In the corner to my left, folks, hailing from Vancouver, Canada and weighing in at four ‘Hammerhead’ Jed crime fiction capers, we bring you the one and only AJ Devlin!
Yep, joining us today is a Canadian crime author who has been bringing fun and entertainment to the genre since the publication of Cobra Clutch – the first ‘Hammerhead’ Jed mystery in 2018. This introduced a PI with a different background. Jed Ounstead is a retired pro wrestler and in each novel he encounters a mystery that features wrestling as well as other forms of ‘sports entertainment’ such as roller derby, illegal fight clubs and rodeo. In 2022, the third book in the series, Five Moves of Doom, won our Best Indie Novel Editor’s Choice award.
Book four in the series, Bronco Buster, came out in October 2024 and AJ is taking it on tour across North America, proudly sporting red maple leafs to boot. We welcomed him to the site to find out more about his highly original take on crime fiction.
First of all, what’s your background and how did you become a crime fiction author?
My background would mostly be latchkey kid with my parents’ TV Guide subscription and a library card. From Columbo reruns to dog-earing just about every page in every Hardy Boys mystery, it’s safe to say storytelling set in the world of crime has had me hooked from a possibly too-young age – but that’s what cosies are for, right?
You’re about to head over to Denver for Left Coast Crime being held 13-16 March. What have you got planned for the event?
I’m very excited to be headed to Denver and see my friends at LCC. However, given the current geopolitical tension between the US and Canada over an unjust trade war, anyone mentioning a ’51st state’ gets to learn first hand from me what ‘elbows up’ means in Canadian. And in lieu of Banana Swag for ‘Hammerhead’ Jed readers and fans, I have decided to swap out the tropical fruit for maple leaf swag because us Canadians love to remind people you can be polite and a badass at the same time.
What’s the response like when you introduce readers at a convention to Hammerhead Jed Ounstead, your pro wrestler turned PI?
Curiosity! I think even folks who aren’t into wrestling are familiar with its theatricality so it’s my hope that interest may lead them to pick up a copy of one of my books and enjoy how I try to weave unique sports and unusual subcultures into my series.
Where did the inspiration for the character come from and how have you developed him over the four books?
I graduated from the American Film Institute Conservatory with a MFA in Screenwriting in 2004. My mentor and friend passed soon after. I conceived of ‘Hammerhead’ Jed in 2005. In 2006, I attended a Halle Ephron How To Write A Mystery workshop. And not long after I had a complete handwritten manuscript for Cobra Clutch, the first ‘Hammerhead’ Jed mystery.
The inspiration was a slow burn of many great crime novels, but definitely with an emphasis on Robert Crais’s Elvis Cole and Joe Pike and Joe R Lansdale’s Hap & Leonard.
And, with regards to growing him as a character, in each book I made it a priority that Jed’s character arc be as important as the main plot or more. Every novel contains a significant emotional character arc for Jed, which is why the character always had a finite shelf life. With a quadrology complete, I love how he can essentially ride off into the sunset now. However, should I ever become inclined to write him again or should it become more lucrative and worth my time, then I have another complete ‘Hammerhead’ Jed quadrology ready to go. It’s pretty epic and I believe would be better than the first four books, so I suppose it’s up to the universe now to see if those stories are ever told proper.
There’s nothing quiet like him in crime fiction – have you come across anything that comes close?
I definitely wanted Jed to be a colourful lone wolf so that is music to my ears to hear there is no one quite like him. I feel that way too. Honestly, if Jed had a spiritual successor, it might have to be Hoke Mosely. Charles Willeford is in my opinion quite possibly the GOAT crime writer and the way he balances Hoke’s everyman relatability, heroism and righteous intrinsic shit-disturber nature is a revelation and certainly made me try and make Jed equally as complex and accessible.
Bronco Buster came out in October – who was he up against in that one?
Jed is up against a ticking clock in Bronco Buster since it is a real-time, one-location, comedic murder mystery adventure! Plus, since it’s a ‘Hammerhead’ Jed book, you can count on yoga goats, racing dachshunds and this time a rascal mobility scooter gang made up of foul-mouthed octogenarians.
Where do you hope to take him next?
If and when ‘Hammerhead’ Jed returns it will be memorable and highly visible – in the story I mean. But yes, book five would take Jed further into humorous and sometimes strange surroundings in and around Vancouver. And, who knows? If Jed and co came back there might even be a trip to Ireland planned since my favourite wrestling move is known as the ‘Irish whip’.
Why do you like writing caper-style crime with a PI, as opposed to thrillers or procedural mysteries?
Character. 100 per cent to spend the time with the character. A leading man or woman I can invest emotionally in, who I can get to know – I want that POV to enter these criminal worlds. It’s just better storytelling in my opinion. I respect the hell out of procedurals and that style of storytelling, but it just ain’t for me. I’ll trade every single incredible gritty moment in The Wire for two minutes of John McClane smoking cigarettes with Hans Gruber while playing mental chess because to me it’s more pure essence of character.
What are the bigger themes you explore in your books, if any?
I suppose some big themes do dovetail with Jed’s characters arcs. For example in the debut novel, he’s a washed up wrestler working as a bouncer and refusing to move on with his life. Solving the case in the first novel jolts him out of his stagnancy and gives him a direction and purpose. In book two, Rolling Thunder, I play with theme of Jed being almost too good too soon at being a PI and perhaps some resulting hubris, which is again reexamined as a theme and as a foundational pillar of Jed’s identity in book three, Five Moves of Doom, when he squares off against a fight club. And the theme of book four, Bronco Buster — well, having a good old fashioned mini-existential crisis while at a rodeo is something, right?
Which other writers or books have influenced you, and what are you reading at the moment?
Without a doubt my big five are Connelly, Crais, Lansdale, Hockensmith and Willeford. And since I’ve had the honour of calling them colleagues and fellow Canadian crime writers, you simply cannot find better novels than those by Sam Wiebe’s iconic and important Vancouver-set Wakeland series and the wonderfully and wistfully adventurous Lane Winslow historical mystery series by Iona Whishaw.
Other than LCC, what’s next for AJ Devlin?
LCC kicks off a spring book tour for Bronco Buster which hopefully will culminate in appearances in crime conventions later this year in Eastern Canada and the US. I’m also currently exploring other projects such as starting a crime fiction podcast with my pal, Mr Vancouver Noir at the Bar Magnus Skallagrimsson, and have accepted board positions with Crime Writers of Canada and the Federation of BC Writers in order to promote and elevate Canadian crime fiction.
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