Eric Wright Books in Order

Toronto inspector Charlie Salter investigates a professor's murder at a Montreal conference. A glass marked with lipstick and a whisky bottle used as a weapon offer sparse clues to the victim's hidden personal life.

An intentionally set fire kills secondhand dealer Cyril Drecker, drawing Charlie Salter into an arson investigation. The victim's dishonest dealings generate plenty of suspects, while missing people and Japanese woodcuts complicate the search for a motive.

Charlie Salter and his wife Annie travel to England expecting a relaxing holiday. When their landlord is found dead, the Toronto inspector's vacation becomes an investigation into secrets concealed beneath the comforts of their lodging.

Charlie's Christmas preparations are disrupted when his ex-wife demands attention to an unsolved murder. Investigating a separated woman's fatal encounter through a personal advertisement draws him into a lonely world of concealed resentments and casual relationships.

Vacationing on Prince Edward Island, Charlie Salter helps investigate a murdered historian. A missing historical seal, his wealthy father-in-law's proposed purchase, and another suspicious death make the island's apparently quiet life increasingly difficult to navigate.

During preparations for a royal visit, Charlie Salter investigates threats against Toronto merchants. A subsequent bombing kills a shopkeeper's estranged husband, turning a possible commercial dispute into a murder case that tests his professional pride.

Charlie Salter and Mel Pickett investigate the murder of massage therapist Linda Thomas, whose clients include influential officials. Secretive suspects obstruct their inquiries while Charlie's worries about his marriage add pressure to an already delicate assignment.

Charlie Salter oversees security on a Toronto film set plagued by costly sabotage. When the scriptwriter is murdered, the production's rivalries and tangled relationships become possible motives for someone determined to destroy the project.

Actor Alec Hunter's murder at a shabby Toronto motel initially suggests a gambling-related mob killing. Charlie Salter investigates disputed assumptions, an unidentified visitor, and blackmail while an encounter from his own past unsettles his concentration.

A newly selected college dean is found murdered, apparently during a burglary. Anonymous warnings lead Charlie Salter toward academic rivalries and blackmail, even as his father's serious illness makes the investigation a deeply difficult personal period.

Englishman William Moodie's teaching career in Canada collapses amid academic politics. Seeking the country's less institutional side, he becomes a fishing guide, but a bush-plane crash leaves him facing an unfamiliar wilderness without his usual defenses.

Retired Toronto officer Mel Pickett hopes for peace at his rebuilt country cabin. A nearby murder draws him into local police work, and doubts about an arrest send him searching beyond the community's easy explanations.

Separated librarian Lucy Trimble inherits a detective agency from a distant relative whose death appears suspicious. Taking on the business brings unfamiliar criminal clients, threats, and an opportunity to investigate the man who changed her life.

In this memoir, Wright recalls growing up poor in working-class London during the Depression. His account follows childhood, adolescence, restrictive social expectations, and immigration to Canada, tracing the experiences that shaped his early life.

Lucy Trimble identifies the investigator following her client Greta Golden, but his purpose remains unclear. Questions about Greta's parents take Lucy to Cornwall, where family history and her client's identity make the case increasingly complicated.

Part-time lecturer and investigator Joe Barley hears that exotic dancer Rosie Dawn has disappeared. Searching for her draws him into her wealthy patron's affairs while campus politics and tensions in his own relationship demand attention.

A caretaker is murdered in retired detective Mel Pickett's cabin, raising the possibility that Pickett was the intended victim. He investigates former enemies while provincial police pursue motives connected to the dead man's family.

Approaching retirement and confined to desk work, Charlie Salter receives a lawyer's puzzling murder case. A missing woman and pressure from the victim's politically influential sister offer him a chance to prove his investigative worth.

These mystery stories explore murder, espionage, and deception in settings ranging from northern Canada to the Caribbean. A locked-room puzzle, a comic caper, and a Charlie Salter novella examine motives and ingenuity beneath apparently ordinary encounters.

Hired to document Jason Tyler's adultery, Joe Barley encounters rumors of a missing Hemingway manuscript. His client's insistence that he continue investigating raises questions about the papers, while academic politics complicate his own life.

After his wife requests a divorce, Canadian immigrant Will Prentice returns to England for his mother's funeral. A countryside journey with a younger relative prompts questions about family secrets, belonging, and where his future lies.

With his teaching job threatened and a baby on the way, Joe Barley investigates anonymous letters within his college. A faculty member's disappearance and rumored Russian criminal connections turn campus trouble into a more dangerous mystery.

A scenic fishing lodge attracts families and young couples seeking a quiet escape. Beneath its inviting holiday atmosphere, prejudice, desire, love, and betrayal complicate the lives of those gathered there, with murder among the concealed dangers.

In wartime London, thirteen-year-old Derek loses his home to a German bomb. Discovering a stranger in the family's air-raid shelter draws him and his friends into investigating a man who claims to be a double agent.