Omertà's Fame

Well, it came as a surprise, but I have to say it: fame at last. Fellow blogger and Montrealer Kevin Burton Smith added an entry on Pierre Gauthier on his Thrilling Detective website. And if you look at the bottom of the entry, you will see my name (with a typo). I blogged about Omertà before, maybe the greatest crime drama that ever came from Québec TV. Pierre Gauthier was its main character and masterfully played by Michel Côté. His character contributed a lot to the development, on TV at least, of crime fiction. So I am glad he is recognized on the entry of Montréal private eyes on Kevin's website, especially now that he is a full fledged private eye in the movie sequel/spinoff, which unfortunately was rather poor. And I am glad I modestly contribute to give more exposure to the series and its hero.

Barrett's Privateers

Kevin Burton Smith, from the Thrilling Detective website, made me discover this folk song, by Canadian singer Stan Rogers. Shame on Philistine, crass me, I knew nothing about the man or his work, now I discover an extraordinary baritone voice (I have a sort of solidarity for baritones, being one myself) who died tragically. I was blown away by the song and been listening to it in loops since yesterday. As I have been blogging and intend to blog more about piracy, I thought this was the perfect song to upload here on Vraie Fiction. Little anecdotal stuff: in the song Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia is mentioned. I have never been there, but I have ancestors from my mother's side who are from there and one who actually was a seaman. I also also (and however) spent a fair deal of time in Sherbrooke, in the Eastern Townships in Québec. And my brother PJ is going to be in Sherbrooke soon. Interesting coincidence. I hope you enjoy the song as much as I do.

South American private eyes

Fellow blogger and fellow expat Montrealer Kevin Burton Smith of the Thrilling Detective website fame (great website by the way) recently brought my attention to an article in the Guardian about the booming private investigation business in Brazil. The article talks about "an army of Sherlock Holmes", but it is more honestly an army of Philip Marlowes. The reason for this growing industry is apparently due to increasing insecurities and a loss of trust in official police and the justice system. I recently read that the private eye was a dying character in crime fiction, which saddened me greatly. I have seen in various work that it might be changing. Of course, the rise of private investigation agencies is not a good omen: at the roots are the least likeable of human traits, such as fear, distrust and a lack of solidarity. Still, what a subject of inspiration for crime fiction! Here is the description of one of these detectives from the Guardian article: "a chubby, teetotal Kung Fu expert who never leaves home without his MP3 recorder or his palmtop computer." How can crime fiction miss this? Completely contemporary, twisting a classical, often cliché character, you can see in thissingle line  the potential for a new breed of private eyes.