Stanley Evans (born 1931) is a full-time Canadian writer who has been a soldier, a

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

, and deep-sea fisherman. He was born in England, immigrated to Canada in 1954 and currently resides in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

. He began his career by writing articles for newspapers and magazines. He has written two plays that were produced at the Arts Club in Vancouver, and has published several novels. Since 2005, he has published annual novels in a mystery series featuring a

Coast Salish The Coast Salish peoples are a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak on ...

man as an investigator.

Early life and education

Evans was born in England of Welsh descent. After graduating from college, he worked as a college instructor. At the age of 23, he emigrated to Canada, where he has settled in

. He worked for some time as a deep-sea fisherman.

Career

He began his writing career by publishing stories in newspapers and magazines. Some drew from his experiences as a soldier and deep-sea fisherman. Two of his plays were produced at the Arts Club in Vancouver.

Works

These two novels featured Sergeant Decker, a British Columbia frontier law official."Stanley Evans"
Crime Writers of Canada, accessed 5 November 2011 *''Outlaw Gold'' (1996) *''Snow-Coming Moon'' (1997) Evans has more recently written a series of mystery/crime fiction novels featuring Silas Seaweed, a

who is an investigator with the

Victoria Police Department The Victoria Police Department (VicPD) is the municipal police force for the City of Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria and the Esquimalt, British Columbia, Township of Esquimalt, British Columbia, Canada. It is the oldest municipal police dep ...

. Published by TouchWood Editions, the series includes: *''Seaweed on the Street'' (2005) *''Seaweed on Ice'' (2006) *''Seaweed Under Water'' (2007), received the ''Monday Magazine'' Best Novel of 2007 award *''Seaweed on the Rocks'' (2008) *''Seaweed in the Soup'' (2009) *''Seaweed in the Mythworld'' (2011)

Critical reception

Evans' books have received positive reviews in the Canadian press, and on mystery genre websites. :*"Victoria author Stanley Evans’ series protagonist, forty-year-old

hard-boiled street cop, Silas Seaweed, has a lot in common with others of his ilk–a taste for the sauce, an eye for the babes, a liking for rough justice, a disdain for police bureaucrats, a sympathy for the underdog and as much independence as his

feral cat A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat (''Felis catus'') that lives outdoors and avoids human contact; it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens ...

, PC, that he shares his one-man office with. But what sets Seaweed apart is his First Nation heritage, the off-beat characters that surround him, and his ability to call upon the traditions of his people’s distant past to solve crimes of the present. And despite Evans’ admissions that the Warrior Reserve where Seaweed lives and the Mohawt Bay Band of which Silas is a member do not exist, there is an authentic ring to each of the novels in the series that makes the settings, characters and stories significantly entertaining." M. Wayne Cunningham fo
MysteriousReviews.com
:*"Makes great use of West Coast aboriginal mythology and religion… Let's hope Silas Seaweed returns." ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' :*"… written with strong plots … worth reading and lingering over." ''

The Hamilton Spectator ''The Hamilton Spectator'', founded in 1846, is a newspaper published weekdays and Saturdays in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. One of the largest Canadian newspapers by circulation, ''The Hamilton Spectator'' is owned by Torstar. History ''The Ha ...

'' :*"Silas Seaweed’s insouciant charm is infectious, Evans’ characters from the underbelly of society are superb and critical observations of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

society are refreshingly candid and often revealing." ABCBookWorld.comABCBookWorld.com
/ref> :*"Among Canada's most exciting new

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professiona ...

. They are written in clean, crisp prose...They capture that strange mix of natural beauty and rough-around-the-edges humanity that is the essence of

." ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The C ...

Notes and references

External links

SilasSeaweed.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Stanley Writers from Victoria, British Columbia Living people Canadian fishermen Canadian mystery writers Canadian male novelists Canadian people of Welsh descent 1931 births British emigrants to Canada Novelists from British Columbia