Eric Wright (1929-2015) LUCY TRIMBLE's a forty-something, part-time librarian and owner of a bed-and-breakfast, living out the last days of a crumbling marriage, in the sleepy Ontario town of Longborough, somewhere 150 miles or so east of Toronto. So how does she end up running a Toronto detective agency? Seems she’s the sole … Continue reading Lucy Trimble (aka Lucy Brenner)
From Spenser to Yeats: Jane Yeats, That Is
Feminism's Version of the Hard-boiled Sleuth is on the Wagon and Rides a Harley An Essay by Jill Edmondson Start with one serving of fingertips severed during a rather unfortunate version of Miller time. Blend in a blinding hangover buttressed by a British beer. Add the roar of a Harley drowning out the raspy hacking … Continue reading From Spenser to Yeats: Jane Yeats, That Is
Jane Yeats
Created by Liz Brady "I didn't have my life threatened. I merely had the shit beaten out of me." -- Jane. One tough cookie in Sudden Blow Toronto's bad girl dick JANE YEATS may smoke too much and drink too much beer and may even get a little mouthy at times, but she's more than … Continue reading Jane Yeats
Ontari-ari-ari-o Eyes
Eyes from Canada's Second Largest Province Ontario Benny Cooperman by Howard Engel (Grantham, a thinly disguised St. Catharines) Joe Garrett by Alison Bruce Max Dexter by Chris Laing Kate Garrett & Jake Carmedy by Alison Bruce Terry Lane from Taking the Falls (Niagara Falls) D.B. Murphy by Richard J. Thomas (Owen Sound) John Swan by … Continue reading Ontari-ari-ari-o Eyes
Sasha Jackson
Created by Jill Edmondson It took a surprisingly long time for Toronto to come up with its own street-savvy female gumshoe (do vampire hunters really count?), but SASHA JACKSON is beginning to look like she was worth the wait. Crafty, tough, and tenacious, and not above taking an occasional break every to knock back a … Continue reading Sasha Jackson
John Kenneth Galbraith Jantarro
Created by Simon Ritchie Pseudonym of Simon Fodden ''And then I saw, nursing at her breast, the Magnum. Squat and ugly...it offered its black mouth to her, hungry beyond all possibility of feeding." -- Yikes! (The Hollow Woman) Toronto insurance investigator JOHN KENNETH GALBRATH JANTARRO (now there's a world-class monicker!) lost a hand and part … Continue reading John Kenneth Galbraith Jantarro
“A Hard-Boiled Christmas”
By Stephen Reid "I refuse to don this ridiculous costume.." Albert sucked in his belly and swelled up like a rooster. "A saint I ain't, Mac. I am a highly regarded thespian." "You're a highly regarded has-been, is what you are, Albert. Now sit down and try those boots on." I had to pick the … Continue reading “A Hard-Boiled Christmas”
“Mac” MacCauley
Created by Stephen Reid (1950-2018) "After fifteen years as a private investigator -- the last ten as a practising drunk --I had lost my license twice and my self-respect more times than I could count. The chances of me ever regaining either were between zero and entropy." That's how long-past-his-prime P.I. "MAC" MacCAULEY sums up … Continue reading “Mac” MacCauley
Michael Devitt & Christina Towne (Two of Diamonds)
Created by Keith Johnson Once upon a time, there was a Canadian television show (syndicated in the U.S.) called Diamonds (1987-89), that asked us to go all meta, and imagine two television actors, MICHAEL DEVITT and CHRISTINA TOWNE, who once starred together on a hit television show called "Two of Diamonds," about two private eyes married … Continue reading Michael Devitt & Christina Towne (Two of Diamonds)