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Looking For Henry Turner
The time is 1960. The place is Toronto. Things are not going well for Mo Gold, private investigator--to put it mildly. His brother is fleeing from unpaid gambling debts. His father is in jail. His latest client is an elderly woman whose son, Henry Turner, has been missing for eight years. Most worrisome of all, John Fat Gai, the ruthless godfather of Chinatown, thinks that Gold is withholding information from him… The characters in W.L. Liberman’s page turner are vividly drawn. The narrative is grounded in gritty social realities as the story careens through the Toronto underworld where the fault lines of ethnicity and class are like yawning chasms. Looking For Henry Turner is great storytelling and a thrilling homage to noir crime.
264 pages, ebook
First published August 22, 2013
393 people are currently reading
303 people want to read
About the author
W.L. Liberman
38 books7 followersW.L. Liberman believes in the power of story telling but is not a fan of the often excruciating psychic pain required to bring stories to life. Truthfully, years of effort and of pure, unadulterated toil is demanded. Not to sugar coat it, of course, writing is a serious endeavor. It is plain, hard work. If you’ve slogged away at construction work, at lumber jacking, delivery work, forest rangering, sandwich making, truck driving, house painting, among other things, as I have, writing is far and beyond more rigorous and exhausting. At the end of a long, often tedious, usually mind cracking process, some individual you don’t know pronounces judgment and that judgment is usually a resounding ‘No’. This business of writing is about perseverance and stick-to-it-iveness. When you get knocked down and for most of us, this happens frequently, you take a moment to reflect, to self-pity, then get back at it. You need dogged determination and a thick skin to survive. And an alternate source of income.
W.L. Liberman is currently the author of seven novels, two graphic novels and a children’s storybook. He is the founding editor and publisher of TEACH Magazine; www.teachmag.com , and has worked as a television producer and on-air commentator.
He holds an Honours BA from the University of Toronto in some subject or other and a Masters in Creative Writing from De Montfort University in the UK. He is married, currently lives in Toronto (although wishes to be elsewhere) and is father to three grown sons.
W.L. Liberman is currently the author of seven novels, two graphic novels and a children’s storybook. He is the founding editor and publisher of TEACH Magazine; www.teachmag.com , and has worked as a television producer and on-air commentator.
He holds an Honours BA from the University of Toronto in some subject or other and a Masters in Creative Writing from De Montfort University in the UK. He is married, currently lives in Toronto (although wishes to be elsewhere) and is father to three grown sons.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
May 26, 2022
Can't believe I finished it
I have a rule that I rarely ever break, about finishing books that I start. This one was debatable. It was a great detective story - and read like the narration to a Bogey movie - but the grammar and spelling were atrocious. Mixed tenses in a sentence (not just within a paragraph). Missing words. "Women" when referring to one WOMAN. And my favorite - "rod iron." Which I have to assume is meant to be "wrought" iron. Get an editor, please. No way can I read any more from this author, which is a shame, because I typically enjoy a good detective story.
I have a rule that I rarely ever break, about finishing books that I start. This one was debatable. It was a great detective story - and read like the narration to a Bogey movie - but the grammar and spelling were atrocious. Mixed tenses in a sentence (not just within a paragraph). Missing words. "Women" when referring to one WOMAN. And my favorite - "rod iron." Which I have to assume is meant to be "wrought" iron. Get an editor, please. No way can I read any more from this author, which is a shame, because I typically enjoy a good detective story.
October 10, 2016
Reviewed By Alyssa Elmore for Readers’ Favorite
Looking For Henry Turner by W.L. Liberman is an action packed sleuth novel full of surprises. Mo Gold and Arthur "Birdie" Birdwell make an unlikely PI duo working the mean streets of 1960s Toronto. Mo is a Jew, with a conman for a father and a pain in the neck younger brother constantly trying to live up to his father's skewed image. Birdie is big, black, and a "Holy Roller" Bible loving man. Together, they take on a case to find an elderly woman's son, missing for eight years. When the case ties into some trouble with a Chinese warlord involving Mo's no good brother, things heat up. Can they find the missing son for a heartbroken, but still hopeful mother? Will they be able to follow the loose leads to a young woman that holds Mo's brother's life in her unsuspecting hands? Or will Mo and Birdie become just two more victims found in the sludge of the world's largest Chinatown's back alley?
