The latest Jonah Geller novel begins, improbably, at summer camp, where Geller assists a sports-challenged kid in the finals of a softball tournament. It’s a long shot from Geller’s last outing, which found him nearly dead in Boston, and events there mean he’s not returning to the U.S. of A. any time soon. So it’s Toronto [...]
Canadian crime writer Howard Shrier is on a roll. Making his debut in 2008 with Buffalo Jump, he introduced readers to Jonah Geller, a gutsy Toronto-based Jewish PI with friends in low places. The book netted Shrier that year’s Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel. The sequel, High Chicago, earned him a second Arthur Ellis, this time for [...]
In the acknowledgments for Boston Cream, Howard Shrier writes that he reread all the novels of Dennis Lehane, the early novels in Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series, and other old favourites “to deepen my sense of crime in Boston.” It’s a rich tradition to live up to in dropping his Toronto-based private detective, Jonah Geller (whose previous [...]
From start to epilogue, Boston Cream is a mystery thriller of insight, compassion, with an infectious sense of urgency that drives to a conclusion both real and satisfying. Author Howard Shrier masterfully links the dialogue to the pace, the setting and the plot with an energy that makes readers feel they’re absorbing the story at a [...]
Howard Shrier starts with the canvas of a crackling good mystery, then paints a compelling portrait of modern secular Jewish life complete with its wisdom, contradictions, and abiding humor. High Chicago is often funny, sometimes violent, and always thoughtful, with a powerful sense of place throughout. Toronto may have just found its Spenser in PI Jonah [...]
Howard Shrier is a two-time winner of the Arthur Ellis Award, Canada’s highest prize for crime fiction. The author of the acclaimed Jonah Geller series and other works, he publishes new stories and helps emerging authors finish their books, all on this site.
