Review of Who by Fire by Greg Rhyno
Who by Fire isn’t just a memorable Leonard Cohen song.; it’s also the title of a remarkable new book by mystery author Greg Rhyno, out April 20th from Cormorant Books. Who by Fire introduces the world to one clever, and reluctant, sleuth with Dame Polara. Like Cohen’s music, once Rhyno’s crisp prose gets in your head, it will stay with you for some time.
Greg Rhyno’s freshman Dame Polara tale is a well-crafted, superbly plotted mystery adventure. Great care is taken in both the characters, the dialogue, and in the overall structure. In Who by Fire readers are introduced to Dame, her ailing private eye father, her job saving historic buildings, and an imminent eviction. It’s that eviction that leads to Dame accepting her first case, what she thinks is a simple matter of investigating an extramarital affair. Add in some arson, however, and her case goes from simple to hot in no time flat.
A great read from a newly emerging talent. Get the book here and continue below to read my interview with the author!
Interview with Greg Rhyno, author of Who by Fire
Author Greg Rhyno
WHITEHURST: Your book emphasizes the roles of family and what it means to the protagonist, Dame Polara. Is family an important part of Greg Rhyno’s world?
RHYNO: Taking care of two little dudes can be frustrating and exhausting, but I’m crazy about my kids and I love being a dad. The fact that family is so important to me might be the reason why Dame Polara wants one so badly.
WHITEHURST: Who by Fire kicks off with depressing news for Dame. What led to your decision to start this series there?
RHYNO: For starters, it checks a couple boxes on Kurt Vonnegut’s Rules for Writing (i.e. every character should want something; writers should make awful things happen to their characters), but more importantly, I wanted Dame to be a relatable protagonist with real world problems. Navigating the healthcare system, caring for an ailing parent, dealing with an unreasonable landlord — these are all issues that my friends were facing when I started writing the book, and they’re issues that aren’t going away anytime soon.
WHITEHURST: The dialogue in your novel is crisp, it’s bittersweet, and it’s hilarious. How do you manage the different voices, juggling fully realized characters, in your writing?
RHYNO: Thanks! For me, writing dialogue is like tuning into a character’s particular frequency and listening for what they might say. Sometimes, I’ll start a scene by writing its dialogue, and the way a character speaks will pull me in directions I wasn’t expecting. One of the things I love about detective fiction is that a big part of the investigation is conversation. Like me, Dame is often trying to figure out who people are by listening to what they say.
WHITEHURST: Dame has a love for historic preservation. Do you share her appreciation?
RHYNO: I love beautiful old buildings, and I think a lot of Canadian cities have done a lousy job of preserving some really impressive architecture. That said, it can be tricky to determine just which parts of the past we want to preserve. My first novel, To Me You Seem Giant, was unabashedly nostalgic for a particular time and place. For this story, I wanted to trouble Dame’s relationship with the past. Not everything about the good old’ days was good.
WHITEHURST: What’s one thing you hope readers take away from Who by Fire? Or maybe many things?
RHYNO: An inclination to read the sequel would be pretty nice! Other than that, I’d love people to consider how we negotiate the tension between past, present, and future. What parts of the past do we hold onto, and what parts do we throw away?
WHITEHURST: What led you to the world of mysteries and crime fiction? And what authors and characters inspire you?
RHYNO: A few years back, a new colleague of mine was complaining that she had to fill in for her husband at work. When I asked what he did, she told me he was a private investigator. I was fascinated by the idea that you could not only be a substitute detective, but a reluctant one.
Maybe as a result, I tend to prefer more unconventional investigators. Some of my favorite gumshoes include Thomas Pynchon’s Doc Sportello, Jonathan Lethem’s Lionel Essrog, Thomas King’s Thumps DreadfulWater, and Sara Gran’s Claire deWitt.
WHITEHURST: Got an elevator pitch? What would you tell Martin Scorsese if he called to ask about Dame’s first book?
RHYNO: I’d say, “Look, Marty. Dame Polara has spent her adult life running from her father’s shady P.I. past. Now, she’s got to rely on the skills he taught her if she’s to protect herself and the people she cares about most.” Then I’d probably ask him what it was like to hang out with Levon Helm in 1978.
WHITEHURST: You’re in line at the bookstore and you notice the person in front of you is holding your book. Do you say anything?
RHYNO: “You know what’s even better than Who by Fire? Two copies of Who by Fire.”
WHITEHURST: This may be an often-asked question but it’s one of my favorites, because the answers vary wildly. What does a typical writing day look like for Greg Rhyno?
RHYNO: I teach full-time, and I try to spend evenings with my family, so I don’t always get many opportunities to write during the day. There is a magic hour between the time my last class ends and the time I have to pick up my son from school, so I often use that hour to write. Otherwise, it’s catch as catch can.
WHITEHURST: What can readers expect from you next? And where can they find you online and in person?
RHYNO: I have a few events coming up in my neck of the woods:
Saturday, April 27th at The Rhino in Toronto, ON
Saturday, May 4th at the ArtBar in Guelph, ON
Monday, June 3rd at Another Story Bookshop in Toronto, ON
Who By Water, the second Dame Polara novel,is forthcoming from Cormorant Books in 2025.
I’m pretty searchable on Instagram, Facebook, and whatever Twitter is calling itself these days. My website is at www.gregrhyno.com.
Patrick Whitehurst 