Canadian detective fiction is a genre that punches well above its weight, from conventional detectives like William Murdoch, Armand Gamache and John Cardinal, to more unorthodox protagonists such as Joanne Kilbourn, Jack Palace and Dame Polara. But there are few protagonists in the genre as unique as A.J. Devlin’s Hammerhead Jed; pro wrestler, private investigator and son of a legendary Vancouver cop.
The Hammerhead Jed series was off to a strong start with Cobra Clutch, which won the 2016 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel, and rolled along with the follow-ups Rolling Thunder and Five Moves of Doom. Devlin’s hero has returned to the squared circle, soon finding himself on the trail of a killer.
Bronco Buster doesn’t keep the reader waiting. Like the TV series 24, the ticking clock starts from the very first page. The novel opens with Hammerhead Jed taking on Cowboy Cobb Calhoun in a match that was part of the entertainment at the inaugural Colossal Cloverdale Rodeo and County Fair. We find Jed “grinding” his “spandex-covered crotch” in his opponents face in the book’s opening sentence, a move known as the “bronco buster,” made popular by the pro wrestler X-Pac. In the midst of this technique, Hammerhead Jed hears “a blood-curdling scream” and the novel is off to the races.
At Jed’s side is his cousin, Declan, a former IRA operative who runs an Irish pub called The Shillelagh. The two of them make for one of the most colourful, if not the most colourful duos in crime fiction. Their banter makes up ninety-percent of the humour in this very humorous book. The dialogue, the various odd idioms from Irish slang to rodeo/cowboy jargon, are employed with great timing and will put smiles on readers’ faces.
Six pages in, Jed and Declan are already faced with a corpse, and although Jed has not been hired to investigate, he immediately sets out to understand what has happened to a top-ranked competitive lumberjack, who was the pair’s newfound drinking buddy. The investigation takes Jed and Declan through the various buildings and events that make up the rodeo, leading to run-ins with lumberjacks, rodeo clowns, and even an ostrich.
Devlin does an excellent job of immersing his readers into the world of pro wrestling in a way that doesn’t require them to be fans of the sport or understand the techniques. Even the rodeo and logger sports culture in the book is presented in a way that makes it clear without bogging down the plot with explanation after explanation.
Jed has a similar physicality to a character like Jack Reacher and can match many of his hand-to-hand skills. But Jed brings not only more physical vulnerability, but emotional ones. Though called “Hammerhead,” Jed is not shark-like — constantly moving forward without thought, driven by primal instincts. Devlin’s hero’s introspection, his sensitivity, encased in the beefcake frame of a pro wrestler, adds a refreshing layer to the character. But just like Jack Reacher, the people around Jed react to his physicality, whether he likes it or not, and those reactions dictate much of the action.
For all the wrestling and rodeo action, Bronco Buster manages to employ many of the elements we associate with “cosy mysteries.” Only the fight sequences bring violence into the forefront — the killings happen offstage. It is perhaps more a matinee adventure than a cosy, a pro wrestling PI and his trusty sidekick rushing around a rodeo, picking up clues, besting the baddies and saving the day without gratuitous sex and violence. Raucous dialogue and humour for both brows does give the book a certain edge. Its momentum doesn’t stop, or even slow from the outset. Bronco Buster is both a mystery and an adventure, with all the humour and action you could ask for, and a hero with heart. The book makes a few references to previous Hammerhead Jed adventures, but you don’t have to have read the earlier entries to understand and appreciate this latest installment. The bulk of the story takes place over a single day, and as mentioned earlier, that gives it a ticking-clock tension. Bronco Buster is a fast-paced thrill ride that doesn’t give you a chance to catch your breath, let alone put it down.
A.J. Devlin grew up in Greater Vancouver before moving to Southern California where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Screenwriting from Chapman University and a Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting from The American Film Institute. After working as a screenwriter in Hollywood, he moved back home to Port Moody, BC, where he now lives with his family.
Publisher: NeWest Press (October 1, 2024)
Paperback 8″ x 5″ | 276 pages
ISBN: 9781774391020
Jeff Dupuis is a writer and editor living in Toronto. He is the author of The Creature X Mystery novels and numerous short stories, which have been published in The Ex-Puritan and The Temz Review among others. Jeff is the editor, alongside A.G. Pasquella, of the anthology Devouring Tomorrow: Fiction from the Future of Food, which will be published in 2025 by Dundurn Press.
- Jeff Dupuishttps://miramichireader.ca/author/jeff-dupuis/
- Jeff Dupuishttps://miramichireader.ca/author/jeff-dupuis/
- Jeff Dupuishttps://miramichireader.ca/author/jeff-dupuis/
