One-Eyed Merchants

D.A. Curtis was a Toronto freelance writer.

One of Canada’s most attractive growth industries is the production of first-class detective fiction. Some of the best new sleuths on the stands are Canadian, and newcomer Paul Galliard is one of them.

Red-headed, cherubic Galliard is an insurance investigator, a bit down-in-the-mouth at the moment through personal tragedy, but likely to recover his spirits before too long. Meanwhile, he wants work to keep his mind occupied, to prevent his dwelling on the suicide of his young runaway wife. Luckily, his sympathetic superior has just the job that will keep him, if anything, over-occupied, the investigation of an insurance scam involving the folksy-sounding Hearthstone Finance Co., now claiming a huge settlement to cover the cost of peculation by a dishonest employee.

The plot heats up — from arson to kidnapping, all the way to murder. Mild-mannered Paul heats up right along with it. He’s a believable creation, with a full set of emotions, strengths, and weaknesses. It is welcome news that author Timms is at work on a second Galliard novel.