A dark secret from the past threatens to upend the idyllic life of a happy homemaker. We may have seen that plot before, but not as told by Lisa de Nikolits. Over her career of a dozen novels and innumerable short stories, de Nikolits has established a unique voice within multiple genres. From literary works to pulp noir, science fiction and even supernatural thrillers, de Nikolits has imbued many genres with her wit, humour and style. Her approach to the domestic thriller is no different.
The book is told from the point of view of Janis, who operates a successful cake baking business out of her home. At first glance, she is living a life of domestic bliss. One imagines the perfect sitcom set, a live studio audience looking on. The only major hurdles in Janis’s life are a neighbour who complains about the family dog and her headstrong 16-year-old daughter who thinks she understands the world better than her mother. However, a surprise visit from the police rattles Janis, causing her to relive the days before her stable home life and happy marriage.
De Nikolits cuts quickly to the noirish underbelly of her soap opera-suburbia, where the most pleasant people are often the most poisonous. The tailspin set off by the possibly innocuous police visit takes us into Janis’s past, a past that she has deliberately shrouded in mystery. However, it becomes clear that Janis is not the only member of her family keeping skeletons in the closet. It also becomes clear that some secrets won’t stay buried, and sometimes the dead won’t stay dead.
The tailspin set off by the possibly innocuous police visit takes us into Janis’s past, a past that she has deliberately shrouded in mystery.
Each chapter is titled, adding to the episodic TV show feeling. Janis struggles first to maintain the appearance of normalcy, then, as the stakes get higher and higher, to keep her family together and alive. The characters oscillate between extremes, kind one moment and cruel the next, saintly one second, then downright vulgar. It works within this meticulously assembled melodrama.
De Nikolits is not trying to reinvent the genre or its language or conventions, but she manages to reinvigorate it with her trademark wit, raucous scenarios and skillful balance of humour and menace. That Time I Killed You is built on a foundation of tension, which never lets the reader breathe easy. Tension between what the world sees and what lies beneath, tension between domestic bliss and a checkered past, Damocles’ sword constantly dangling. Like an expert baker, de Nikoltis has fine control of the thermostat control knob on this oven, turning up the heat with such control that, although we feel it rising, we’re cooked before we know it.
Lisa de Nikolits has lived in Canada since 2000. She holds a degree in English Literature and Philosophy and has also lived in the United States, Australia and Britain. An internationally acclaimed, multiple award-winning author of thirteen traditionally published novels, Lisa is known for psychological suspense, literary thrillers and unforgettable twists that stay with readers long after the final page. Her novels have earned consistent five-star reader praise and a loyal international readership.
Publisher: Level Best (June 16, 2026)
Paperback: 6″ x 9″ | 274 pages
ISBN: 9798898202439
Jeff Dupuis is a writer and editor living in Toronto. He is the author of The Creature X Mystery novels and numerous short stories, which have been published in The Ex-Puritan and The Temz Review among others. Jeff is the editor, alongside A.G. Pasquella, of the anthology Devouring Tomorrow: Fiction from the Future of Food, which will be published in 2025 by Dundurn Press.
- Jeff Dupuishttps://miramichireader.ca/author/jeff-dupuis/
- Jeff Dupuishttps://miramichireader.ca/author/jeff-dupuis/
- Jeff Dupuishttps://miramichireader.ca/author/jeff-dupuis/
- Jeff Dupuishttps://miramichireader.ca/author/jeff-dupuis/
- Jeff Dupuishttps://miramichireader.ca/author/jeff-dupuis/
- Jeff Dupuishttps://miramichireader.ca/author/jeff-dupuis/
