October 2007

Note to published and aspiring authors

The rules for the 2008 Arthur Ellis Awards:

· for books and stories published in 2007 and

· for the Unhanged Arthur, the award for best first unpublished crime novel

are now posted to the CWC Website.

For more information on eligibility and how to submit, visit http://crimewriterscanada.com/cwc/pages/awards.html

BOOKS COMING OUT
BETWEEN
OCTOBER & DECEMBER 2007

Lou Allin, Memories Are Murder: A Belle Palmer Mystery

When Belle's high-school heartthrob comes to the Nickel Capital area to do elk research, he is found later drowned in a remote lake. It seems to be a tragic accident until soon after, an attempt is made on his partner's life and key notebooks from his research disappear. Where is the dead albino elk calf and what happened to those missing water samples? When Belle returns to the scene to put the pieces together, she finds herself paddling for her life with a very pregnant woman in tow.

Trade paperback
RendezVous Crime (Napoleon & Company)
ISBN: 978-1-894917-33-9
November 2007 (postponed from September)
$15.95

Anne Barton, Evil in Their Hearts: A Robin Carruthers Mystery

A group suspected of criminal activities has established a colony on the outskirts of town. Robin Carruthers, flight school operator, becomes embroiled in controversy when a bus used by the colony to transport children crashes into a frozen lake. Two women from the colony seek help from Robin.

When one is murdered and the other nearly so and Robin's planes are sabotaged, she

suspects a problem student of being the saboteur, but she has no proof. If she is right and does nothing about it, she could lose her business and her life. If she is wrong and reports her suspicions, she could ruin the student's life. So she watches and waits.

Charles Benoit, Noble Lies

Decorated Desert Storm veteran Mark Rohr is working as a whorehouse/bar bouncer in Phuket City, when he meets Robin Antonucci. Robin's in Thailand to look for her missing brother Shawn and wants to hire a guide. But what should be an easy job in a tropical paradise quickly sours when they meet the stunning Thai prostitute Pim, who claims to be Shawn’s wife. Within hours, two men are dead and Jarin, southern Thailand’s most notorious gangster, wants Mark to pay. With nowhere to hide and no idea where he’s are heading, Mark tries to stay one step ahead of Jarin and move closer to the truth about Shawn.

Hardcover
Poisoned Pen Press
ISBN: 978-1-59058-450-7
October 2007
US$24.95

Audio CD
Blackstone Audio
ISBN: 978-1-4332-1091-4
October 2007
US$55

Charles Benoit, Out of Order

At 27, Jason Talley leads an orderly life, processing loans for a mortgage company. The warmest spot is his friendship with Sriram and his wife, Vidya.

One night, Sriram secretly confides he’s planning a trip to India to visit his mother and asks Jason to hold her gift, a gorgeous red sari. The very next evening, Jason arrives home to sirens and cops – Sriram and Vidya are dead. Grieving, Jason decides to fulfill his friend’s quest and books an impulsive trip to India. Once there, he meets beautiful train fanatic Rachel Moore, and together they set out across the subcontinent – with a killer traveling close behind.

Trade paperback
Poisoned Pen Press
ISBN: 978-1-59058-443-0
October 2007
US$14.95

Anthony Bidulka, Sundowner Ubuntu: A Russell Quant Mystery

A mother’s pain. A million dollars. A missing son. Desperate to right old wrongs, a new client hires Russell Quant to locate her son, Matthew, lost to her for 20 years. But can money relieve remorse? Through good old-fashioned detective work, Russell peels away the layers of a carefully concealed life, grown from seeds of traumatic childhood and violence. Tracking Matthew’s life from the schoolyard drug culture of a pleasant prairie city’s underbelly to the stunning vistas, vibrant townships, and tinderbox safaris of Africa, Russell finds much more than he was looking for.

Ron Chudley, Stolen

John Quarry is on vacation with his small son, Nate, when during an overnight stop in the Fraser Canyon, the child disappears and is presumed lost to the river. The coroner’s verdict is death by drowning, although the body is never recovered. While the authorities consider the matter closed, a dream convinces John that his son is not dead, but stolen. With little hope and only a single clue, John sets out on a desperate search from B.C. to Calgary, where he is arrested, to the Alberta badlands, where he is nearly murdered, and to the foothills of the towering Rocky Mountains, where he is forced to undertake a final, perilous journey.

Trade paperback
TouchWood Editions
ISBN: 978-1-894898-59-1
October 2007
$12.95

Adrian de Hoog, Borderless Deceit

A virus destroys the communication network of the Canadian diplomatic service.  Implicated in the investigation are Carson Pryce, a reclusive, moody intelligence analyst, and Rachel Dunn, a brilliant diplomat with a glowing humanitarian track record.

The plot in Borderless Deceit skips easily from Ottawa to Vienna, from Berlin to Alexandria, and from Transylvania to Kenya. The action takes place in a world where privacy has disappeared, where hackers circle each other in cyberspace, and where a mouse click can orchestrate deceit in faraway places. Is there space in this for a rekindling of humanity’s enduring values?

