The annual festival for mystery readers and writers, celebrated on the Thousands Islands birthplace of Canada's first crime writer
An island is the perfect setting for a crime story -- a remote location with limited suspects, local legends, and lots of ways to bump people off. Certainly
Wolfe Island, Ontario -- the largest of the Thousand Islands -- must have inspired  Canada's
first crime writer, Grant Allen, who was born there in 1848 at his family home, the manor of the Baron de Longueuil family.
Grant Allen went on to become one of the most popular writers of his day, publishing more than 40 novels. He also invented one of the most popular plot conceits
of the crime writing genre, the hero who is the thief of the story. (He was two years ahead of E.W. Hornung, who usually gets the credit.) Allen was also a good
friend of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Wolfe Island celebrates its heritage as the birthplace of Canadian crime writing with the Scene of the Crime Festival, held annually on land Grant Allen's
family donated to the community. It's no mystery why the event is such a success: The combination of Canada's top mystery writers, local history, and a home-made
church supper is hard to beat.
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