By Michelle Catton
The audience was motionless, captivated by the intensity of Thomas Rendell Curran. As he sipped from his wine glass and read from his book, he transported his listeners into a passionate world of crime and mystery. The small group of friends, fellow crime writers and book-lovers had gathered to celebrate the launch of his first book.
The novel, entitled Undertow, is set in post-war Newfoundland and follows a fictional inspector, Eric Stride of the Newfoundland Constabulary, as he attempts to solve a complicated mystery.
The reader is entwined in an intricate plot filled with murder, adultery, incest and prostitution, set in both rural and urban St. John’s in scenery portrayed with vivid detail.
“He does a fabulous job with dialogue and really transported you there, gave you a sense of place,” says Mary Jane Maffini, a published mystery author.
The mystery novel was launched at the National Public Library on Jan. 28, and after reading a passage, Curran signed books and answered questions from the audience.
The novel was full of characters, ranging from the intellectually complex, chain-smoking Stride to simple shopkeepers. Throughout the book, Stride investigates the murders of an American soldier and a Newfoundland housewife. He examines his neighbours and friends while absorbed in his own internal struggle.
Curran is a member of a local mystery author’s society, the Capital Crime Writer’s Group. He is the seventh Ottawa mystery author to be published, according to Linda Wiken, who owns Prime Crime Mystery Books. She says the crime-writing community in Ottawa is thriving. Her shop has been open for 18 years and has never suffered a lack of business.
“His book was really well done. He really captured the time period,” she says.
Curran was born in St. John’s, Nfld., in 1939 but later moved to Ottawa and worked for more than 20 years as a senior researcher and writer with the Parliamentary Research Branch in Ottawa.
After taking early retirement, Curran decided to pursue his lifelong goal of becoming an author.
“I sat there for a month or so and just stared at the screen, and gradually, I just started to write,” he said.
Audience members praised Curran for the vivid detail with which he portrayed his characters and for the detail he used to describe his hometown.
He spent months researching the history of his home province and interviewing former members of the Newfoundland police force.
“I was amazed at how little I knew about the place I grew up. I learned more about Newfoundland than I’d ever known,” says Curran.
The book is the first in a series. Curran hopes to write three or four more Inspector Stride mysteries and is currently planning a trip to Portugal to do research for his next book.