April 2007

Linwood Barclay, Stone Rain: Zack Walker Mystery #4

Metropolitan newspaper writer Zack Walker has a knack for stumbling onto deadly stories. But it’s one that his good friend Trixie Snelling doesn’t want told that’s about to unleash a storm of trouble. As a professional dominatrix in the suburbs, Trixie has her share of secrets, but Zack has no idea what she’s really hiding when a local newspaperman threatens to do an exposé on her…not until Zack finds a dead body strapped to the bondage cross in her basement dungeon.
Now Zack is implicated in a murder, Trixie is missing, and everything he thought he knew about his friend, his town, even his own marriage, reveals a darker side…

Mass market paperback
Bantam
ISBN: 978-0-553-80456-0
May 2007
$8.99 (US$6.99)

Joan Boswell, Cut to the Quick: A Hollis Grant Mystery

Hollis Grant is back, this time in Toronto, hoping for a quiet summer of study. Hollis is a painter and she hopes to spend some time taking a course in painting at the College of Art from her best friend's husband. But the murder of her friend's secretive stepson puts an end to those plans. Hollis soon discovers all is not as it seems. Was the stepson the real target or is it his brother or his father, famous artist and Hollis's instructor? What clandestine lives have the young man and his father hidden from the family? Would someone kill them because of their secrets?

Trade paperback
RendezVous Crime (Napoleon & Company)
ISBN: 978-1-894917-47-6
April 2007
$14.95

Jeff Buick, Shell Game

There’s always one move you don’t see.

That’s what Taylor Simons and her husband, Alan Bestwick, find out when they lose everything to Edward Brand, a high-stakes con man with the ethics of a pit viper.

But they’re hardly about to just lie down and die. They go after Brand on a crazy chase that leads through Paris, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta and finally to ancient ruins on a windswept plateau high above Oaxaca, Mexico.

When you think you’ve got it figured out, another twist is just around the corner.

Right to the last page.

Vicki Cameron, Shillings Teachers’ Guide and Student Handbook

A workbook on CD to assist the study of Shillings, a historical novel for ages 8-12. Ideal for teachers and homeschoolers. Individual pages may be copied for instructional use, or the student can work from the screen.

Includes vocabulary and study questions for each chapter, plus games and puzzles. After reading the whole book, the student can compete higher level vocabulary exercises, study questions, and learning activities.

Brenda Chapman, Where Trouble Leads: A Jennifer Bannon Mystery (YA)

Jill Culiner, Slanderous Tongue

Epineux-le-Rainsouin is a sleepy village where the mere spectacle of an amateur ethnologist from Canada washing her windows is enough to excite the local gossips. But that’s before Didier Blot, Epineux's garde champêtre – official town dogsbody – disappears. When rumours start collecting about Didier's sexual escapades and his environmental activism, the local veterinarian has good reason to fear he may become a murder suspect. But when he urges his Canadian petite amie to find out on the sly what the locals are saying, she soon uncovers some curious connections…and some nasty secrets of her own.

With its witty dialogue and vignettes of a rapidly vanishing French village lifestyle, Slanderous Tongue is an inside look at the lies and salacious rumours lurking beneath the surface of a centuries-old pocket of rural France.

Anne Emery, Obit

Honora Finkelstein & Susan Smily, The Lawyer Who Died Trying

Psychic sleuth Ariel Quigley is back, and this time she’s dealing with the death of a prominent lawyer, a custody battle, an investment scheme that may be a scam, and the machinations of a black magician. Add to this a budding romance with a hunky cop, a cast of kooky new friends who write naughty limericks, a killer Halloween party, and a ghost that just won’t leave her alone. Then Ariel’s life is threatened…by a force from the Spanish Inquisition!

Hilliard & Harris
June 2007
Hardcover edition:
ISBN: 978-1-59133-190-2
US$28.95
Trade paperback edition:
ISBN: 978-1-59133-191-9
US$16.95

Honora Finkelstein & Susan Smily,
Killer Cookbook #2: Recipes to Accompany The Lawyer Who Died Trying

The Lawyer Who Died Trying introduced Psychic sleuth Ariel Quigley to a few new restaurants, and several new people to Bernice's cooking. Throw in weird Halloween party food, and these 45 recipes will help you solve one mystery – why everybody eats so much in the Ariel Quigley mysteries!

