The Kidnapping of Rosie Dawn

Joe Barley #1

by Eric Wright

Joe Barley, a part-time lecturer in English Literature and part-time security guard, is alerted by his maid to the disappearance of another of her employers, Rosie Dawn, a student of classics who is working her way through school by being an exotic dancer and the mistress of a fast-food entrepreneur. The novel also involves campus politics--a student tries to exploit the nervous administration over its minority policies.

Genres: Mystery

213 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

There is more than one author with this name in the database. Not all books on this profile belong to the same author.

Eric Wright was born in London, England and immigrated to Canada in 1951. He is the award-winning author of seventeen crime novels, including his first novel, The Night the Gods Smiled, which won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel, the Crime Writer's Association's John Creasey Award, and the City of Toronto Book Award. His memoir, Always Give a Penny to a Blind Man, about growing up poor in working-class London, was published in 1999.

Reviews

[Stacy Simpson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This guy cannot write....Bunch of fancy big words was all I could get out of it. Just because you know the vernaciular dosen't make you a good writer!

[James Michels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe Barley is a part-time teacher, part-time private detective. When his cleaning lady informs him that a woman she cleans for is missing, the hunt is on.
This is a very light-hearted mystery. Nothing too dark or violent. A good amount of comedy. The characters are fun. Joe is a very down-to-earth character and his friends are quirky in a great way. A breath of fresh air compared to the regular dark and gritty mysteries.

[Marie Simpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very engaging read. A lot more literary than I expected, and a bit dated in some aspects when read in 2021, but quite enjoyable.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stumbled across this book - and having taught English in a small college for many years (mercifully one that has an amazing collective agreement that treats all sessional instructors pretty reasonably), I enjoyed the vivisection of departmental politics.

The laconic style, the determinedly laid back approach of the professor/detective, and the humour all add up to a lot of fun. The plotting is okay - you don't ever really get worried, but the characters, pastiches really, are great. Plus I love his attitude towards the theoretical approaches to literature - ie, let's get them to read the text and find out what's interesting about it.

[Tamara Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really short and fun read. The 1st person narration was a nice change esp. since the narrator had a great sense of humor. It was a quirky and simple story but w/ good character development and a just deep enough storyline. Will look forward to reading other Joe Barley mysteries.

[Lane]

mystery series
The Kidnapping of Rosie Dawn 2000
The Hemingway Caper 2003