| Rouge Murders makes a strong impact on the detective genre by Tannis Koskela, VIEW Magazine, October 17, 1996  If you haven't read any good detective stories lately The Rouge Murders could be the place to start again. This first book by Hamilton writer John Swan (though not his first publication) has all the earmarks that make detective novels peculiarly detective novels. A tough talking detective carrying an excess of personal baggage, seedy crimes in seedy locales, smart quips and snappy comebacks a la Alfred E. Newman, and a quick pace all permeate the book. And a predilection for hard liquor is sprinkled throughout. The Rouge Murders also has a singular appeal being set in, of all places, Hamilton "the nation's toughest town" according to Swan. Portions of the book also take place in the Niagara Peninsula, Toronto, and over by Lake Huron.
The stories are presented as vignettes of different crimes that all fall into the lap of the former cop, John Swan, a recognizable, if not entirely embraceable slob of a guy who lives in a neighbourhood we can relate to. Though the stories are separate, the author manages to tie them all nicely together through John Swan and his daily life. Taking on unconnected cases is what he does, when he can, and the reality of unassured work makes his lack of ambition and enthusiasm highly understandable.
What makes the book particularly interesting are the people Swan deals with and the kinds of places they hang out. Cross border shopping (well, bar-hopping), race tracks, sleazy religious types, shysters, odd academic people and overweight single mothers with moustaches all take a space in his investigations. These characters are all succinctly and humourously described like Melanie who graces the pages at "..well over two hundred pounds, her round face topped with thick black hair, and a light dusting of the same on her upper lip." Swan has a nice way of playing with words, setting up the reader with detailed descriptions of things (like his big country breakfast on his way to Port Elgin), then pulling them out from underneath (he arrived too late for the breakfast).
Throughout all the banter and tongue-in-cheek playing, though, is a sense that there really is a nasty undercurrent of crime in our midst. Echoes of newspaper headlines occur as you read. It can be unsettling knowing that our local communities have this streak, but in a way it is cathartic. We, too, like other places, face dirty little deeds and dark secrets. John Swan brings them to the surface and in his own less-than-perfect way, does what he can to make things a little better. Cripes. If Swan can handle things, there must be lots of even more capable guys who can keep the bad at bay. The book is funny and an enjoyable, easy read with just enough to keep a nimble mind satisfied.
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| by Matthew Firth, Black Cat 115 The central character in The Rouge Murders (also named John Swan) is a hard luck soul. Estranged from his daughter, mourning his deceased wife and juggling a hot/cold relationship with his only brother, Swan tries to re-assemble a version of his former life by eking out an existence as a private detective, following early retirement from the police force.
The Rouge Murders guides the reader through four colourful (crimson, cardinal, red & ruby) murders. In each case, Swan is drawn into the mix by money or other allures (e.g. a university student who reminds him of his daughter, an old neighbourhood score). In the process, justice is served, but, more importantly, some measure of Swan's dignity is restored.
The reader is also treated to some wonderfully adept characterization on behalf of Swan the writer. Thick-headed kill-squad cops, petty whoring criminals, crooked business cronies, backwoods Bible-thumpers from northern Ontario, lonely student types without money, and snotty student types with money, are among the many plausible characters sculpted by Swan's key-board. Consider this description of a bartender:
It seemed Wallace had been there since the era when locals stopped in for a glass on the way home, but maybe it was just someone like him, wearing the same short-sleeved white shirt, collar open, the same black slacks and soft leather shoes, the same non-committal expression on his face. It was supposed to say "I've been here forever and I've seen it all," but it really said "I've never been anywhere or seen anything worthwhile".
A carefully disguised rendition of a well-known Cabinet Minister (whose real name rhymes with Flopps) also makes an appearance when an ill-fated publicity stunt in Hamilton Harbour turns up a stiff in the murky water.
Herein lies one of the strengths of The Rouge Murders. Swan portrays the recognizable very well, bringing the work closer to the reader's heart and mind. Examples of this abound (Toronto's swinging Queen St. W., swank Ottawa hotels and seedy Hamilton strip joints). When precise, plausible characters are dropped into these environs, the reader is given a refreshing sense of familiarity with the fictitious happenings. For a change, murderous capers go down on Ontario streets, rather than on the distant, Hollywood rendered streets of New York or Chicago. This is not to suggest murder is a good thing, only that distinctly Canadian crime fiction is a pleasant change.
And as for the murders, Swan does a fine job portraying the human propensity towards violence. Here again, Swan's ability to breath life into his characters puts them on solid ground, even when they are engaged in brutal acts of violence:
Thick fluid oozed through his silencing grip. He squeezed harder, gratified with her first attempts to struggle. Still outside her, he began humping. Bits of masticated food and bile sputtered from his victim's nostrils. Frenzied flailing wracked into spasm, feeding his own excitement. Her face purples. Her lips thickened. Her eyes bulge white, like veined eggs. He paid no notice, intent on his own satisfaction through the long moments of her passing.
The Rouge Murders also contains enough hooks and twists to satisfy the who-done-it angle. This is done particularly well in "Red Zag", the shortest rendering of the four slayings, where a rotund player is whacked in the can at the Fort Erie raceway. Swan the detective, along for the ride at the track, coolly fingers the perpetrator, aiding the Niagara Regional P.D.
Taken as a whole, the five stories that comprise The Rouge Murders add up to a raucous, rollicking read. John Swan has crafted a series of lively murderous tales that go down right in our backyard. He has also given us a new tragic hero of the same name; a hard-edged detective who prowls Ontario's mean streets, settling scores for a few bucks and restoring his tenuous sanity. The Rouge Murders is, by all accounts, an effective and entertaining work of fiction.
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| by Eva Tihanyi, BOOKS in Canada The Rouge Murders by John Swan also falls into the "hard-boiled" school of detective fiction. However, it lacks the unity of The Dark Embrace, and is more a collection of tales than a satisfying novel.
John Swan "the protagonist as well as the author's pseudonym" is gruff, sarcastic, rough around the edges, with a trace of vulnerability well-hidden under a thick skin. A former cop in the Hamilton area, he is not liked or respected by his ex-colleagues. He is regarded as a "smart-ass", not without good reason. Here is his response, for example, to a suicide attempt: "maybe if I'd hung in there long enough I could have prevented it. But I didn't give a shit."
Yet there are two sides to Swan: the surly, over-weight, unkempt, heavy-drinking big-mouth and the depressed widower whose daughter has severed ties with him and who wants very much to reconnect with her.
The five "cases" in the book, though loosely linked in plot, are held together by the character of Swan, and ultimately it is not the story-lines but his personality that sustains the reader's interest. Stripped of his superficial belligerence, he's a lonely man looking for something to help him once again like his life.
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