The annual festival for mystery readers and writers, celebrated on the Thousands
Islands birthplace of Canada's first crime writer
An island is the perfect setting for a crime story — a remote location with limited
suspects, local legends, and lots of ways to bump people off. Certainly Wolfe Island,
Ontario — the largest of the Thousand Islands — must have inspired  Canada's
first crime writer, Grant Allen, who was born there in 1848 at his
family home, the manor of the Baron de Longueuil family.
Grant Allen went on to become one of the most popular writers of his day, publishing more
than 40 novels. He also invented one of the most popular plot conceits of the crime
writing genre, the hero who is the thief of the story. (He was two years ahead of E.W.
Hornung, who usually gets the credit.) Allen was also a good friend of Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle.
Wolfe Island celebrates its heritage as the birthplace of Canadian crime writing with the
Scene of the Crime Festival, held annually on land Grant Allen's family donated to the
community. It's no mystery why the event is such a success: The combination of Canada's
top mystery writers, local history, and a home-made church supper is hard to beat.
|
