The Bookmarked interview... with Joel Nedecky

Joel Nedecky is a writer and high school teacher whose debut novel, The Broken Detective, is released on October 22nd. The Broken Detective [TBD]is a modern noir, the action of which is set in Joel's home town of Winnipeg, Canada.

TBD follows private investigator Jake Joelsen as he struggles to solve a crime that will guarantee the safety of his loved ones, while at the same time facing the life changing consequences of his and his family’s alcoholic past.  

Above: Author Joel Nedecky.

Described by fellow crime author J. Todd Scott as "a bruising noir filled with broken glass, broken promises, and one desperately broken but unforgettable protagonist," TBD is an occasionally bleak, sometimes bruising but beautifully written story and, here, Joel discusses the novel's inception, his views on Winnipeg, the books that he loves, the authors he admires, and whether we'll be seeing more of Jake Joelsen in the future.

The Broken Detective is your first novel; what compelled you to write the book?

I love crime fiction, and I’ve always been intrigued by characters who are down and out. Drunk. Addicted. Rough past. Internal wounds that won’t fix themselves. I find it interesting to watch these people scrap and fight and try to better themselves. Jake, the protagonist of TBD, is like that. He needs help but doesn’t know where to go to get that help, and he doesn’t know how to change. I think many of us are like that.

"I’ve always been intrigued by characters who are down and out."

The novel is a modern noir; why that genre, what were your influences, and did you read a lot of noir in preparation?

I didn’t read noir specifically to write the book. It’s just what I like to read. In my opinion, noir, or what I call crime fiction, is the best vehicle to examine life in the modern era.

Above: Joel's debut novel. The Broken Detective, is released on October 22nd.

Winnipeg is your home, and also feels like a character in the book; how important was that sense of place for The Broken Detective?

It was important to share how Jake feels about the city and his place in it. Winnipeg plays second (or sixth) fiddle to Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, and Edmonton. As a result, many Winnipeggers, including Jake, have a chip on their shoulder. Winnipeg is also a blue-collar town, and the people appreciate hard work and dislike pretentiousness.

"Like most things, the bad often overshadows the good."

There are a lot of great things about Winnipeg, too, and I hope those come across in the book. However, like most things, the bad often overshadows the good. ‘The bad’ that gets talked about in Winnipeg is crime, poverty, cold weather and a history of racism toward Indigenous Peoples. It’s a complicated place.

I also love how Canadian crime writer Sam Wiebe writes about the complexities of Vancouver. I tried to do that for Winnipeg, share an honest take on the city from Jake’s perspective.

Above: Winnipeg in Canada is both Joel's home and the setting for The Broken Detective [Photo by Jawad on Unsplash].

How long did it take to write the book, and what was the most challenging aspect for you?

It’s tough to say exactly how long it took. I wrote most of TBD in 2021 and another draft over the summer of 2022. The book was nominated for Best Unpublished Manuscript by Crime Writers of Canada in May of 2023, and I signed with Run Amok near the end of that year. The book sat on the shelf in 2024 until early 2025 when I returned to it with the Run Amok team. I write first drafts fast, but I edit subsequent drafts A LOT.

was traditional publishing your preferred route, or did you consider self-publishing at any stage?

I always wanted to be published traditionally, and right now I want/need a traditional publisher to help navigate the publishing world and ensure the book is as good as it can be. I’m open to self-publishing at some point, though. I definitely like the control and speed of self-publishing.

The book is released next week; are you doing anything special to mark the occasion? 

There will be a launch in Winnipeg near the end of October. On release day I'll be going to work, then spending the evening with my family. We’ll pick up some food, and just enjoy the time together. Nothing fancy.

"My plan is to write five Jake Joelsen books."

Are we likely to see more of Jake Joelsen in the future? 

Oh, yeah. I’ve finished the first two drafts of the second book in the series. My plan is to write five Jake Joelsen books. 

What's the first book you remember loving?

The first books I remember loving were Choose Your Own Adventure books (around 1990) when I was 10. I basically stopped reading from 14- to 20-years-old, but I was a huge movie buff during those years. I eventually got back into reading in university.

Which literary character would you most like to be?

Tough one. I’ve never considered it. I love so many characters whose lives and stories are compelling, but I don’t think I’d want to be any of them.

What's your favourite movie/TV show adapted from a book?

Most adaptations struggle to capture what made the book so good. I’d probably say Mystic River, by Dennis Lehane. Amazing book. Very good movie. I also like The Town a lot, adapted from Prince of Thieves, by Chuck Hogan. Both are well-made, and keep the essence of the book.

Which book do you think should be adapted for the screen that, so far, hasn't been?

I just read The Strip by Iain Ryan, an Australian author, and it blew my mind. Sort of a True Detective season one vibe. It’s set in the 1980s in an area of Australia called the Gold Coast. It’s a sprawling epic so it would need to be a series.

Where's your favourite place to write? 

It depends on the time of year. When I’m teaching, I write at 5:30am, and I sit in my chair in the family room, laptop on my lap. During the summer (when I don’t work), I write in the public library, or in a coffee shop.

Describe your perfect writing set-up?

I need coffee, fast music and a relatively quiet, chaos-free environment. I also go through stretches where I need complete silence and therefore no music. If there’s movement around me, I usually can’t focus.

Above: Coffee, fast music and relative quiet are the perfect writing ingredients for Joel [Photo by Ante Samarzija on Unsplash].

What was the last book you read, and would you recommend it? 

The last book I finished was a novella called The Men With the Remade Face, by Matt Phillips. It’s a novella in an anthology called Myopic Duplicity, edited by Jeff Circle. I’m one story in and it’s great. I’d recommend it.

"My ‘to be read’ list is enormous, unruly and I’ll never reach the end of it."

Which book is next on your reading list? 

My ‘to be read’ list is enormous, unruly and I’ll never reach the end of it, but I love adding new titles to it. I’m going to finish Myopic Duplicity before tackling another one.

Plotter or pantser?

A bit of both. I plan the entire novel/short story in advance by writing one or two sentences for each chapter. Then I begin writing. The plot always changes along the way.

If you could have dinner with four other authors, who would you choose, and why? 

Dennis Lehane and George Pelecanos: I love their novels and their work on The Wire. Lawrence Block as number three. His Matthew Scudder series has had a huge influence on my writing. As number four… Walter Mosley. I love the Easy Rawlins books.

What book do you think you should have read, but still haven't?

I have tried to read Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian twice, but I can’t seem to do it.

How do you organise your bookshelves? 

By genre and then alphabetically within each section.

What’s your favourite book?

It’s a tie. Gone, Baby, Gone and Mystic River, by Dennis Lehane, and Eight Million Ways to Die, by Lawrence Block.

What are you currently working on?

I’m working on a standalone crime novel called Hardwired North. It’s about two friends who grew up as best friends in the same neighbourhood but lost touch. As adults in their 40s, they reconnect when a tragedy brings them together to solve a brutal crime.

To purchase a copy of THE BROKEN DETECTIVE, click here.

If you're a published author and would like to be considered for a Bookmarked interview, drop me a line at maxelwoodwrites@gmail.com