April 2008

Upcoming criminous events...

Announcement of the 2008 Arthur Ellis Awards finalists
On the evening of April 30, the CWC will be holding events in five cities across Canada to celebrate the announcement of the Arthur Ellis Awards finalists in the seven award categories. If you will be in (or near) Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, or Montreal, drop in on the fun.

Bloody Words VIII – June 6 to 8, 2008 – Toronto, ON
Come join crime and mystery authors, aspiring authors, fans, agents, and others at this year's Bloody Words, Canada's National Mystery Conference.

Lots of panels and readings, reception and banquet, short story contest, loot bags, dealers' room, and a chance to schmooze with your favourite authors and fellow readers.

BOOKS COMING OUT
BETWEEN
APRIL & JUNE 2008

Alvin Abram, The Dead Don’t Weep

Love binds us and tears us apart. Detective Garshowitz is involved in several cases in which love fails or prevails. Memories are all he has left – memories that turn to remorse.

Trade paperback

AMA Graphics

ISBN: 978-0-9733480-7-1

April 2008

$32.00

Jean Rae Baxter, Looking for Cardenio

Cardenio, a play by William Shakespeare, has been missing since 1613. If recovered, it would be worth a fortune. The chance to re-introduce it to the world would be the chance of a lifetime. Dr. Deirdre Gunn, a scholar seeking to redeem her own reputation, takes the bait when an old acquaintance approaches her with a centuries-old manuscript that may be Cardenio. But then a murder is committed, and Deirdre’s own life is in danger. Setting out to find the killer before the police put the blame on her, Deirdre comes face-to-face with the unresolved issue of her own past.

J.D. Carpenter, Twelve Trees

Ex-racetrack journalist Priam Harvey, occupant of the prized "corner stool" at McCully’s Tavern, marks the first anniversary of his firing from Sport of Kings magazine and the coincident departure of his girlfriend, Barbara, by doing what he does best: drinking and gambling. Events conspire, however, and when Harvey is pulled off his stool – literally and metaphorically – he is forced to make an important decision about his involvement in the lives of those around him, and, for that matter, in his own life.

Twelve Trees, while populated with characters from the Campbell Young mysteries, is a stand-alone novel and a rare instance of a genre-fiction series spinning off into a literary novel.

Trade paperback
A Castle Street Mystery (Dundurn Group)

ISBN: 978-1-55002-798-3

May 2008

$21.99

Daniel Edward Craig, Murder at Hotel Cinema: A Five-Star Mystery

In this second installment of the Five-Star Mystery series, Trevor Lambert takes a job as manager of Hotel Cinema, a rejuvenation of an Old Hollywood motel. It’s the scene of a fabulous opening party until Tinseltown’s hottest star, Chelsea Fricks, takes a fatal dive from the penthouse balcony. Hotel Cinema becomes the setting for a comical murder mystery starring Chelsea’s pit-bull publicist, her pin-up boyfriend, a star-struck detective, and a tasteless-tabloid reporter. Struggling to protect his prized employees, Trevor is forced to step into the spotlight and risks everything to expose the true killer.

Trade paperback

Midnight Ink Books

ISBN: 978-0738711195

June 2008

$18.50

William Deverell, Kill All the Judges

In this sequel to April Fool, Deverell brings back his most popular characters for a fast-paced, hilarious tale of madness, mayhem and murder.

Hardcover

McClelland & Stewart

ISBN: 978-0-7710-2721-5

April 2008

$34.99

Anne Emery, Barrington Street Blues

A rich man and a poor man are found dead of gunshot wounds on Barrington Street. It’s declared a murder–suicide, but Monty Collins suspects a double murder, especially after police link the gun to the death of a high-flying lawyer named Dice Campbell. Helped by his friend Father Brennan Burke, and hindered by his femme fatale law partner Felicia Morgan, Monty explores the dark side of Halifax. But murder isn’t the only thing on Monty’s mind. Turmoil at home has him singing the blues, lashing out at his closest friends, and spending far too much time in Halifax bars.

