Whispering City

Blackmail and murder in Old Quebec! Quebec City crime reporter Mary Roberts is about to leave her desk for the day when she receives word that a woman has been struck down in the centre of town. The victim is René e Brancourt. A former pin-up, she’ d once been a big star, treading the boards at the Comé die-Franç aise, until her lover, Robert Marchand, plunged over Montmorency Falls. René e’ s inability to accept his death led her to be institutionalized. Now on her deathbed at the Hô tel-Dieu Hospital, the faded vedette tells Mary that Robert’ s death was no accident. She points an accusing finger at Albert Fré dé ric, the most respected lawyer in the city, thus setting the young reporter on a trail that will ultimately imperil her own life. Whispering City began as a 1947 Canadian feature shot in both English and French (La Forteresse). Predating Alfred Hitchcock’ s I Confess by six years, it is the earliest film noir set in Canada. In his novelization, Horace Brown improves upon the film, altering the dialogue, shedding its weaknesses, providing backstory, and giving flesh to its characters. The result brings tension and is a much darker noir.

HORACE BROWN (1908-1996) wrote for CBC Radio. He published short stories in Saturday Night, the Star Weekly, and his own short-lived magazines Original Detective Stories and All-New Western Stories. Brown’ s novels, published in Canada, England, and the United States, include Murder in the Rough (1946), The Penthouse Murders (1950), and The Corpse Was a Blonde (1950). Brian Busby is the series editor of Ricochet Books. An author and anthologist, he edited The Heart Accepts It All: Selected Letters of John Glassco (Vé hicule, 2013).