murder

Operation Vanished by Helen C. Escott

Helen C. Escott’s Operation Vanished follows closely on the heels of her bestselling Atlantic Canadian thriller Operation Wormwood (2018, Flanker Press). While that book dealt with an investigation by the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, Operation Vanished has the RCMP investigating some unsolved abductions and murders of women back in the 1950s. Heading up the investigative team is RCMP Corporal Gail McNaughton, whose own father is a retired career Mountie.… Continue reading

Blindshot by Denis Coupal

On the cover of Blindshot is the silhouette of a crow, which is significant for, near the beginning of the story, a crow flies into the massive window of Valhalla, the country estate of Paul and Catherine Carignan, located in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. This can be taken as a bad omen, and Catherine quickly finds the injured bird and places it near the woodpile for it to either fly away if better, or die in peace.… Continue reading

The Court of Better Fiction: Three Trials, Two Executions, and Arctic Sovereignty by Debra Komar

The Court of Better Fiction is a concise, scathing, and at the same time, sympathetic account of a travesty of justice committed against the Indigenous peoples living above the Arctic Circle.

Poplar Falls: The Death of Charlie Baker by Pierre C. Arseneault

Just down the road a piece from Miramichi on Route 126, you’ll pass through the lovely little Acadian town of Rogersville. Famous for their annual Bluegrass Festival, it is also the birthplace of Pierre C. Arseneault, whose most recent book is a bit of a departure from his past novels of “things that go bump in the night” type of story. Poplar Falls: The Death of Charlie Baker is a crime/mystery that’s a little bit different. … Continue reading

Lindstrom’s Progress (Trilogy #2) by John Moss

Intrigued by the unlikely invitation from a detective in Vienna to prove she murdered her lover, Harry Lindstrom finds himself in a strained alliance with a woman who seems to have stepped out of a painting by Klimt. His chaotic pursuit to unravel her story leads him home to Toronto, then back to Vienna, Salzburg, and salt mines near the ancient village of Hallstadtt, where stories from the past and present merge with horrific finality. Lindstrom's Progress is the second in a trilogy, between Lindstrom Alone and Lindstrom Unbound.

Murder Lost to Time by Joseph A. Lapello

year is 1917. Less than two decades into the new century and already the Great War is occurring in the muddy fields of France. Soon there will be the Spanish Influenza which will kill many more millions. An inauspicious start to a new millennium, to be sure. In one of Canada’s largest cities, Toronto, there has been a murder. A cab driver is found dead in west-end Toronto, stabbed multiple times.… Continue reading