Eric Hamilton Wilson (born November 24, 1940) is a

Canadian author This is a list of Canadian literary figures, including poets, novelists, children's writers, essayists, and scholars. __NOTOC__ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X ...

young adult fiction Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

. His detective novels follow the adventures of Tom and Liz Austen, young sleuths in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Wilson has taught elementary and secondary school in

White Rock, British Columbia White Rock is a city in British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It borders Semiahmoo Bay to the south and is surrounded on three sides by Surrey. To the southeast across a footbridge lies the ...

, and has a B.A. from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

. In 1990, he won the

Arthur Ellis Award The Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence, formerly known as the Arthur Ellis Awards, are a group of Canadians, Canadian literary awards, presented annually by the Crime Writers of Canada for the best Canadian crime and Mystery fiction, mys ...

for Lifetime Achievement from The

Crime Writers of Canada {{primary sources, date=January 2015 Crime Writers of Canada (CWC) is a national, non-profit organization, founded in 1982 by Derrick Murdock and other professional crime writers. Its mandate is to promote crime writing in Canada and to raise the p ...

The ''Tom and Liz Austen'' mysteries

Originally a

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

teacher, Wilson's teaching experiences pushed him into writing. Frustrated by some of his slow learners rejecting books as being too boring, Wilson decided to try writing stories himself. His first short stories were popular with his students, but publishers rejected his first five manuscripts. Wilson developed a formula based on his eighth-grade students' preferences. His books would be short, should always start with a dramatic opening scene, be dialogue heavy, and have abundant "

cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...

" moments. Wilson's books have similarities to the ''

Hardy Boys The Hardy Boys, brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, are fictional characters who appear in several mystery series for children and teens. The series revolves around teenagers who are amateur sleuths, solving cases that stumped their adult counterpa ...

'' adventure series, but also attempt the reader participation of "true" mysteries, such as those by

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...

. Wilson prominently features Canadian settings and their history in his novels. He also uses topical themes, such as environmentalism, child safety, and drug abuse, to allow teachers a springboard for classroom discussion. Criticism of Wilson's writing includes his use of improbable plotlines and somewhat stilted

dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literary and theatrical form that depicts such an exchange. As a philosophical or didactic device, it is c ...

. The ''Tom and Liz Austen'' books have won several Canadian book world recognitions, including the Crime Writers of Canada Chairman's Award, and the Canadian Booksellers Association's Author of the Year Award in 1993. Wilson currently lives in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

Bibliography

Tom & Liz Austen Mysteries

# ''Murder on '

The Canadian ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

() - 1976 # ''Vancouver Nightmare'' - 1978 # ''Terror in Winnipeg'' - 1979 # ''The Lost Treasure of Casa Loma'' - 1980 # ''The Ghost of Lunenburg Manor'' - 1982 # ''Disneyland Hostage'' - 1982 # ''The Kootenay Kidnapper'' - 1984 # ''Vampires of Ottawa'' - 1984 # ''Spirit in the Rainforest'' - 1985 # ''The Green Gables Detective'' - 1988 # ''Code Red At the Supermall'' - 1989 # ''Cold Midnight in Old Quebec'' - 1989 # ''The Ice Diamond Quest'' - 1990 # ''The Prairie Dog Conspiracy'' - 1993 # ''The St. Andrews Werewolf'' - 1993 # ''The Case of the Golden Boy'' - 1994 # ''The Inuk Mountie Adventure'' - 1996 # ''Escape from Big Muddy'' - 1997 # ''The Emily Carr Mystery'' - 2001 # ''Red River Ransom'' - 2006

Other novels

* ''Summer of Discovery'' (1984) * ''The Mask of the Raven'' aka ''The Unmasking of Ksan'' (1986)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Eric 1940 births Canadian children's writers Living people University of British Columbia alumni Writers from Ottawa Writers from Victoria, British Columbia