Be prepared to roll up your sleeves and get dirty as you dig through the dirt and slime of the inner city with Mo and Birdie. This story goes deep and pulls you in, giving you insight into life in Toronto's underbelly and wealthy suburban living simultaneously. Sometimes painful, sometimes hopeful, always moving. It has been a long time since I have read such a well-written novel. There were times I wanted to stop reading to shower off the city grime and lies fed to us daily, then grab a cup of coffee and sandwich. Even though the 1960s wasn't considered the best era, the author did an awesome job of portraying life during that time. It is amazing how things have changed in the way of "political correctness." The history between the main characters was interesting and heartwarming. I loved how the author gave the reader small peeks into WWII. Despite Mo's frustration at his brother's foolishness and lack of character, the reader still feels the obvious love beneath it all.
This book is more than just a story of murder, lies, drugs, and gangs. Beneath it all, you feel the ties of a deep familial bond and loyalty of friends. I was pleasantly surprised by Looking For Henry Turner by W.L. Liberman. It was a delightful mixture of sleuth and noir with a hint of action. It had a few rough scenes that made me feel that perhaps a man would enjoy this book more than a woman, but, then, I could just be sensitive. Although it was a great read, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone under eighteen due to some mature content.
Looking For Henry Turner by W.L. Liberman is an action packed sleuth novel full of surprises. Mo Gold and Arthur "Birdie" Birdwell make an unlikely PI duo working the mean streets of 1960s Toronto. Mo is a Jew, with a conman for a father and a pain in the neck younger brother constantly trying to live up to his father's skewed image. Birdie is big, black, and a "Holy Roller" Bible loving man. Together, they take on a case to find an elderly woman's son, missing for eight years. When the case ties into some trouble with a Chinese warlord involving Mo's no good brother, things heat up. Can they find the missing son for a heartbroken, but still hopeful mother? Will they be able to follow the loose leads to a young woman that holds Mo's brother's life in her unsuspecting hands? Or will Mo and Birdie become just two more victims found in the sludge of the world's largest Chinatown's back alley?
Be prepared to roll up your sleeves and get dirty as you dig through the dirt and slime of the inner city with Mo and Birdie. This story goes deep and pulls you in, giving you insight into life in Toronto's underbelly and wealthy suburban living simultaneously. Sometimes painful, sometimes hopeful, always moving. It has been a long time since I have read such a well-written novel. There were times I wanted to stop reading to shower off the city grime and lies fed to us daily, then grab a cup of coffee and sandwich. Even though the 1960s wasn't considered the best era, the author did an awesome job of portraying life during that time. It is amazing how things have changed in the way of "political correctness." The history between the main characters was interesting and heartwarming. I loved how the author gave the reader small peeks into WWII. Despite Mo's frustration at his brother's foolishness and lack of character, the reader still feels the obvious love beneath it all.
This book is more than just a story of murder, lies, drugs, and gangs. Beneath it all, you feel the ties of a deep familial bond and loyalty of friends. I was pleasantly surprised by Looking For Henry Turner by W.L. Liberman. It was a delightful mixture of sleuth and noir with a hint of action. It had a few rough scenes that made me feel that perhaps a man would enjoy this book more than a woman, but, then, I could just be sensitive. Although it was a great read, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone under eighteen due to some mature content.
May 4, 2022
it's a good Canadian noir tough detective guys with big hearts and enough victims to make you need a score card. Numerous villains and one big villain, keep giving Mo headaches. No, i mean literal headaches. Mo gets hit over the head, lights out so many times- again you need a scorecard. Predicting severe brain injury for good old Mo when he gets older provided he survives his career. Even his dad gets in on the "hit Mo in the head" act. Truthfully some of this got old, but it's still a good detective story. And then there are the victims, also in plentiful supply. Birdie the man of few words, speaks and people listen. Mo speaks and speaks and speaks and people giggle or hit him in the head. Birdie speaks softly, or in a deep rumble and carries a big fist. Need a damsel in distress? Got some. Need some side murders? Got it covered. Need women who are fickle? got those too. Entertaining if you like these sort of detective mysteries, and face it, people do love mysteries.
