Crime Writer Margot Kinberg

Canada’s British Columbia is a beautiful province. It’s got gorgeous seascapes, ports, mountains, forests, a rich history, and the kind of geography and climate that welcome both summer enthusiasts and winter sports fans. But that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. Like anywhere else, British Columbia has its share of crime. Well, at least it does in crime fiction. Here are just a few examples to show you what I mean.

William Deverell’s Arthur Beauchamp is a former attorney who worked for years in Vancouver. When he retired, he decided to move from the city to Garibaldi Island, where he was hoping to make a new, quiet life for himself. Such was not to be, though, and he was drawn back into the legal world when his former colleagues asked him to represent one of their clients. Beauchamp does make the new life he promised himself, but his legendary courtroom skills have not been forgotten. He’s often pulled away from the island to work on cases in Vancouver and in other Canadian places as well. These novels don’t just tell legal stories; they also show the reader what life in British Columbia is like.

As L.R. Wright ‘s The Suspect begins, eighty-year-old George Wilcox has just murdered eighty-five-year-old Carlyle Burke. He cleans up as best he can, then leaves and later reports the crime. RCMP Staff Sergeant Karl Alberg begins the investigation. At first, evidence suggests the killer might have been an itinerant fisherman who goes door to door to sell his catch. But soon enough, that possibility is disproved. The small town of Sechelt, British Columbia, is rocked by the murder, especially since Burke had lived there for years. Little by little, Alberg begins to suspect that Wilcox is the killer. The problem is that there seems no motive. Wilcox admits he and Burke didn’t like each other, but that’s no reason to commit murder. As the novel goes on, we gradually learn about what led to Burke’s death. It’s an interesting variation on the ‘inverted’ mystery.

One of Vicki Delany’s series features Constable Moonlight ‘Maggie’ Smith, who lives and works in the small town of Trafalgar, British Columbia. As the series begins, she’s just joined the local police department when one night, she stumbles upon the body of a developer who wants to build a resort in the area. As you can imagine, this is controversial, so someone opposed to the resort could be the killer. But there’s also the victim’s personal life to consider, and there are some suspects there, too. It’s not an easy case, and Maggie ends up facing real danger as she and her boss, Sergeant Frank Winter, investigate. As the series goes on, Maggie becomes more comfortable in her police role, and she learns to balance what she needs to do professionally with her feelings about the people of Trafalgar, many of whom she knows.

In Seán Haldane The Devil’s Making, we meet Chad Hobbes. It’s 1868, and he’s recently taken his degree in Jurisprudence from Oxford. He wants to see a bit of the world before he finds a ‘proper wife’ and settles down. So, armed with a letter of introduction to the Governor, he makes the trip from England to Victoria, British Columbia. There, he’s given the title of Constable. The job mostly consists of settling drunken fights and occasionally clearing out the local places where prostitutes ply their trade. Then, the body of Richard McCrory, an American who billed himself as an ‘alienist’ – a psychiatrist in the days before psychiatry was the profession it is today – is discovered. At first, the case seems easy. McCrory had been involved with Lukswaas, a member of the Tsimshian people. Her partner Wildazap is one of the leaders of the Tsimshian people; it’s quite possible he is the murderer. But Luskwaas says that Wildazap is innocent. So, Hobbes keeps looking for answers, and he finds this case a lot more complex than he thought.

And then there’s Sam Wiebe’s Vancouver-based PI Dave Wakeland series. These are gritty, noir stories that explore Vancouver’s worst sides. Wakeland gets involved in some very difficult, dangerous cases, and deals with the seamy side of life in the city. For example, in Invisible Dead, he is hired to find the murderer of a sex worked named Chelsea Loam. As he searches for the truth, he deals with convicted killers, drug users, and gang members. Wakeman’s work takes a toll on him, and he’s hardly a perfect person. At the same time, though, he wants justice, whatever that is, for the victims whose murders he investigates. And in his own way, he’s trying to make the city a better place.

See what I mean? British Columbia is a beautiful province with a lot to offer. It’s got spectacular views, world-class dining, music, and culture, and more. Like murder.

ps Thanks to hellobc.com for the lovely photo!

*NOTE: The title of this post is the title of a song by Glen Robertson.