Hardcover
ECW Press
ISBN: 978-1-55022-813-7
April 2008
$24.95

Anne Emery, Sign of the Cross

Two women are dead, crosses carved into their bodies. The prime suspect is Father Brennan Burke. He may be a man of God, but to lawyer Monty Collins, he’s the client from hell. As if Monty doesn’t have enough aggravation with his sharp-tongued ex-wife, Maura, who’s getting along a little too well with the difficult priest. Monty would rather blow his blues harp in the bars of Halifax than deal with either of them. But the murder case goes to trial and Burke finally opens up, just where he shouldn’t, in front of the jury.

Trade paperback
ECW Press
ISBN: 978-1-55022-819-9
April 2008
$14.95

R.J. Harlick, The River Runs Orange: A Meg Harris Mystery
In the third action-packed thriller of this West Quebec series, Meg Harris is back more determined than ever to fight against injustice, only to discover that the lines between right and wrong can be blurred. During a wild, whitewater paddle down a wilderness river, she discovers the bones of a woman whose existence takes the archeological world by storm. But when her neighbours, the Migiskan Algonquin, declare their rights to the ancient remains, Meg becomes embroiled in a fight that pits ancient beliefs against modern ones and can only lead to murder. As Meg races to catch the killer, she finds herself daring the river’s fury again, this time with the added horror of a raging forest fire.

Trade paperback
RendezVous Crime (Napoleon & Company)ISBN: 978-1-894917-62-9
April 2008
$15.95

Dave Hugelschaffer, One Careless Moment: A Porter Cassel Mystery

When a fire starts deep within a Montana forest valley, Porter Cassel is brought in to take command. The fire moves quickly from bad to worse, killing one of Cassel’s men. Removed from command, Cassel takes the fire investigation into his own hands. One Careless Moment picks up where Day into Night left off – with Porter continuing to prove himself against all odds. Fighting against local legends about the valley being haunted, shady development deals, and the tree-hugging hippies who’ve chosen Holder’s Canyon as their particular Eden, Cassel must get to the bottom of the case, not only to clear his name but also his conscience.

Trade paperback

Cormorant Books

ISBN: 978-1-897151-08-2

May 2008

$21.95

Roy Innes, West End Murders

When a series of murders threatens the lives of an entire community in Vancouver, RCMP Corporal Paul Blakemore and Inspector Coswell team up once again to solve the case. What begins as an array of hate crimes suddenly culminates into a conspiracy against an American politician, and the lines between Canada and the United States are blurred as suspicions rise from both sides. To solve this case, both detectives must look beyond the powers of one culprit and instead focus on the ventures of an entire underground organization, all while protecting members of their own city.

Trade paperback
NeWest Press
ISBN: 978-1-897126-27-1
May 2008
$12.95 (US$12.95)

Dan Kalla, Cold Plague

Pristine water is discovered miles under Antarctic ice. Meanwhile, a cluster of new cases of mad cow disease explodes in a rural France. Dr. Noah Haldane and his WHO team are urgently summoned. Noah recognizes the deadliness of a prion that kills with the ferocity of a virus, but he suspects factors other than nature have ignited its spread among people and animals in France. Facing a spate of disappearances and unexplained deaths, he uncovers a conspiracy that stretches from Moscow to Beverly Hills, and from the North to the South Pole. He sees that the scientific find of the century – a lake under Antarctic ice – might hold the key to a microscopic Jurassic Park.

Hardcover
Forge Books
ISBN: 978-0-7653-1833-6
April 2008
$31.00 (US$24.95)

Susanna Kearsley, The Winter Sea

Settling herself in an old cottage near the ruins of Scotland’s Slains Castle, Carrie McClelland begins work on her latest historical novel, choosing a character named for her own ancestor to narrate events leading up to the little-known Jacobite invasion attempt of 1708 – a time seething with political intrigue and violent unrest. But when the characters in her book start to come alive with an almost frightening intensity, Carrie comes to realize that this story is not entirely her own.

