William Ian Hamilton (born May 24, 1946) is a Canadian mystery writer. A former journalist and civil servant, he has had his work published in ''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian perspe ...

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Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

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Regina Leader-Post The ''Regina Leader-Post'' is the daily newspaper of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and a member of the Postmedia Network. Founding The newspaper was first published as ''The Leader'' in 1883 by Nicholas Flood Davin, soon after Edgar Dewdney, Li ...

'', the ''

Calgary Albertan The ''Calgary Sun'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is owned by Postmedia. First published in 1980, the tabloid-format daily replaced the long-running tabloid-size newspaper ''The Albertan'' soon after it was acq ...

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Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...

''. Hamilton is the author of the Ava Lee crime/mystery series. Ava Lee is a Chinese-Canadian forensic accountant who chases massive bad debts for a living. There are 13 books in the series as of late 2020, and they have won several awards.

Early life and career

Hamilton was born in Chirk, Wales, in 1946. His early education was in Scotland, and the balance and majority in Canada. He started his career as a journalist in Regina with the ''

Leader-Post The ''Regina Leader-Post'' is the daily newspaper of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and a member of the Postmedia Network. Founding The newspaper was first published as ''The Leader'' in 1883 by Nicholas Flood Davin, soon after Edgar Dewdney, Lie ...

'', and then worked at the ''Calgary Albertan'' and ''

'' before joining the Canadian government organization The Company of Young Canadians as Director of Communications. From there he worked at Information Canada (Director of Regional Operations), Consumer and Corporate Affairs (Regional Director for Ontario, Director of Communications), Fisheries and Oceans (Director-General of Communications and Policy Development), and External Affairs (Canadian Consul and Trade Commissioner for New England). He left the government to go into business, and ran several companies including The Rhyn Company, Seafood Selections and The All Natural Seafood Company. He worked in more than 30 countries.

Writing

Hamilton is best known for his series of detective novels featuring forensic accountant Ava Lee, which are based in part on his experiences in various countries around the world, particularly in southeast Asia. Ava Lee is a

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forensic accountant, and the novels have been embraced by the Chinese Canadian community and by lesbian readers. As of 2012, the first book in the series, ''The Water Rat of Wanchai'', was in the process of being adapted for film, with the screenplay written by

Karen Walton Karen Walton is a Canadian screenwriter best known for writing the film, ''Ginger Snaps'', for which she won the Best Film Writing Canadian Comedy Award in 2002. Her writing for the film received both critical scrutiny and academic analysis. Wal ...

Awards and honours

His first book, ''The Children's Crusade'', was non-fiction and was the Canadian Book of the Month Club Main Selection.ianhamiltonbooks.com
About the Author ''The Water Rat of Wanchai'' won the Arthur Ellis for best first crime novel.;Arthur Ellis Award 2012.
Crime Writers of Canada it was a Quill and Quire top five novel of the year; an Amazon editor's pick and an Amazon top 100 book of the year; and a Toronto Star top five novel of the year.
The Toronto Star. Dec 7, 2011 It was also short listed for the CBC Bookie Award.
CBC. April 12, 2012. ''The Disciple of Las Vegas'' was short listed for the Barry AwardThe Barry Awards
, Deadly Pleasures as the best original paperback published in the United States in 2014. ''The Wild Beasts of Wuhan'' was short listed for the

Lambda Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

as the best lesbian crime/mystery novel of 2013.26th Annual Lambda Awards
Lambda Literary. June 3rd, 2014 BBC Culture named Hamilton as one of the ten mystery/crime writers from the last 30 years that should be on your bookshelf.Link text
Oakville New. September 29, 2014 He has also written for magazines such as ''Macleans'', ''Saturday Night'' and ''Boston''.

Movies and TV

All of the Ava Lee books have been optioned for film, and a TV series is currently in development for a joint Canadian/American network partnership.

Books

* ''The Children's Crusade'' (non-fiction)

Ava Lee Series

* ''The Water Rat of Wanchai'' (2011) * ''The Disciple of Las Vegas'' (2011) * ''The Wild Beasts of Wuhan'' (2011) * ''The Red Pole of Macau'' (2012) * ''The Scottish Banker of Surabaya'' (2013) * ''The Dragon Head of Hong Kong'' (novella) (2013) * ''The Two Sisters of Borneo'' (2014) * ''The King of Shanghai'' (2014) * ''The Princeling of Nanjing'' (2015) * ''The Couturier of Milan'' (2017) * ''The Imam of Tawi-Tawi'' (2018) * ''The Goddess of Yantai'' (2018) * ''The Mountain Master of Sha Tin'' (2019) * ''The Diamond Queen of Singapore'' (2020) * ''The Sultan of Sarawak'' (2022)

Uncle Chow Tung Series

* ''Fate: An Uncle Chow Tung Novel'' (2019) * ''Foresight: The Lost Decades of Uncle Chow Tung'' (2020) * ''Fortune: The Lost Decades of Uncle Chow Tung'' (2021) * ''Finale: The Lost Decades of Uncle Chow Tung'' (2022)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Ian 1946 births Living people People from Chirk 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian male novelists Canadian mystery writers People from Burlington, Ontario Writers from Ontario 21st-century Canadian male writers