LITTLE CURRENT—The Expositor office in Little Current will be the site of the book launch and signing for Manitoulin’s newest mystery novel, Bearwalker Alibi, by Owen Sound author and retired newspaperman Jake Doherty (see the advertisement on page 6 of this issue).
While Mr. Doherty may be based out of Meaford, near Owen Sound, the ‘Bearwalker Alibi,’ the latest installment of his detective series featuring the irascible aging draft dodger from Boston Fergus Fitzgerald and his Ojibwa partner Dr. Mary Fraser, takes place largely on Manitoulin Island circa 1996 and the retired newspaperman is unabashed in his fondness for the Island and its people.
Mr. Doherty is no stranger to the detective genre and he put his 40 years of experience as a journalist to good use, meticulously researching the underpinnings of this enthralling tale, mingling German fascination with First Nation culture, the legend of the Bearwalker with the time-honoured tools of the novelist, love, conflict and redemption, or as Mr. Doherty himself puts it a “‘P.D. James’ perennial fascination with ‘the mystery of morality…rights vindicated, order restored’.”
He was also the principle architect (co-founder, editor and contributor) of Sun Media’s popular Summer Mystery Series, followed up with an anthology acclaimed by the Globe and Mail’s mystery critic as “perfect.”
Among the many local people interviewed by Mr. Doherty for this work of fiction was best-selling author of another Bearwalker novel, the late Tom Peltier of Wikwemikong, with whom Mr. Doherty shared a love of history, mystery and, by their own admissions, perhaps just a wee dram of Scotland’s finest nectar.
According to Mr. Doherty the local list is quite extensive. “Also generous with his time and experience were Detective Constable Mike Corrigan, a crime scene specialist with the Ontario Provincial Police who insisted on meticulous adherence to legal clarity on behalf of the readers,” he said. “Professionals in many fields guided me with great patience including Dr. Barbara Erskine of Noojmowin Teg Health Services in Aundeck Omni Kaning; Stacy Haner, then assistant Crown attorney at Gore Bay, Dr. Jack Bailey and the late Ron Wakegiijig, pioneers in cross-culture medicine in Northern Ontario.
Among the other experts listed by Mr. Doherty in his acknowledgements were “David Hay, Crown attorney in Grey-Bruce; Dr. Rayuda Kuka, director of the North Eastern Mental Health Center in Sudbury; John Dempster of the North Bay Forensic Detention Center; Dr. Brian Rudrick, pathologist at Bruce-Grey Regional Hospital; Bonita Johnson, Sexual Assault Councilor in Owen Sound; and not the least one Gerard Fischer, chief of the Buffalo Tribe in Germany who welcomed me into his home.”
Among those credited with assisting with the readings of his manuscript’s first draft are this author and his wife Linda Erskine of Little Current. From Toronto, Chris Marston and Francine Robitaille also provided incisive readings of the first draft and great advice.
A widower, Mr. Doherty also laid tremendous credit to his late wife Monique who was with him on his first visit to the Island and the Northeast Town public library, where among the back issues of The Expositor he first came upon references to the bearwalker legend and the court case that was to inspire the novel.
Island literary enthusiasts are invited to take the opportunity to meet Mr. Doherty and to get their copies of the author’s book signed between 5 and 8 pm on Thursday, October 9 at the Expositor Office. In addition to meeting the author, as a bonus you can “enjoy a snack and see how the story unfolds.”