"A haunting tale of two women’s experiences of love and personal betrayal in two very different times." – The Editors

Allison & Busby
May 2008

Hardcover edition:
ISBN: 978-0-7490-8097-6
$39.95

Trade paperback edition:
ISBN: 978-0-7490-7985-7
$24.95

Jennifer Lanthier, The Legend of the Lost Jewels: A Hazel Frump Adventure (YA)

A terrible storm closes Hazel and Ned Frump’s schools, forcing them to seek refuge again at their cousins’ castle. But before long, a creepy ancestor starts haunting Hazel’s dreams, and the intrepid siblings must face signs that something sinister happened here, more than 100 years ago.

When a family treasure hunt takes a dangerous turn, Hazel and Ned suspect the past might be infecting the present. How many secrets is Land's End guarding? Once again they face interwoven mysteries, and it’s a race against time to solve them both before someone gets hurt.

Trade paperback
HarperCollins Canada
ISBN: 978-0-00-639161-6
May 2008
$15.99

Jennifer Lanthier,
The Mystery of the Martello Tower: A Hazel Frump Adventure (YA)

Hazel and Ned are home for vacation and looking forward to long, lazy days of sleeping late, building stinkbombs, and shooting hoops. But when their art-dealer father disappears, their summer plunges into chaos: a painting goes missing, their apartment is burgled, and two menacing thugs start turning up everywhere.

The siblings escape to the island castle of long-lost cousins, only to find there’s no escaping this adventure. As they work to untangle the threads that ensnare their father, they discover another, darker secret surrounding their mother’s death years ago. Only by solving both mysteries can they bring their father home.

Jennifer Lanthier,
The Mystery of the Martello Tower: A Hazel Frump Adventure (YA) (US edition)

Plot and language have been simplified for the younger (age 8 – 12) reader in the American edition of this mystery/adventure, while the pace has increased from fast to breakneck.

Hazel and Ned Frump cope with the disappearance of their art-dealer father, an Interpol investigation, and two menacing thugs, by escaping to the island castle of long-lost cousins. But there’s no escaping this adventure. As the intrepid siblings work to untangle the threads that ensnare their father, they discover another, darker secret surrounding their mother’s death years ago. Only by solving both mysteries can they bring their father home.

Allan Levine, Evil of the Age: The Charles St. Clair Chronicles, Volume One

New York City during the summer of 1871 is gripped by two separate events. The first is the discovery of a woman's body stuffed inside a trunk, the apparent victim of a botched abortion. The second involves Victor Fowler, Grand Sachem of Tammany Hall. In his efforts to topple the corrupt Fowler, journalist Charles St. Clair discovers a connection with the murdered woman. His investigation takes him from the mansions on Fifth Avenue to the brothels of SoHo. At stake is the life of the city's most notorious abortionist, a woman St. Clair despises but is determined to prove innocent.

Trade paperback
Heartland Associates
ISBN: 978-1-896150-51-2
May 2008
$19.95

Julia Madeleine, Scarlet Rose

When a wealthy Toronto businessman is found tortured and murdered in a hotel room, his 22-year-old stepdaughter, Fiona Dalton, must help the police find his killer. Forced at the age of 16 into the adult entertainment industry by her own mother, Scarlet Rose, a washed-up alcoholic burlesque queen from the 1960s, Fiona navigates her way through the dark recesses of her family's history, uncovering shocking secrets that threaten to destroy her. All the while, her mother becomes fixated on the only thing that truly matters to her: getting her hands on her dead ex-husband's money.

Trade paperback
Black Heart Books
ISBN: 978-0-9808874-0-2
June 2008
$21.00

Mary Jane Maffini, The Cluttered Corpse: A Charlotte Adams Mystery

Professional organizer and accidental sleuth Charlotte Adams is working to corral an out-of-control collection of stuffed toys when (are you surprised?) a local prankster turns up very dead at the bottom of her client's staircase. Not only is the corpse surrounded by cute little plush pets, but worse, the client hysterically confesses to the crime. Soon the wrong person is languishing in the slammer and Charlotte is left with a real mess to sort out. As she mobilizes her organizational skills to clear an innocent person of murder, she soon discovers that death is not at all soft and cuddly.

