The Famous Authors of Murdoch Mysteries
Don't we all love wondering, what if? What would happen if our favourite Toronto detective, Murdoch, bumped shoulders with famous author, Mark Twain?
I'll tell you this: there's usually a murder. The authors appearing in Murdoch are storytellers who always find themselves placed in a gripping story themselves.
Mark Twain
"Marked Twain" Season 9, Episode 2. Actor: William Shatner
Played by none other than William Shatner, Mark Twain angers his Toronto' audience with a controversial anti-imperial speech. Then, someone tries to shoot him.
Samuel Clemons (1835-1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was the author of several American classics, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Lucy Maud Montgomery
Season 9, Episode 12. Actor: Alison Louder
Lucy Maud Montgomery enrolls in George Crabtree's first writing class while on a short visit of Toronto.
Lucy Maud Montgomery (1874-1942) is a legendary Canadian author best known for her 1908 novel, Anne of Green Gables. In this episode of Murdoch, Crabtree suggests Montgomery add dead bodies, ghosts and change the title of her book to "Dan of Green Gables".
HG Wells
"Future Imperfect" Season 3, Episode 8. Actor: Peter Mikhail
Murdoch doesn't support the selective breeding philosophy of eugenicists, but he is impressed to see the guest of honor, renowned author H.G. Wells at the local eugenics society. In "Future Imperfect," Wells is there to do research for his sci-fi novel, when body parts are discovered in a nearby pond.
The English writer and social critic, Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) is the author of dozens of novels and short stories, but is most known for his science fiction novels The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds and The Invisible Man.
Jack London
Season 5, Episode 1. Actor: Aaron Ashmore
When Murdoch leaves Toronto for the Yukon in pursuit of solace and fortune, he reunites with an old friend and prison mate. Two murders happen and they take it upon themselves to investigate. Before Murdoch returns to Toronto, he tells his friend Jack that he might return to the west, based on "the call of the wild."
American author, Jack London (1876-1916) wrote many adventure stories that were based on his own experiences in the Yukon Territories and Northern Territories. His observations form much of the material for his internationally famous books Call of the Wild (1903), The Sea Wolf (1904) and White Fang (1906).
Helen Keller
8 Footsteps: Season 11, Episode 3. Actor: Amanda Richer
At a dinner honouring Helen Keller, guests dine without light so that they can experience what it's like being blind. But someone is missing on the other side of the darkness.
Helen Keller (1880-1968) is best known as the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree, and for her autobiography, The Story of My Life (1903). She was an advocate for the blind and deaf, political activist, educator and lecturer.
Arthur Conan Doyle
Episodes: Elementary, My Dear Murdoch, Belly Speaker, A Study in Sherlock
Actor: Geraint Wyn Davies
This mystery writer makes several appearances on Murdoch. After hearing of Murdoch's handling of a murder case, Doyle takes him on adventures with the supernatural and murder investigations, and often leads murdoch to think outside his usual logical paths.
Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) is famous for creating the character, Detective Sherlock Holmes, as well as writing four novels and more than fifty short stories about Holmes and Dr. Watson.
H.P. Lovecraft
Season 10, Episode 16. Actor: Tyler East
The discovery of a body and some grotesque sketches leads Murdoch to suspect a gang of death-obsessed teenagers rebelling against wealth. A young writer, H.P. Lovecraft joined this group a month earlier. His fascination with death could provide motive for murder after Murdoch discovers the sketches of the corpe were his.
Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890–1937), better known as H.P. Lovecraft, was a horror fiction author, famous for his novels including The Call of Cthulhu and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, and his correspondence. Lovecraft was virtually unknown during his lifetime and died in poverty, but after his death, became one of the greatest influences on weird and horror fiction.