Wright was born on Kennington Park Road,[1] in South London, England.
[5] Eric Wright was the author of four mystery/detective series—the Inspector Charlie Salter Mysteries, the Lucy Trimble Brenner Mysteries, the Mel Pickett Mysteries, and the Joe Barley Mysteries—as well as a memoir Always Give a Penny to a Blind Man which covers most of Wright's life from when he was a child growing up poor in working-class London through his immigration to Canada and the beginning of his university attendance.
[7] Wright also wrote two stand-alone novels, Moodie's Tale and Finding Home, the novella "Dempsey's Lodge", and a short story, "Twins".
[4] The Charlie Salter Mysteries are "noteworthy for Wright's lucid and agreeably laconic style".
[4] In 1998, Wright received the Derrick Murdoch Award for lifetime contributions to Canadian crime writing.
[11] In the fall of 2015 Wright was notified that he had been selected for the Crime Writers of Canada Grand Master Award.