Mass market paperback
Berkley Prime Crime
ISBN: 978-0-425-22092-4
April 2008
$9.99

John McFetridge, Dirty Sweet

On a busy street, a man behind the wheel of an SUV is shot in the head, and his killer drives off before the light changes. What appears to be road rage is actually an opportunity for everyone – everyone, that is, but the victim. The getaway driver is a Russian mobster. The eyewitness is a real estate agent with some new leverage, legal and otherwise, on that stripclub lease. Her other tenant, a petty pornographer, sees a chance to expand his business – if the realtor plays along – while the homicide squad sees its own opportunities.

Trade paperback
ECW Press
ISBN: 978-1-55022-829-8
June 2008
$14.95

Trade paperback (US edition)
Harcourt
ISBN: 978-0156034975
June 2008
US$14.95

John McFetridge, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

Sharon MacDonald has a problem. It’s not being under house arrest or the Iranian guy who fell from the 25th floor of her apartment building or even the police surveillance on her marijuana grow rooms. Sharon’s problem is Ray and his offer that’s too good to be true. Detective Bergeron has problems, too. There’s his new partner, Detective Armstrong; a missing ten-year-old girl; a torso dumped in an alley; and what looks like corruption deep within the police force.

In a city where the drug, immigration, and sex industries are intertwined, it’s only a matter of time until all hell breaks loose.

Hardcover
ECW Press
ISBN: 978-1-55022-755-0
June 2008
$24.95

Hardcover (US edition)
Harcourt
ISBN: 978-0151014422
June 2008
US$25.00

James W. Nichol, Midnight Cab

Left on the side of a road when he was three years old, Walker Devereaux, now nineteen, has come to Toronto to solve the mystery of his past. Why did his mother abandon him? And where is she? Walker is carrying two fragile clues: an old photograph of two nameless children and a chatty letter from a teenage girl. Both these items had been found stuffed in his three-year-old pockets.

Mass market paperback
McArthur & Company
ISBN: 978-1-55278-688-8
January 2008
$10.99

James W. Nichol, Transgression

A young Canadian farm girl finds a detached finger. It points toward a grisly murder nearby and back in time to occupied France and an illicit romance between a 16-year-old French girl and a young German soldier…

Adele and Manfred make plans to run away to Paris, but Manfred gets caught in the final battles of the war. Adele looks for him in Paris and, once the war is over, in Germany. Finally believing him dead, she marries a Canadian soldier and starts a new life in Canada. She succeeds…until the fateful day that Manfred shows up.

Trade paperback
McArthur & Company
ISBN: 978-1-55278-717-5
April 2008
$24.95

Shane Peacock, Death in the Air: The Boy Sherlock Holmes, His Second Case

The Boy Sherlock Holmes series continues with Death in the Air and opens with a bang. Sherlock is visiting the magnificent Crystal Palace south of London when a flying-trapeze artist falls from the glass ceiling and lands almost at his feet. The boy notices two cuts in the trapeze bar, lying on the hard floor near the gruesomely injured star. The crowd rushes the scene, trampling the bar, destroying the evidence. Only Sherlock knows there was foul play. But the search for the culprit will be filled with surprises, taking him on a twisting trail into the black heart of London.

Hardcover
Tundra Books (Canada & US)
ISBN: 978-0-887768514
April 2008
$25.00 (US$19.95)

Debra Purdy-Kong, Fatal Encryption

Dressed as Kermit the Frog on Halloween night, an unemployed Alex Bellamy wonders where his life went wrong. Of course, it could be worse. A few miles away, Zachary Ternoway is stabbed at his front door. In need of cash, Alex agrees to help catch a computer prankster at McKinleys' Department Store. But things turn serious when someone vows to permanently encrypt the store's data unless ten million dollars is handed over in two weeks. Alex discovers a connection between the murder and extortion threat, yet time's running out and people are questioning his competency. Oh yes, a killer's also threatening his life.