August 18, 2022
A Fascinating Mystery
The edge-on-your-seat narrative, which takes place in Toronto, Canada in 1960, has well-defined racially and ethnically diverse characters, great dialogue, and descriptive settings. Protagonists Mo Gold and Arthur Birdie Birdwell are partners in a PI firm and are as opposite as night and day. Mo is Jewish, and Birdie is Black who comes over as an intimidating man but is a Godly intellect of few words, which makes the story even more captivating when they are hired to locate a man missing for 8 years. Yet things are not what they appear to be when Alison Lawson, an arrogant, privileged, obnoxious character, appears as well as other puzzling characters. It is an interesting tale with many sudden twists and turns. It keeps you guessing from start to finish, exposing some cold-blooded, puzzling players, secrets and lies, deception, prejudice, manipulation, crime, the abuse of money, power and influence, corruption and murder, slowly building up to an ending that will shock you to the core.
The edge-on-your-seat narrative, which takes place in Toronto, Canada in 1960, has well-defined racially and ethnically diverse characters, great dialogue, and descriptive settings. Protagonists Mo Gold and Arthur Birdie Birdwell are partners in a PI firm and are as opposite as night and day. Mo is Jewish, and Birdie is Black who comes over as an intimidating man but is a Godly intellect of few words, which makes the story even more captivating when they are hired to locate a man missing for 8 years. Yet things are not what they appear to be when Alison Lawson, an arrogant, privileged, obnoxious character, appears as well as other puzzling characters. It is an interesting tale with many sudden twists and turns. It keeps you guessing from start to finish, exposing some cold-blooded, puzzling players, secrets and lies, deception, prejudice, manipulation, crime, the abuse of money, power and influence, corruption and murder, slowly building up to an ending that will shock you to the core.
May 2, 2022
Outstanding yet gruesome at times thriller
A thriller of fast action and outstandIngly gruesome scenarios. Mo Gold and Birdie, former army veterans and more recently police officers, now private detectives, are hired to find a missing son. A son who mysteriously and suddenly disappeared 8 years before. What they discover is a Web of deceit, gangsters and depths of murderous intrique. A story that has more twists and turns than a fairground roller coaster and more dark characters than an Agatha Christie murder/ Mystery.
A thriller of fast action and outstandIngly gruesome scenarios. Mo Gold and Birdie, former army veterans and more recently police officers, now private detectives, are hired to find a missing son. A son who mysteriously and suddenly disappeared 8 years before. What they discover is a Web of deceit, gangsters and depths of murderous intrique. A story that has more twists and turns than a fairground roller coaster and more dark characters than an Agatha Christie murder/ Mystery.
September 8, 2023
All the pieces fit as Mo Gold and his
partner Arthur Birdwell try to find the missing Henry Turner in addition to other dangerous elements in the lives of private detectives. A Jewish man and his very large schwarz partner raise some eyebrows in this story set in Canada where prejudice is perhaps more subtle than in the States or so says Gold who doesn’t like it one bit. Lots of action and enough tension to make you read on until the resolution. I’ll read more of these adventures.
partner Arthur Birdwell try to find the missing Henry Turner in addition to other dangerous elements in the lives of private detectives. A Jewish man and his very large schwarz partner raise some eyebrows in this story set in Canada where prejudice is perhaps more subtle than in the States or so says Gold who doesn’t like it one bit. Lots of action and enough tension to make you read on until the resolution. I’ll read more of these adventures.
May 31, 2022
Confusing
I think that the author ,too often made reference to a fallacy, because religion is not a race.Any group can practice a faith but that does make it exclusive to that group people when geography and history clearly shoes that is not true.
