Eric Wright (May 4, 1929 – October 9, 2015) was a Canadian writer of mystery novels.

Life

Wright was born on Kennington Park Road, in South London, England. He was the son of seamstress Caroline (Curnow), and carter Joseph Wright.Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada. University of Toronto Press, 2002. Wright was born into a large, poor family of ten children. After growing up in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

, he immigrated to Canada in 1951. Wright attended the University of Manitoba, completing his B.A. in 1957, and received his M.A. in 1963 from the University of Toronto.The Concise Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature. Oxford University Press Canada, 2001. Until his retirement Wright taught English at Ryerson Polytechnic University, Toronto (1958–89). Wright most recently lived in Toronto, Ontario with his wife and two daughters. Eric Wright was the author of four mystery/detective series—the Inspector Charlie Salter Mysteries, the Lucy Trimble Brenner Mysteries, the Mel Pickett Mysteries, and the Joe Barley Mysteries—as well as a memoir ''Always Give a Penny to a Blind Man'' which covers most of Wright's life from when he was a child growing up poor in working-class London through his immigration to Canada and the beginning of his university attendance. It is said that his "early life experiences contributed to his...gift for fiction". Over the years Wright has built up an international reputation among mystery lovers. Wright also wrote two stand-alone novels, ''Moodie's Tale'' and ''Finding Home'', the novella "Dempsey's Lodge", and a short story, "Twins". Wright is best known for his series of police procedurals featuring Metropolitan Toronto police inspector Charlie Salter. The Charlie Salter Mysteries are "noteworthy for Wright's lucid and agreeably laconic style". The first Charlie Salter book, ''The Night the Gods Smiled'', 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 ...

, the John Creasey Award, and the

City of Toronto Book Award The Toronto Book Awards are Canadian literary awards, presented annually by the City of Toronto government The municipal government of Toronto ( incorporated as the City of Toronto) is the local government responsible for administering the city ...

. Wright's books won numerous other awards over the years. Four of his novels were awarded the

for Best Crime Novel. Among them, ''The Night the Gods Smiled'' also received the 1984

, and Britain's John Creasy Memorial Award for best crime drama. The Inspector Charlie Salter Mysteries ''Smoke Detector'' and ''Death in the Old Country'' and the Joe Barley Mystery ''The Kidnapping of Rosie Dawn'' also received the Arthur Ellis Award. In 1998, Wright received the Derrick Murdoch Award for lifetime contributions to Canadian crime writing. ''The Kidnapping of Rosie Dawn'' went on to be nominated for an

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

. In a book review of Wright's novel ''Moodie's Tale'', Wright was described as having "created a protagonist who can conduct the reader through the convoluted maze of academic life". ''Moodie's Tale'' (1994) follows the adventurous career of a young Cambridge graduate with an M.A. from Simcoe University. It has been said that "it would not be all that surprising… if Moodie's Tale became an underground handbook for anyone contemplating—or currently enmeshed in – an academic career". On October 9, 2015, Wright died of kidney cancer at the age of 86. In the fall of 2015 Wright was notified that he had been selected for the Crime Writers of Canada Grand Master Award. This was awarded posthumously in May 2016.

Bibliography

Charlie Salter Mysteries

* ''The Night the Gods Smiled'' (1984) * ''Smoke Detector'' (1984) * ''Death in the Old Country'' (1985) * ''The Man Who Changed His Name,'' also published as ''A Single Death'' (1986) * ''A Body Surrounded by Water'' (1987) * ''A Question of Murder'' (1988) * ''A Sensitive Case'' (1990) * ''Final Cut'' (1991) * ''A Fine Italian Hand'' (1991) * ''Death by Degrees'' (1993) * ''The Last Hand'' (2001)

Lucy Trimble Brenner Mysteries

* ''Death of a Sunday Writer'' (1996) Dundurn Press *''Death on the Rocks'' (1999) Dundurn Press

Mel Pickett Mysteries

*''Buried in Stone'' (1996) *''Death of A Hired Man'' (2001)

Joe Barley Mysteries

* ''The Kidnapping of Rosie Dawn'' (2000) * ''The Hemingway Caper'' (2003) Dundurn Press * ''A Likely Story'' (2010)

Memoirs

* ''Always Give a Penny to a Blind Man'' (1999)

Fiction

* ''The Land Mine'' Cormorant Books

Other

* ''A Killing Climate, Collected Short Mysteries'' ( Crippen & Landru, 2003) * ''Moodie's Tale'' (1994) * ''Twins'' (2001) * ''Finding Home'' (2007) * ''Dempsey's Lodge'' (2013)

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Eric 1929 births 2015 deaths Canadian mystery writers University of Toronto alumni Barry Award winners English emigrants to Canada 21st-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian male writers Writers from London 21st-century English writers 20th-century English writers 21st-century Canadian male writers Canadian male novelists