Lyn Hamilton, The Chinese Alchemist: An Archeological Mystery

Toronto antique dealer Lara McClintoch is asked by a friend to purchase a silver box dating to eighth century T'ang dynasty China. The extremely valuable box contains an alchemical formula for the elixir of immortality. Minutes before the auction, the box is withdrawn from sale, only to reappear in China at another auction house. Lara travels to Beijing to attempt once again to purchase it. This time, the box is stolen. When a rival for the box dies mysteriously, and the man who may have stolen it is murdered, Lara travels to Xi'an to find not only the box, but to unmask a murderer.

Nate Hendley, Bonnie and Clyde: A Biography

This book takes a critical look at Bonnie and Clyde, the most famous criminal couple America has ever produced. Author Nate Hendley tries to sort out fact from fiction as he details the murderous crimes and times of this Depression-era duo.

Robert J. Hoshowsky, The Last To Die:
Ronald Turpin, Arthur Lucas, and the End of Capital Punishment in Canada

Although they committed separate crimes, Arthur Lucas and Ronald Turpin met their deaths on the same scaffold at Toronto's Don Jail on December 11, 1962. They were the last two people executed in Canada, but surprisingly little was known about them until now.

The Last to Die is the first book to uncover the lives and deaths of Turpin, a Canadian criminal, and Lucas, a Detroit gangster. The result of more than five years of research, The Last to Die is based on original interviews, hidden documents, trial transcripts, and newspaper accounts, and features crime scene photos and never-before-published documents.

Dave Hugelschaffer, One Careless Moment: A Porter Cassel Mystery

Porter Cassel, on loan from the Alberta Forest Service, is given command of a fire in Montana. Resources are scarce, due to numerous higher-priority fires. Cassel, without a helicopter, is unable to conduct a preliminary reconnaissance. Taking what seems an insignificant risk, he and one of his men climb a ridge for an overview of the fire. Flames roar unexpectedly up the ridge and trap the two men, who frantically deploy their fire shelters.  Only Cassel survives, scorched and stunned. Was his decision to climb the ridge a moment of carelessness? Or is there a more sinister explanation?

Maureen Jennings, A Journeyman to Grief: A Detective Murdoch Mystery

In 1858, a young woman on her honeymoon is forcibly abducted, taken across the border from Canada, and sold into slavery. Thirty-eight years later, Detective Murdoch is working on a murder case where the dead man, the owner of one of Toronto’s livery stables, was found horsewhipped and left hanging from his wrists in his tack room. His wife claims that a considerable sum of money has been stolen. Then a second man is also murdered, his body strangely tied as if he were a rebellious slave. Murdoch has to find out whether Toronto’s small “coloured” community has a vicious murderer in its midst – an investigation that puts his own life in danger.

Dan Kalla, Blood Lies

Ben Dafoe is desperate to find out how his blood wound up on the walls of the brutal murder scene of his ex-fiancée. Going on the run from Seattle to Vancouver, the young ER doctor assumes he is looking for his missing-and-presumed-dead identical twin who, like his former fiancée, was another casualty of drug addiction. But Ben’s frantic journey takes him through the underworld of the drug trade on both sides of the border and deep into a deceitful web where he eventually learns that, figuratively and literally, sometimes blood lies.

Dan Kalla, Rage Therapy

Dr. Joel Ashman, a young widowed psychiatrist, narrates two interwoven stories. One follows the fatal beating of his mentor Stanley Kolberg, and the other the suicide of a tragic young patient, Angela Connor. A year apart, the deaths are seemingly unrelated. But as the investigation into Kolberg’s murder wades into an ugly world of sadomasochism and patient abuse, the relevance to the death of Joel’s patient grows. And after the murder of a second psychiatrist, Joel realizes he is on a crash course with someone willing to do anything to conceal the past…

Suzanne F. Kingsmill, Forever Dead: A Cordi O'Callaghan Mystery

Joseph Lederman, When Good Men Do Nothing

Written by a retired career cop, this book profiles several murders and the people involved.

Does post traumatic stress disorder play havoc on our lives? There’s a reason…

Read about the many children who have been abused and how they suffer for the rest of their lives – children like the girl who was four when she was first raped and the ten-year-old boy who found his mother dead after his father had murdered her.

You will be reminded of Dr. Martin Luther King’s quotation: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter!”

