Pitter patter the rain falling down

Little glamor sun coming round

Take a walk when autumn comes to town

~ Van Morrison

As I unwind my brain from the summer pursuits of catching up with friends’ and family I am delighted that September is here. The Toronto weather has us back in above average temperatures which is just fine for many of us.

I’ve been through a number of books over the past summer months as you can imagine. Being approached by publishers and authors is a validation of what I try to bring to these pages: mid-list authors you may not be familiar with and debut authors whose work astonishes or shows promise.

Noir is my watchword. Sometimes I include lesser, perhaps dark grey, versions of such books but I always look for complexity in characters and plot, and depth in the experience the book brings. Whether I recommend a book be read or not, there is always respect for the authors and the hard work they have invested to bring their words to readers.

This summer I attended the Toronto launch of The Devil’s Game book two of the The Daniel Bryne Trilogy by Sean Chercover – in collaboration with Noir at the Bar: Toronto. The celebration took place in the Dora Keogh Irish Pub on the Danforth. It was a blistering hot evening and much refreshment was needed to keep us cool. That’s the story anyway as the man of the hour was buying.

Sean was great fun over the microphone. Perhaps he should consider some stand-up work at Second City. After I introduced myself I got a shoulder nudge and, “we’re online friends,” by way of acknowledgement. Yes, we are online friends but the joy in that web connection is being one day able to say “hello I love your writing,” in person.

I’ve written about Chercover’s Ray Dudgeon series: Big City, Bad Blood and Trigger City before. His work has received the Anthony, Shamus, CWA Dagger, Dilys, Crimespree, Gumshoe and Lovey awards, and has been shortlisted for the Edgar, Macavity, Barry, ITW Thriller and Arthur Ellis. So yeah, this man can write so do yourself a favour and pick up some of his books.