Vicki Delany, Burden of Memory

Elaine Benson – divorced, broke, out of work – arrives at Muskoka’s Millionaires’ Row to help elderly Moira Madison write her memoirs, most specifically of her years with the Canadian Army Nursing Sisters in World War II. Settling into the family “cottage” and the remains of a lifestyle long gone, Elaine reconnects with her love of researching the past. But the past is to be found in more than old boxes and musty letters, and Elaine discovers that memories can kill.

“One of Canada’s most promising new practitioners of the crime genre.” – Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune

Trade paperback
Poisoned Pen Press
ISBN: 978-1-59058-415-6
November 2007
US$14.95

Stanley Evans, Seaweed under Water

Stanley Evans's eagerly awaited third novel begins when the mother of a young Native girl disappears in mysterious circumstances. Called to investigate, Coast Salish detective Silas Seaweed discovers a mummified corpse in an ancient forest apparently haunted by supernatural forces. A garrotted woman....A mysterious underwater universe....Ghost canoes....A haunted river....Silas Seaweed pursues obsessed murderers through a chilling quest into the Unknown World.

"Stanley Evans' first two Silas Seaweed novels are among Canada's most exciting new crime fiction...." – Calgary Herald

"Evans makes great use of West Coast aboriginal mythology and religion, informing the complex character of Silas Seaweed...." – Globe and Mail

Linda Hall, Shadows in the Mirror

"Never go back to Burlington!"
Those were the dying words of the secretive aunt who'd raise orphaned Marylee Simson. Yet to discover who she was, Marylee had to go back. But learning anything about her past was proving impossible. Why were there no records of the accident that claimed her parents' lives? No records of her parents, period? Who was trying to stop her from finding out? Someone whose threats were escalating. Someone close to her, such as Evan Baxter, the handsome photographer she'd entrusted with the one clue she had.

Mass market paperback
Love Inspired Suspense/Harlequin
ISBN: 978-0-373442614
October 2007
$6.50

Mike Harrison, Ruby Tuesday: An Eddie Dancer Mystery

Paul Miller, an out-of-shape advertising executive sees a man hit his wife and steps in try to help.  For his trouble, he not only lands in the hospital for nearly a week, but also faces assault charges and a $50,000 lawsuit from Victor Shriver, the man who put him there. Instead of paying, Paul challenges Victor to a boxing match. If Paul wins, the charges and lawsuit will be dropped. Paul’s wife hires Eddie Dancer to stop the fight, but as Eddie becomes involved with the case, he struggles with issues of abuse from his own past.

Hardcover
ECW Press
ISBN: 978-1-55022-792-5
November 2007
$28.95

Illona Haus, Blue Justice: A Kay Delaney Mystery

In the heart-stopping third installment of the Delaney series, Kay and Finn are faced with a terrifying case that hits close to home: the abduction of a young detective by what appears to be a serial rapist. Their frantic investigation leads them down a horrifying path that uncovers twenty years of brutal rapes, torture, and murders. And as the clock ticks on their fellow officer’s life, their hunt takes them from the seedy streets of Baltimore to the deep backwoods of Maryland, directly into the clutches of a sadistic killer who defies everything Kay thought she knew about the most twisted side of human nature.

Mass market paperback (original)
Pocket Books (Simon & Schuster)
ISBN: 978-0-7434-5810-8
October 2007
$7.99 (US$6.99)

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

Trade paperback
MurderWillOut Mysteries
ISBN: 978-0-9685495-8-2
October 2007
$16.95

Mary Jane Maffini, Too Hot to Handle: A Fiona Silk Mystery

Poor Fiona Silk is broke again. Her romance writing career is tanking, the man of her dreams can't remember her name, and her tiny house in the lovely community of St. Aubaine may be sold for unpaid taxes. But Fiona's new agent has a plan: Fiona can write an erotic cookbook. Of course, this project would be easier if Fiona had a sex life or a working oven, or even if she were much of a writer. Soon bad things start to happen to people, but, oddly, only when Fiona is nearby. Before long, her tiny home is in flames and the body count in the village is rising. Will Canada's most reluctant sleuth stop a killer before her own goose is cooked?

Warning: this book comes with recipes. Extreme caution is advised.

Jeffrey Miller, Murder on the Rebound: An Amicus Curiae Mystery

Professor Herskowitz runs his classes like a drill sergeant and his students can’t stand him. Then his mouthiest critic is poisoned at Herskowitz’s penthouse. Was that poison meant for Herskowitz? That’s the newest mystery for Amicus, Q.C. (Questing Cat), and his human companion, judge Ted Mariner, who are exiled by the Chief Justice to the Mervin Goldfarb and Estelle Holstein-Goldfarb School of Law at Scarborough University. Kirkus Reviews called Murder on the Rebound, “an often hilarious drama worthy of Rumpole. An uncommon mystery full of literate and sardonically humorous questions.”

Linda Moore, Foul Deeds

A professional criminologist, Rosalind works with a cranky private investigator named McBride – a long time foray that has led her from one sordid foray to another in the Halifax crime scene. While investigating the death of a respected environmentalist, Roz spends her free time with her favourite distraction – directing a production of Hamlet – until the uncanny parallels between life and art bring her face to face with murder.

