The Mayor of Côte St. Paul

Ronald J. Cooke’s second novel, The Mayor of Côte St. Paul, is the tale of a struggling writer living in Depression-era Montreal. Winnipegger Dave Manley, arrived in the city thinking that its rich atmosphere will inspire his fiction, but was met by a stream rejection slips. His luck turns, for good and bad, when he meets Cherie, a looker from Lunenberg who does dirty work for a crime boss known as The Mayor. It isn’t long before Dave is running booze between Montreal and Windsor, learning all there is to know about the slot machine and liquor rackets. Dave wants out, Cherie wants out—but there is no easy escape from The Mayor, a man who lives in luxury—through vice and murder—surrounded by the squalor of Côte St. Paul. Published in 1950, The Mayor of Côte St. Paul enjoyed the month of June on newsstands, never to be seen again. This edition is the first in 64 years.

Ronald J. Cooke was editor and publisher of Canadian Writer’s Journal. He is the author of Algonquin Adventure, The House on Craig Street, and The House on Dorchester Street.