Owen Sound may no longer be the booming port city that it was in the 19th century, as depicted in Terry Griggs? historical novel Rogues? Wedding, but the literary scene is very much alive and continues to spread its roots across the Grey & Bruce County region.

The evidence of this active artistic community can be seen at street level. As Cailey and I walked up 2nd Avenue, having just arrived in Owen Sound for the first time, we noticed the abundance of bookstores. Clear signals, we thought, of a city with a deep passion for literature.

There wasn?t an ounce of hesitation when we asked Maryann Thomas, owner and publisher of Ginger Press, who her favourite Canadian authors were. Having published his D.B. Murphy detective series, Richard Thomas was the first writer that popped into her mind.

D.B. Murphy may be a well-known character to the readers of Owen Sound and the surrounding Grey & Bruce County area, but it?s Thomas himself, the man behind the case-cracking protagonist, who is beloved in the community.