It’s not a punchline - it was the scene at Toronto’s Dora Keogh Pub last week for the launch of Giles Blunt’s new novel, Crime Machine. Fans of Giles’ John Cardinal series will be happy to know that after writing two non-series books, Breaking Lorca and No Such Creature, Giles is taking us back to Algonquin Bay and the now widowed Cardinal.
For those of you who might be new to the series, the fictional Algonquin Bay is based on the Northern Ontario town of North Bay, where Giles grew up. And while he hasn’t lived there since he was a teenager, it seems that he is still well known. A few years ago, a letter addressed to John Cardinal in “Algonquin Bay” was sent by a fan all the way from France. Through luck and ingenuity on the part of Canada Post, it reached Giles by way of his sister, who was still living in North Bay, Ontario!
After a wonderful reading, in which I learned that Giles can affect a pretty mean Russian accent, he was joined on stage by fellow crime-writer Linwood Barclay. The two crime-writers also talked about plotting and structure, and how much, as the author, one should know about the book before writing. “I like to be surprised while I’m writing so I don’t get bored.” Linwood explained. It’s a sentiment that Giles agreed with - knowing somewhat where you want to end up when you start is a good thing, but neither of these authors are “plotters”.
Linwood also asked Giles about his influences in the genre of crime writing. Without hesitation, Giles cited Graeme Greene as his biggest influence, followed by Ross MacDonald. Linwood agreed enthusiastically with these choices. Giles rounded out his list with Patricia Highsmith and Ruth Rendell.
After the official Q&A was over, both authors hung around the Dora Keogh Pub to chat with their guests and sign books.
If you’d like to catch these authors on tour this Fall, you can find a list of Giles Blunt’s appearances here, and Linwood Barclay’s appearances here.