"Moore's story is both fast paced and complex, the characters enjoyable and the setting a perfectly realized Halifax. Bravo." – Louise Penny, author of Still Life

Trade paperback

Vagrant Press

ISBN: 978-155109-628-5

October 2007

$17.95

Steven Owad, Brother’s Keeper

Vince Maguire has spent the last decade as a journalist in Warsaw. He asks little of life and isn't challenged by much – until the dark world of his estranged brother intrudes. Teddy has fallen in with criminals who frame Vince for murder. While evading cops and seeking leads to Teddy, it strikes Vince that the two brothers' lost relationship is only one aspect of a greater loss. How did Vince get to a point where his dreams no longer mattered? How did Teddy get tied up in murder? The answers lie in the frozen oilfields of northern Alberta.

Louise Penny, The Cruellest Month: A Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery

Chief Inspector Gamache of the Sûreté du Quebec is called to the peaceful village of Three Pines where a séance held on Easter Sunday has gone tragically wrong and someone has been literally scared to death. As Gamache starts to unearth the secrets of those close to the deceased, he faces his own demons. A powerful enemy within the Sûreté has planted a traitor in his own team. But who? And how far will this enemy go to ensure Gamache's downfall?

The Cruellest Month is the third novel in the multiple-award-winning Armand Gamache series.

Hardcover & Trade paperback
Headline/McArthur & Company
ISBN: 978-0-7553-2894-9 (hardcover)
ISBN: 978-0-7553-2895-6 (trade paperback)
October 2007 (both versions)
$34.95 (hardcover)
$24.95 (trade paperback)

Louise Penny, Dead Cold: A Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery
It's winter in the idyllic Quebec village of Three Pines. Snow is gently falling and the residents are preparing their Christmas celebrations. But someone is preparing something far more sinister -- murder. As Chief Inspector Gamache of the Sûreté investigates, he uncovers layers of secrets buried deep and long hidden...until now. But as he investigates, something old and cold is creeping up behind Gamache himself.

Dead Cold is the second in the Armand Gamache series. The first, Still Life, won the Arthur Ellis Award in Canada and the New Blood Dagger Award in the UK, both awards for best first crime novel.

Mass market paperback
Headline/McArthur & Company
ISBN: 978-0-7553-2893-2
October 2007
$10.99

Sharon Rowse, The Silk Train Murder

A body found on the Vancouver waterfront, a friend jailed for murder… John Lansdowne Granville’s hunt for a murderer takes him to the seedy side of the city: to burlesque halls, gambling joints, and down along Dupont Street – two blocks of brothels and opium dens along the reeking mudflats. He finds allies in Emily Turner, emancipated daughter of a very Victorian father, and Trent Davis, a young, would-be silk train robber. Can Granville sort out power struggles, blackmail and betrayal in time to trap a killer and save his friend?

“An impressive debut” – Booklist starred review

Jon Redfern, Trumpets Sound No More

Arthur Ellis award-winning author Jon Redfern’s new novel is a Victorian historical set in 1840s London. A young theatre entrepreneur is found murdered, and Inspector Owen Endersby of the recently formed London Detective Police must find the culprit. With his team of two sergeants, Endersby enters the glittering domain of London's theatres to question acrobats, actors, costume makers, child performers, and opera singers. Using wit, disguises, and coercion, Endersby follows the by-ways of "the Criminal Mentality" and tracks down the killer. Redfern's book is an atmospheric thriller, treating readers to a view of old London from the stalls of Covent Garden market to the mansions of the rich to the backstage world of Drury Lane Theatre.

Brian Vallée, The War on Women:
Elly Armour, Jane Hurshman, and Criminal Violence in Canadian Homes

Compelled to revisit the domestic battlefield 20 years after Life with Billy, his bestselling book on wife battering, Vallée needed to put a human face to the cold statistics of men killing the intimate women in their lives. That “face” became Calgary music promoter Elly Armour who, in 1951, shot and killed her brutally abusive husband. In 2005, Elly contacted Vallée and plunged him back into what he identified as the “War on Women.” Vallée uses Elly’s story and other case studies to prove the need for a dramatic shakeup in North American legislative, law-enforcement, and judicial approaches to domestic criminal violence.

Hardcover
Key Porter Books
ISBN: 978-1-55263-828-6
November 2007
$32.95

Sharon Wildwind, Soldier on the Porch: An Elizabeth Pepperhawk/Avivah Rosen
Vietnam Veteran Mystery

If only the hospital hadn’t exploded, two men wouldn’t be dead, ex-army nurse Elizabeth Pepperhawk wouldn’t be in trouble for coming to work intoxicated, and Pepper’s friend and fellow Vietnam veteran, Avivah Rosen, wouldn’t be face-to-face with her worst nightmare. When civilian life collapses around them, Pepper, Avivah, and their friend Benny, organize their own private squad and go on patrol. But that way lies murder…

Hardcover
Five Star
ISBN: 978-1-59414-594-0
October 2007
US$29.95