Trade paperback
Gypsy Moon Press
ISBN: 978-0-9699211-1-0
April 2008
$19.95

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Jeffrey Round, The P’Town Murders: A Bradford Fairfax Murder Mystery

When circuit party boy Ross Pretty succumbs to an overdose of Ecstasy, his death is ruled accidental. That is, until former lover and top-level secret agent Bradford Fairfax comes to Provincetown. In The P’Town Murders, Brad at first thinks he’s pretty well pinned Ross’s murder on Hayden Rosengarten, a wealthy, evil-minded entrepreneur. But then Hayden turns up dead…and he won’t be the last to die. Now not only must Brad solve a series of puzzling murders in “the gayest place on earth,” but he also must find a way to stop an insidious plan to assassinate the Dalai Lama.

Trade paperback
Cormorant Books
ISBN: 978-1-897151-28-0
June 2008
$20.00

Howard Shrier, Buffalo Jump

Toronto investigator Jonah Geller is at a low point in his life when contract killer Dante Ryan comes back into his life, this time pleading for his help. Ryan has been ordered to slaughter an entire Toronto family, including a five-year-old boy. With a son of his own that age, he can't bring himself to do it. When Jonah investigates the boy's father, a pharmacist who seems to lead a good life, he finds himself ducking bullets and dodging blades from all directions. When the case takes Jonah and Ryan over the river to Buffalo, unseen enemies move in for the kill.

Trade paperback
Vintage Canada
ISBN: 978-0-307-35606-2
June 2008
$19.95

Phyllis Smallman, Margarita Nights

Sherri Travis just wants her lying, cheating, scam-artist husband, Jimmy, gone – not murdered. But Sherri’s threat to kill Jimmy, a witness who puts her on the Suncoaster, and a quarter-million-dollar insurance policy make Sherri the suspect du jour when Jimmy and his boat explode. And things just keep on rolling. Sherri has something the killer wants. She bobs and weaves to keep from being murdered or arrested, and with a little help from the guys in the bar, she digs through the debris of Jimmy’s life, discovering more than a few people who wanted Jimmy dead, including some whom she calls friends.

Trade paperback
McArthur & Company
ISBN: 978-1-55278-699-4
May 2008
$24.95

Frank Smith, Breaking Point: A DCI Neil Paget Mystery

After spending hours concealed on a hillside late at night, a would-be young journalist is rewarded when cars begin to arrive at what appears to be a deserted farmhouse. Fearful but determined, he follows, only to be discovered and knocked unconscious.

When DCI Neil Paget is ordered to investigate the disappearance of Mark Newman, he learns that a man by the name of Doyle may be able to help. But Doyle, too, has disappeared, last seen being dragged from his caravan. Newman, it appears, may have stumbled upon a story of greater significance – and danger – than he could have imagined.

Hardcover
Severn House
ISBN: 978-0-7278-6621-9
June 2008
US$28.00

Brian Vallée, Life with Billy

November 20, 2007 marked the 25th anniversary of the landmark “not guilty” verdict in Jane Hurshman’s first-degree murder trial. This updated commemorative edition of the best-selling Life with Billy, including a new prologue, marks that event and continues to shine a spotlight on the scourge of criminal domestic violence.

Ten years after killing her brutal common-law husband, Billy Stafford, Jane killed herself. But before her death, she spoke out loudly and often, inspiring hundreds, if not thousands, of battered women to flee their abusers. This book is part of her legacy and tells her full story, including her mysterious death.

Trade paperback
Key Porter Books
ISBN: 978-1-55470-002-8
April 2008
$24.95

Michelle Wan, A Twist of Orchids: A Novel of Death in the Dordogne

Winter in the Dordogne. Mara Dunn and Julian Wood, living in an already uneasy relationship, are confronted by a series of shattering events. Friend and neighbour Amélie Gaillard plunges mysteriously to her death. Her ailing husband is terrorized by a murderous apparition. The son of Julian's favourite purveyors of Turkish delicacies dies of an overdose. An undercover narc is murdered. A serial burglar is at work. And unscrupulous orchid hunters connive in the background. As the sleuthing pair clash over how to unravel this maze of mysteries, they find to their peril that more than their relationship is at stake.

Hardcover
Doubleday Canada
ISBN: 978-0-385-66484-4
April 2008
$29.95