Eric Wright Books In Order

Publication Order of Charlie Salter Books

Publication Order of Mel Pickett Books

Publication Order of Lucy Trimble Brenner Books

Publication Order of Joe Barley Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Eric Wright was one of the popular authors of the Canadian descent. He was mainly famous for writing all his books based on the mystery and thriller genre. Apart from being a writer, he was also a professor in Canada. Author Wright was born on May 4, 1929, and died on October 9, 2015 at the age of 86. He was actually born in the town of Kenington Park Road, located in South London, England. His parents were Joseph Wright and Caroline. There were a total of 10 siblings in author Wright’s family and that is one of the reasons why the family remained poor during most of his childhood days. Wright grew up in Lambeth and then shifted to Canada in the year 1951 in order to search for better work and even better standard of living. Firstly, he joined the University of Manitoba and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in the year 1957. After that, he also obtained his master’s degree in the year 1963 from the Toronto University. Till the time he went on to take retirement, author Wright used to teach the English language at the Ryerson Polytechnic University, located in Toronto. He continued with his writing and teaching works simultaneously between the years 1958 and 1989. Quite recently before his death, he used to live in Toronto and Ontario along with his wife and a couple of daughters.

As an author, Wright wrote a total of 4 detectives/mystery series, all of which featured different protagonists in the lead role. The four mystery series featured the four detectives in the form of Charlie Salter, Lucy Trimble Brenner, Mel Pickett, and Joe Barley respectively. Other than these novel series, author Wright also wrote a memoir, which covered most of his life activities, right from his childhood days up to his poor growing days and then to his migration to Canada. It is believed that the early life experiences that author Wright had contributed to his success as a talented writer. Over the course of his writing career, author Wright made a reputed name for himself among the famous mystery writers. Other than the mystery novels, he has also written a couple of standalone books and a short story called as ‘Twins’. The writings of author Wright are best known for their depiction of police procedurals and featuring the police inspector Charlie Salter from the Metropolitan Toronto Police. All the books in this series are noteworthy for the agreeably laconic and lucid style of writing of author Wright.

The series became so much popular right from its beginning that the debut novel of the series went on to win the John Creasey Award, the Toronto City Book Award, and the Arthur Ellis Award. The various books written by author Wright have even won numerous other awards. In the year 1998, he won the Derrick Murdoch Award for his lifetime contributions to the crime writing of the Canadian literature. One of his books titled ‘The Kidnapping of Rosie Dawn’ was nominated for the Edgar Award, after winning the Arthur Ellis Award. In one of his book reviews, author Wrigt has described that he had tried to create a protagonist who can take the readers to through the maze of the academic life. One of his novels titled ‘Moodie’s Tale’ deals about the adventurous life and career of a young graduate from the Cambridge University. The death of author Eric Wright occurred because of kidney cancer.

One of the highly successful mystery novel series written by author Eric Wright is known as ‘Joe Barley’ series. This series consists of 3 books in total published between the years 2000 and 2010. All the books in this feature the central character in the form of Joe Barley, who is introduced in the series as a part time security guard and part time professor of English literature. One of the initial books in this series was published under the title ‘The Hemingway Caper’. It was released by the Dundurn publishers in the year 2003. The story of the book is set in Toronto and features Joe Barley and Jason Tyler as the lead characters. As the story of the novel begins, Joe Barley is shown as a full time professor of English and a part time detective. He receives a simple case in which he is asked to track down Jason Tyler and provide a proof for all his adultery. During his investigation, Joe comes across a missing manuscript’s story which contained the writings of a young boy named Ernest Hemingway. After that, he begins to wonder about the relation between Tyler and the Hemingway papers. Joe also continues to think why Tyler’s wife was insisting him for staying on the case even after providing the proof of his infidelity. While he seems busy trying to find the answers to these questions, his own life becomes somewhat complicated because of academic politics. Due to this, the relationship with his partner named Carole seems challenging to maintain.

The other book in the Joe Barley mystery series written by author Eric Wright was released under the title of ‘A Likely Story’. This book was published by the Cormorant Book publishers in the year 2010. The story of this novel continues to feature Joe Barley in the lead role along with several other important characters such as Carole, who is depicted as Joe’s longtime partner in doing investigations. As the plot of the book starts, Joe Barley is introduced once again as having a lot of work load. At first, he needs to find enough time for his part time job as an instructor of the English language at the Hambleton College, otherwise he fears losing the job. On the other hand, his partner Carole seems to be expecting her first child. On top of all these responsibilities, Joe is assigned to find and catch the mole from the English Department who is exchanging embarrassing and nasty letter writings in the student newspaper section. However, all the stresses of his personal life and job get increased further because of the disappearance of a faculty member from Hambleton. Joe also hears the rumors that the missing faculty member was related to the Russian drug ring. The third and final installment of the Joe Barley series depicts a biting humor and engrosses storytelling in a unique and interesting way. Due to this, the novel became extremely successful and helped author Wright to become one of the most noteworthy Canadian crime writers.