I think that the author ,too often made reference to a fallacy, because religion is not a race.Any group can practice a faith but that does make it exclusive to that group people when geography and history clearly shoes that is not true.
August 5, 2022
i got this for free. June 28, 2016, it came out. teen & young adult law & crime fiction ebooks. teen & young adult detective story ebooks. contemporary literary fiction. i enjoy a suspenseful read. it was or is curious. had me wondering ...where will this head? go?
August 3, 2024
A gritty storg
This novel is !one an old black and white Hollywood movie. Very atmospheric with language and descriptions of the characters.
Author liberman needs to know it's "wrought iron", not rod iron
This novel is !one an old black and white Hollywood movie. Very atmospheric with language and descriptions of the characters.
Author liberman needs to know it's "wrought iron", not rod iron
March 9, 2025
Required Reading
Old-world Canadian charm meets rough & tumble PI duo. I couldn't put it down!
Unlike so many books today, it didn't rely on sex and obscenities to entice the reader. Good, picturesque writing held my interest throughout this wonderful book!
Old-world Canadian charm meets rough & tumble PI duo. I couldn't put it down!
Unlike so many books today, it didn't rely on sex and obscenities to entice the reader. Good, picturesque writing held my interest throughout this wonderful book!
May 17, 2017
Very good mystery. I especially like the character development and the location descriptions along with the time period slang.
February 28, 2018
If you want to hide, hide in full view, just change your attitude.
Good mystery story from mid-2oth century. Good character descriptions.
Good mystery story from mid-2oth century. Good character descriptions.
May 2, 2022
Looking for Henry Turner
This seems long winded and had too many characters to keep track of. I enjoyed it but was glad when I finished it.
This seems long winded and had too many characters to keep track of. I enjoyed it but was glad when I finished it.
May 3, 2022
FAVORITE GENRE
This book was written in my favorite genre. The hard boiled detective with a good heart. It has a good storyline with some very interesting characters.
This book was written in my favorite genre. The hard boiled detective with a good heart. It has a good storyline with some very interesting characters.
May 22, 2022
Nice escape reading. Protagonist is having a rough time.
May 24, 2022
Good story
I had a hard time really getting into the story but once I did, I couldn't put it down. Mo must be superhuman though from the various fights he got into
I had a hard time really getting into the story but once I did, I couldn't put it down. Mo must be superhuman though from the various fights he got into
May 31, 2022
Good read
Interesting characters who are well described. The way the author described the scenes was very good. It made you feel that you are in the story.
Interesting characters who are well described. The way the author described the scenes was very good. It made you feel that you are in the story.
September 15, 2022
Not so good
The storyline didn't move along. I couldn't tell which decade this story took place, too many weird references. I gave up less than half way through.
The storyline didn't move along. I couldn't tell which decade this story took place, too many weird references. I gave up less than half way through.
October 30, 2022
great story
I really liked the time frame that the book was written in. Excellent main characters. Very believable story line. Well worth the read.
I really liked the time frame that the book was written in. Excellent main characters. Very believable story line. Well worth the read.
November 3, 2022
Enjoyed this one. Written similar to Chandler s old noir style. Tough guy PI with big sidekick. Very good plot. Memorable characters.
October 29, 2024
Great read. If you like crime/mystery/P.I. books you will enjoy this for sure.
November 4, 2025
interesting book
The characters were great and the interaction between the main ones kept you rooting for good over evil, it was written so you felt like you were right there,
The characters were great and the interaction between the main ones kept you rooting for good over evil, it was written so you felt like you were right there,
December 23, 2025
Entertaining
This book was a great read full of action packed vengeance. I was,thrilled to read what all transpired among all the,characters.
This book was a great read full of action packed vengeance. I was,thrilled to read what all transpired among all the,characters.
March 24, 2017
A real story teller
A real story teller holds you and keeps you reading more . I often have the villain figured out. Not worth this writer!!
A real story teller holds you and keeps you reading more . I often have the villain figured out. Not worth this writer!!