N. J. Lindquist, Glitter of Diamonds: A Manziuk & Ryan Mystery

After a Toronto sports talk-show host asks on-air for a volunteer to knock some sense into the home team's temperamental new pitcher, police detectives Manziuk and Ryan hustle to catch a murderer swinging a lethal bat before the case escalates into an international incident.

"[Manziuk) is white, an abrupt, patronizing veteran, while [Ryan] is a recently promoted, vivacious black woman-but in Lindquist's debut mystery [Shaded Light] the two rub elbows and tempers to captivating effect." – Publisher's Weekly

In Glitter of Diamonds, Lindquist again hooks readers with deftly drawn characters, complex story-lines, and thought-provoking issues, served up with her unique mix of tongue-in-cheek humour and empathy. www.murderwillout.com

Mary Jane Maffini, Organize Your Corpses: A Charlotte Adams Mystery

When thirty-year-old Charlotte Adams returns home to establish her personal organizing business in the historic town of Woodbridge, New York, she's looking forward to reconnecting with her old school friends. She's hoping that her two rescued miniature dachshunds will help her forget her cheating ex-fiancé. She's definitely not expecting to find her first client, the tyrannical retired teacher Helen "Hellfire" Henley, dead in a pile of debris. Things get worse when the evidence points to Charlotte, especially since her former best friend and current nemesis, Sgt. Pepper Monahan is leading the investigation. Try organizing your way out of that, lady.

Rick Mofina, A Perfect Grave: A Jason Wade Thriller

A Perfect Grave is the third thriller in Rick Mofina's acclaimed series featuring crime reporter Jason Wade. The series debuted with The Dying Hour, which the International Thriller Writers named a finalist for a Thriller Award. This was followed by Every Fear. In A Perfect Grave, Jason Wade's pursuit of the killer of a beloved Seattle nun leads to Canada and ultimately to his father's dark secret from his troubled days as a Seattle cop. New York Times best-selling author Tess Gerritsen says: "A Perfect Grave is a lightning-paced thriller." The Ottawa-based Mofina is a two-time winner of the Arthur Ellis Award.  www.rickmofina.com

Sue Pike, editor, Locked Up

Colonel By built the Rideau Canal to defend against an American invasion. He couldn't have imagined the carnage twenty of Canada's best mystery writers would wreak along this peaceful waterway two centuries later. In Kingston, a young lawyer named John A. Macdonald investigates the death of a wealthy landlord. At Jones Falls a lockmaster finds a nasty use for a sluice. And there seems to be a corpse for each of the eight locks at Ottawa. Stories range from dark tales of redemption to comic romps, from historical to modern day and there's even a ghost or two for good measure.

Peter Robinson, Piece of My Heart: An Inspector Banks Novel

At the end of a rock festival in 1969, a girl’s body is found in abandoned in a sleeping bag. When Detective Inspector Chadwick discovers the victim was connected to a local band, the Mad Hatters, he is unwillingly drawn into the psychedelic drug scene. In the present, DCI Alan Banks investigates the murder of a music journalist working on a feature about the Mad Hatters, who are embarking on a reunion tour. To understand the present, Banks must revisit the past, where he finds one band member fried his brains with drugs, and another was found mysteriously drowned in a swimming pool. Banks must act quickly to prevent another tragedy, as the truth reuniting past and present finally emerges.

Peter Robinson, The Penguin Book of Crime Stories

International bestselling author Peter Robinson has put together a marvellous collection of 15 brilliant crime stories, including one of his own. These gripping stories will surprise and delight readers, and, occasionally, scare the living daylights out them. The Penguin Book of Crime Stories is a must-read collection featuring writers with a razor-sharp talent for crime writing – Robert Barnard, Mark Billingham, Michael Connelly, John Harvey, José Latour, Laura Lippman, Mary Jane Maffini, Sara Paretsky, George Pelecanos, Ian Rankin, Peter Robinson, Rob Sawyer, Peter Sellers, Karin Slaughter, and Eric Wright.

Robert Scott, Advertising Murder

Early one morning, the dead body of a young Asian woman is found in the offices of an advertising firm. No one seems to know who she is, or why she was in the building.
All evidence points to business partner, Brendan Biggs, who insists he has never seen the girl before. Brendan calls his friend, Jack Elton, for help.
A job accepted grudgingly becomes an adventure for the aspiring private eye, who must determine the victim’s identity, that of her assailant, and the motive for the gruesome crime, while delving into the unfamiliar and closed-to-strangers Asian community of Vancouver.

