Death in Etobicoke cover
So who did it.
The book Death in Etobicoke and other Humorous Tales is about a murder in the community and is hitting the stores soon.
Written by best-selling New Toronto author Scott Colby, a long-time Toronto Star journalist, the book has been receiving rave comments.
Colby said the book is a collection of six short stories, all of which have been published in the satirical Canadian magazine, The Feathertale Review.
“The first three stories are the Death in Etobicoke trilogy that feature a Goth temptress, Lucy Fehr (Lucifer) who finds ways to kill me in each story,” he explained.
The first Death in Etobicoke story was my way of making fun of the Thomas Mann classic “Death in Venice” which I was reading in my book club at the time, he said, adding that he wrote a parody of it, called Death in Etobicoke, Inspired the Ultimate Sacrifice for my Book Club.
Best-selling author Scott Colby and his latest work.
“I had so much fun with that that years later I wrote a sequel that was set in a creepy storage unit on Evans Avenue,” Colby said. It was “a real place that reminded me of the hallways in the hotel in “The Shining.”
The story Silence of the Pigeons is a mash up of “The Shining” and “Silence of the Lambs,” but set in a vacant storage unit on Evans Avenue during a blizzard and features passenger pigeons that return from extinction.
“The reason for that is the word Mimico is derived from the Indigenous word for “where the wild pigeons gather,” he said. “I struggled to understand why this species meant so much to a modern goth and a self-storage business in a South Etobicoke industrial park.”
The third instalment, Rebirth in Etobicoke: A Love Story, is far from a love story and is partially inspired by “Rosemary’s Baby.”
Colby’s book on the Subban family.
“I play homage to some classic books in these stories with hopefully some comedic results,” Colby said.
The book is well-written, funny and moves along with lots of dialogue.
Colby has lived in South Etobicoke for 15 years and is father to 11-year-old twins who helps to coach their baseball and flag football teams.
He wrote a national best seller with NHL hockey dad Karl Subban in 2107, “How We Did It: The Subban Plan for Success in Hockey, School and Life.” Karl also raised his kids in Rexdale and many interviews were conducted at Maple Leaf House on Lake Shore Blvd. W., at First Street.
Death in Etobicoke was originally published in 2019 as Tales from the North Shore. The third instalment of the “Death in Etobicoke” trilogy has been revised for this edition.
The work has been getting some good comments before its release date.
“It’s a treat to read this book… The Thunder Bay stories are laugh out loud funny,” said Lisa Laco, of CBC Thunder Bay.
“My friend and I are reading ‘Death in Etobicoke’ to each other, laughing our heads off. Actual tears. Best thing I have read in ages …” said Alexandra Gillespie, English Professor and Principal, University of Toronto Mississauga.
“Shades of Stephen King, an undercurrent of Flannery O’Connor, wrapped in the best of Ray Bradbury, Scott Colby’s Death in Etobicoke takes us on a riveting romp through life’s irreversible moments,” wrote Jerry Levitan, an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning producer and internationally acclaimed author.
“Death in Etobicoke is an eclectic collection of humorous stories, which is clearly valued by intelligent readers with a keen sense of humour,” said Charles Wilkins, author of international bestsellers, Paddle to the Amazon and After the Applause as well as The Circus at the Edge of the Earth, Walk to New York and In the Land of Long Fingernails.