March 8, 2017
If you like The thin man books by Dashiell Hammett, I think you will love this mystery. Mo Gold and Birdie Birdwell are private eyes in Toronto. The day they meet Aida Turner they are in for a suspense filled mystery. They learn that Aida's son Henry Turner has been missing eight years and the adventure begins. This is a well written book that keeps the readers attention and tease there brain as they try to figure out the ending for themselves.
October 9, 2016
‘Ying had committed an unpardonable sin. He'd stolen from John. We found Ying. We just didn't count on him being dead.’
Canadian author W.L. Libermann has published eight novels, two graphic novels, a children’s storybook, and is founding editor and publisher of TEACH Magazine. He also has worked as a television producer and on-air commentator (as well as lumberjacking, delivery work, forest rangering, sandwich making, truck driving, house painting etc as we learn form his hilarious biography). He earned his BA from the University of Toronto and his Master’s in Creative Writing from De Montfort University in the UK. The image on the front cover is the best lead-in to meting the main characters of this novel – the shadows of two men, on considerably taller than the other – in a sense of mystery that suits the motif of this engrossing book.
We are in Toronto, 1960 and in a few opening words the background need to understand the direction of the story is obvious – ‘Ying Hee Fong looked like an angel minus the wings. Whoever shot him did a good job. He couldn't have been deader if he'd lived then died again. Blood gushed from a jagged hole in his right temple, spilling into a sticky pool circling his head. He looked serene. Dark eyes stared into eternity, legs sprawled, arms thrown up over his shoulders. Just like a kid making angels in the snow. Except the snow melted, stripping bare the rotting garbage of a back alley in Chinatown. Ying worked for John Fat Gai, a gambler and racketeer. John ran illegal poker games and craps in dingy rooms above chop suey joints and small food markets where, for a nickel, you could catch a disease and buy a rotting cabbage. Wherever you found a spare table, chairs, bootleg whiskey and suckers willing to throw their money away, the action never stopped… John found out Ying had been skimming the pot. Ying went into hiding; an impossibility in a city where dirty money counted, information came cheap and fear ruled above the law. In a city known as Toronto the Good. Funny. I never seemed to see that side.’
And the tightly written synopsis moves us into this fine mystery – ‘Mo Gold and Arthur Birdwell, aka Birdie, are like fish out of water. Mo is Jewish and sardonic; Birdie's black, thoughtful and gargantuan. They're both private detectives. Henry Turner disappeared eight years ago, without a trace. His mother wants him back. Mo and Birdie try to find him. They search high and low. Mo has family issues. His brother, Eli, is a rotten gambler. He’s in hock to John Fat Gai — the city’s most notorious gangster. Mo and Birdie need to find John’s missing money. If they do, John will free Eli. If not, Eli is toast. They’ve got three days. Mo’s father, Jake, is in prison on a manslaughter beef. Jake and Mo have an acrimonious relationship. After all, Mo worked as a homicide cop while Jake plied his criminal trade. When Jake escapes from prison, all hell breaks loose. The city is known as Toronto the Good. But Mo never sees that side.’ Complex, yes but in a good way, the way mystery clues surface and characters become three-dimensional.
WL Liberman enters the big leagues with this novel and he stands the test well.
Canadian author W.L. Libermann has published eight novels, two graphic novels, a children’s storybook, and is founding editor and publisher of TEACH Magazine. He also has worked as a television producer and on-air commentator (as well as lumberjacking, delivery work, forest rangering, sandwich making, truck driving, house painting etc as we learn form his hilarious biography). He earned his BA from the University of Toronto and his Master’s in Creative Writing from De Montfort University in the UK. The image on the front cover is the best lead-in to meting the main characters of this novel – the shadows of two men, on considerably taller than the other – in a sense of mystery that suits the motif of this engrossing book.