Cheryl Kaye Tardif, Whale Song

In Cheryl Kaye Tardif’s tragic Whale Song, haunting native legends merge with the modern world as a young woman struggles with long-forgotten memories of her mother’s suicide. Thirteen years ago, Sarah Richardson’s life was shattered when her mother committed suicide. The shocking tragedy left a grief-stricken teen-aged Sarah with partial amnesia. Some things are easier to forget. But now a familiar voice from her past sends Sarah, a talented mid-twenties ad exec, back to her past. A past that she had thought was long buried. A timeless story of love, tragedy and transformation. "Moving...sweet and sad." – Booklist

Juanita Rose Violini, Hobo Hullabaloo at Henrietta Junction

The Highball Express is due to roar through Henrietta Junction carrying gold for the Widows and Orphans Western Fund. But Kaboom Cassidy, dynamite-wielding train robber, has other plans! Hiding out among the hobos of Henrietta Station, Cassidy plans to steal the dynamite and blow up the Crooked Creek Trestle, sending the train – minus the gold – to the bottom of the canyon.

New from Masterpiece Mysterys, it's a party in a PDF, with everything (except the kids!) needed for a first-class mystery event for home parties, library fun time, or summer camp. Each download contains two mysteries: Whodunnit, with evidence and suspects, and Whereizit, with codes and puzzles.

Juanita Rose Violini, Fossil Furor at Mudstone Museum

Billy Finnegan has discovered the world's most amazing fossil, but just as he is about to show it to the world, the fossil goes missing from the museum! The fossil thief and where it’s stashed  must be found before the Mayor and the media arrive.

An Audio-Action mystery with the crime recorded live on an audio clip!

New from Masterpiece Mysterys, it's a party in a PDF, with everything (except the kids!) needed for a first-class mystery event for home parties, library fun time, or summer camp. Each download contains two mysteries: Whodunnit, with evidence and suspects, and Whereizit, with codes and puzzles.

Juanita Rose Violini, Castaway Critters on Cougar Island

After five months of fighting for survival on Cougar Island, the castaways and their assorted animals are about to be rescued! Or are they? Pet passages must be paid for. Captain Broadshoulders flings open his treasure chest and looks down upon …EMPTINESS! The treasure has been stolen and unless it is found, their critters will become cougar crunchies!

New from Masterpiece Mysterys, it's a party in a PDF, with everything (except the kids!) needed for a first-class mystery event for home parties, library fun time, or summer camp. Each download contains two mysteries: Whodunnit, with evidence and suspects, and Whereizit, with codes and puzzles.

If you missed any back issues of Cool Canadian Crime, you can find them at:
http://crimewriterscanada.com/cwc/pages/coolcanadiancrime_dec05.htm (Oct to Dec 2005)
http://crimewriterscanada.com/cwc/pages/coolcanadiancrime_jan06.htm (Jan to March 2006)
http://crimewriterscanada.com/cwc/pages/coolcanadiancrime_apr06.htm (April to June 2006)
http://crimewriterscanada.com/cwc/pages/coolcanadiancrime_july06.htm (July to Sept 2006)
http://crimewriterscanada.com/cwc/pages/coolcanadiancrime_oct06.htm (Oct to Dec 2006)
http://crimewriterscanada.com/cwc/pages/coolcanadiancrime_jan07.htm (Jan to March 2007)

The books listed in Cool Canadian Crime can usually be found at -- or ordered online from -- our Crime Writers of Canada member bookstores:

· Almark & Co. Booksellers (Toronto, ON)
Phone: (905) 764-2665
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

· As the Plot Thickens (Kingston, ON)
www.astheplotthickens.com
Phone: (613) 548-4664
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

· Chronicles of Crime (Victoria, BC)
www.abebooks.com/home/chroniclesofcrime Phone: (250) 721-2665
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

· Prime Crime Books (Ottawa, ON)
www.primecrimebooks.com
Phone: (613) 238-CLUE
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

· Sleuth of Baker Street (Toronto, ON)
www.sleuthofbakerstreet.com
Phone: (416) 483-3111
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

· Well Read Books (Calgary, AB)
www.wellreadbooks.ca
Phone: (403) 541-0050
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

· Whodunit? Mystery Bookstore (Winnipeg, MB)
www.whodunitcanada.com
Phone: (204) 284-9100
Toll-free: 1 800 468-4216
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it