SteelTown for Mary

Battling with the loss of his wife and his overall choices in life, a retired Hamilton detective looks back on his career both personal and professional. While thinking back on some of his final cases, he connects the dots and discovers the full circle within his life, the job, the city and his lost love- finding a new way to live again - within SteelTown.







SteelTown For Mary, Memoirs From a Dick is Martin Durkin's first published book in 10 years. With his return, he departs from what most would consider standard poetry and instead embarks on new story telling territory. Taking readers on a journey both physically and emotionally compelling, Durkin brings Hamilton to life in a very endearing and realistic manner.







“If Dashiell Hammett had written poetry, he would have written this. It's a tough love poem. A layered and seductive book, making chameleon shifts from poem to memoir to hard-boiled detective fiction to love story. SteelTown for Mary is like letters from home, so strong was the sense of place that although Hamilton is not my home, it felt so."


- Lindi Pierce, Heritage writer and member of the Local and National Al Purdy A-frame Association Boards