We are in Toronto, 1960 and in a few opening words the background need to understand the direction of the story is obvious – ‘Ying Hee Fong looked like an angel minus the wings. Whoever shot him did a good job. He couldn't have been deader if he'd lived then died again. Blood gushed from a jagged hole in his right temple, spilling into a sticky pool circling his head. He looked serene. Dark eyes stared into eternity, legs sprawled, arms thrown up over his shoulders. Just like a kid making angels in the snow. Except the snow melted, stripping bare the rotting garbage of a back alley in Chinatown. Ying worked for John Fat Gai, a gambler and racketeer. John ran illegal poker games and craps in dingy rooms above chop suey joints and small food markets where, for a nickel, you could catch a disease and buy a rotting cabbage. Wherever you found a spare table, chairs, bootleg whiskey and suckers willing to throw their money away, the action never stopped… John found out Ying had been skimming the pot. Ying went into hiding; an impossibility in a city where dirty money counted, information came cheap and fear ruled above the law. In a city known as Toronto the Good. Funny. I never seemed to see that side.’
And the tightly written synopsis moves us into this fine mystery – ‘Mo Gold and Arthur Birdwell, aka Birdie, are like fish out of water. Mo is Jewish and sardonic; Birdie's black, thoughtful and gargantuan. They're both private detectives. Henry Turner disappeared eight years ago, without a trace. His mother wants him back. Mo and Birdie try to find him. They search high and low. Mo has family issues. His brother, Eli, is a rotten gambler. He’s in hock to John Fat Gai — the city’s most notorious gangster. Mo and Birdie need to find John’s missing money. If they do, John will free Eli. If not, Eli is toast. They’ve got three days. Mo’s father, Jake, is in prison on a manslaughter beef. Jake and Mo have an acrimonious relationship. After all, Mo worked as a homicide cop while Jake plied his criminal trade. When Jake escapes from prison, all hell breaks loose. The city is known as Toronto the Good. But Mo never sees that side.’ Complex, yes but in a good way, the way mystery clues surface and characters become three-dimensional.
WL Liberman enters the big leagues with this novel and he stands the test well.
October 22, 2016
“Looking for Henry Turner” is W. L. Liberman’s novel, taking place in the 1960s with some highly entertaining dynamics between two completely different individuals. We have the pleasure of meeting Mo and Birdie, two private detectives that could not be more different, but end up working together on various issues. Mo’s family is a mess, which leads to a sibling getting involved with a gang and owes money that Mo has to find. On top of his brother, Mo’s father is also a mess, recently released from prison that could potentially get Mo into something negative. I honestly find Mo and Birdie work great together and have some fun moments, but this book gets pretty gritty at certain points because it gets involved with the underbelly of the city of Toronto. The way that Liberman has written the characters and his ability to accurately develop Mo and Birdie as they react to scenarios defines Liberman as a great author.
October 28, 2016
Its 1960 and we meet two Private Detectives who are handling and juggling a load of personal issues when a woman walks into their office requesting that they seek out her long lost son. Lost for 8 years now and she wants a last chance at seeing him before she might possibly pass away. Set in the middle of a crime boss’s revenge and a father who broke out of prison, this story twists and turns along, not letting you really get a handle on how it might end until you arrive at the end.
I really like it, it was full of intrigue, suspense, some action, drama (especially family drama), courage and the building of relationships. The writing style was easy to follow along, nothing that drew my attention away from the story such as grammar errors and such. A great crime/mystery novel to immerse yourself in for a few hours.
I really like it, it was full of intrigue, suspense, some action, drama (especially family drama), courage and the building of relationships. The writing style was easy to follow along, nothing that drew my attention away from the story such as grammar errors and such. A great crime/mystery novel to immerse yourself in for a few hours.
October 28, 2016
This book screams noir detective, but the lead character, Mo, is a little more self-hating and admits it more so than your average private detective of the time. In other words, he’s a jerk, but he could be much worse. There are huge racial undertones in this book, which are a sign of the time period the book is written in, but are also quite relevant to this day and age, since not too much has changed in some areas and instances. The title refers to what the case is about and it really drives everything about this novel. I found myself not caring about anything other than finding out what happened to Henry Turner, and I was not disappointed when the answer was revealed. I love the character of Birdie, Mo’s partner, the most, especially his hearty appetite, and I would love to read about more cases that this duo needs to solve.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews