 |
| Anthony Bidulka |
 |
| Gail Bowen |
Being a lawyer rather than a statistician I do not know the odds of having three mystery authors setting their books in the same province and having the same letter of the alphabet to begin their last names but it must be long odds.
Of the trio Tony and Gail reside in Saskatchewan Saskatchewan
 |
| Nelson Brunanski |
The author backgrounds overlap. Gail grew up in Toronto Saskatchewan First
Nations University Saskatchewan British
Columbia
Their books are set in three different parts of Saskatchewan Saskatoon Regina Crooked Lake
Their sleuths have very different occupations. Russell is a
private investigator. Joanne spent most of the series as a political science
professor at the University of Regina Saskatchewan
I have thought about what common elements there are for their
sleuths and their mysteries. In particular, I have reflected on aspects of the
characters and the plots that I would associate with Saskatchewan
Family is very much a part of the lives of each of the
sleuths. Russell is very close to his mother, Kay. Joanne has recently
remarried and is happy with her lawyer husband Zack (Who could not be happy
with a Saskachewan lawyer husband?). Bart is in a strong marriage with Rosie.
Joanne and Bart have children with whom they have good relationships.
Each of the families of the sleuths have problems but none
are the desperately dysfunctional families I see so often in crime fiction.
Their issues are the challenges all of us face in life.
Each sleuth has a character trait associated with Saskatchewan
None of the books are piled high with bodies. I am sure each
of the authors could have written large body counts but they are content with 1
or 2 or 3 bodies. With Saskatchewan
Each of the sleuths clearly enjoys living in Saskatchewan
Each of the sleuths is someone a reader would find easy to
sit down with for a chat or meal.
The authors are equally fun. I have spent time with Tony and Gail. They are wonderful
people with whom to have a conversation. I encourage any reader having a chance
to attend an event with them to go see them. You will not be disappointed.
****
My connection to the 
Bill, thank you for writing about three of Saskatchewan's prominent mystery writers and taking me through the fictional lives of their sleuths. I enjoyed reading this post very much. I wonder if unique places like Saskatchewan inspire writers to create unusual and fascinating characters.
ReplyDeleteThanks to your website, I have become acquainted with Russell Quant and Joanne Kilbourne, both good characters.
ReplyDeleteI particularly like Russell's sense of humor. Flight of Aquavit caused me to often laugh out loud and smile when I wasn't laughing.
Interesting to hear that politeness is a tradition in Saskatchewan. I don't find that boring, and would be very glad if everyone I knew practiced this. A simple "Thanks" goes a long way.
Bill - What an excellent choice for the letter B. All three of these authors are so very talented and their stories really do reflect Saskatchewan. That's one thing I really like about these series; they show the province's culture and life. Oh, and the mysteries are well-written too. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for this lovely post about Saskatchewan mystery authors. You did such a good overview of all three of them. I have enjoyed my foray into reading Bowen and Bidulka and plan to read more of each. I will have to look into Brunanski more. I don't know how I missed him.
ReplyDeletePrashant: Thanks for the comment. I agree that sleuths outside major urban areas are more often unique characters.
ReplyDeleteKathy D.: Thanks. I appreciate your generous words. I am glad to have broadened the reading world for Saskatchewan mystery authors.
ReplyDeleteRussell is such a witty guy. Every book he makes me laugh.
Margot: Thanks for the comment and praise of the Saskatchewan B's. They make me proud to call them Saskatchewan mysteries.
ReplyDeleteTracyK: Thanks for the comment and kind words. Nelson's books are not always easy to find though they have found a new publisher. I hope you can keep reading about Saskatchewan.
ReplyDeleteDo these authors grow on trees? Seriously, its nice to have some well known and not so well known authors up North.
ReplyDeleteScott: Thanks for the comment. Maybe it is the six month winters that create writers. We still have lots of snow around.
ReplyDeleteBill, generally, we see authors only through their books, so your post and especially the personal reflections were very interesting to read.
ReplyDeleteAlso, as a semi-statistician, I would say the odds can be calculated with a few assumptions. The first assumption is that the probability of three mystery authors with a last name starting with A is independent of the probability of the last name starting with any other alphabet.
P(3 mystery authors with last names starting with the same alphabet) = P(starts with A) + P(starts with B) + ... + P(starts with Z).
Next, most authors set their novels in places to which they have a connection. So, the next assumption is that we divide all the authors in Canada by province and that each one writes only about one province (which is not true but good enough for estimating).
So, P(starts with A) = P(starts with A in Alberta) + ... + P(starts with A in Saskatchewan). And so on for all the alphabets.
Finally, P(starts with A in Alberta) = number of mystery authors whose last name starts with an A divided by the number of people in Alberta whose last name starts with A.
Add up all the probabilities and you know what the chances are of having three authors writing about the same province and having last names that start with the same alphabet.