October 2008

Lou Allin, And on the Surface Die: A Fossil Bay Mystery

RCMP Corporal Holly Martin takes charge of a detachment in tiny Fossil Bay on the wild south coast of Vancouver Island. Her first day starts with a distress call: A scuba diver has found the body of a girl in the surf. A tragic drowning caused by a fall? The late arrival of tox-scan results indicating the presence of crystal meth, the most recent plague to hit the island, raises ugly questions. Then a century typhoon roars in, powerful enough to destroy everything in its path. As the wind howls and trees crash around her, Holly struggles to bring a murderer to justice.

Trade paperback

Napoleon & Company/ RendezVous Crime

ISBN: 978-1-894917-74-2

October 2008

$15.95

Catherine Astolfo, Legacy: An Emily Taylor Mystery
Dark memories from the past and long-buried secrets surrounding seemingly unconnected families make up the enigma of Legacy. Doro searches for her lost childhood. Alain delves into the background that has caused him deep anger and anguished nightmares. At school, Emily deals with a troubled family. The new lawyer in Burchill suffers from guilt about the death of his wife. An abused, lonely girl suffers neglect and tragedy.

Taking their annual road trip across America in their giant Winnebago, Max and his nephew, Owen, seem harmless enough, the actorly old fellow spouting Shakespeare while his young charge trots him through select tourist destinations. But appearances, as you might imagine, deceive. Max is actually a master thief, and young Owen’s summer vacations constitute his apprenticeship in a life of crime.

Pulling heists is scary enough, but what’s worse, ominous signs indicate that The Subtractors – criminal bogeymen who stop at nothing to steal from other thieves – are on their tail. The road trip soon turns into a chase, by turns comic and horrifying. The most disturbing twist: Owen’s slow realization that the person he loves most in the world is the one who can do him the most harm.

Joan Boswell, Barbara Fradkin, Linda Wiken, editors,
Going Out with a Bang: A Crime & Mystery Collection by the Ladies Killing Circle

“Do not go gentle into that good night,” wrote Dylan Thomas, and Canada’s notorious Ladies Killing Circle has taken his advice to heart. In Going Out with a Bang, the dangerous dames have brought together an explosive mix of authors from across the country. Whether it’s the boom of drums, the cacophony of a train wreck, or the thud of a body crashing down the stairs, no one goes out without a fight.

The 20 authors include some of Canada’s best known crime writers, who will chill you, entertain you, or plain blow you away in this eclectic fictional brew.

Trade paperback

Napoleon & Company/ RendezVous Crime

ISBN: 978-1-894917-73-5

October 2008

$15.95

Mel Bradshaw, Victim Impact

Homicide becomes more than an academic study for criminologist Ted Boudreau when his own suburban home is burglarized, his wife killed. Was his computer targeted because of his interest in a secretive biker gang?

Ted’s attempts to deal with the aftermath bring him into conflict with family, police detectives, and the Crown prosecutor assigned to the case…as well as with university colleagues, whose penal philosophy Ted can’t square with the real world of crime. What further complicates his pursuit of justice is the necessity of protecting the young source of his dossier on the ruthless Dark Arrows Motorcycle Club.

Trade paperback

Napoleon & Company/ RendezVous Crime

ISBN: 978-1-894917-70-4

October 2008

$16.95

Sean Chercover, Trigger City

Trigger City is the follow-up to Chercover’s debut crime novel, Big City Bad Blood, which was short-listed for the Arthur Ellis and ITW Thriller awards, won the Gumshoe award, and is nominated for the Anthony, Barry, and Shamus awards.

Publishers Weekly calls Trigger City "engrossing." Author Sara Paretsky says: "A true thriller in every sense of the word. Masterful." And author Robert Crais says: "Listen to me. Read this book. Trigger City is blue-collar human drama, packed with action and heart-breaking moments of truth."

Hardcover
William Morrow
ISBN: 978-0-06-112869-1
October 2008
$25.95 (US$23.95)

Joan Donaldson-Yarmey,
Illegally Dead: A Travelling Detective Mystery

Right at the beginning of her research of the Alberta's Crowsnest Highway for a new article, travel writer Elizabeth Oliver is flagged down at a roadside crime scene. Human bones have just been discovered in an old septic tank. She tries to resist getting involved but is slowly drawn into the mystery. Once started, Elizabeth gives free rein to her investigative tendencies, especially as a second murder occurs.

Packed with suspense and rich in fascinating historical anecdotes, Illegally Dead will delight mystery lovers and Canadian history enthusiasts alike.

Trade paperback
Sumach Press
ISBN: 978-1-894549-74-5
October 2008
$16.95

Springtime in Victoria isn’t so sweet as Coast Salish cop Silas Seaweed finds a local street girl dying of an overdose in an abandoned house. As Silas starts his investigation, he begins to suspect that all is not what it appears to be.

Infused with West Coast aboriginal mythology and written with the signature fast-paced plot and strong characters as the other three Silas Seaweed mysteries, Seaweed on the Rocks takes you from the picture-postcard views of a quaint garden city to the deeper dark side of its underworld.

Captain Jess Vandermire, vampire and leader of a Black Ops team hunting vampires in New York City, is under personal attack. There’s a serial killer in town. The worst kind. A vampire with a penchant for women who look like Jess. Besides killing these upper class women, the killer is leaving clues that incriminate Jess.

John Brittain, human, tough cop, and lieutenant under Jess’s command, makes it his mission to find the murderer and prove Jess innocent even though she isn’t cooperating. Yes, she’s a vampire – and capable of killing – but he knows it can’t be her. He loves her and he has to find out who the culprit is before someone at the police department pins the horrific crimes on her. Worse, he’s in a race to find the murderer because each time another woman dies, Britt has the horrible feeling the next one will be Jess.

Trade paperback

Imajinn Books

ISBN: 978-1-933417-43-1

October 2008

$14.00

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

November 2008 (postponed from July)

$21.95

Brad Kelln, In Tongues of the Dead

In Tongues of the Dead is a mystery thriller with religious undertones intended to evoke controversy. In the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University lies a 400-year-old document that no one has been able to decipher. Twenty years before, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) secretly placed a guard to watch over the document. When an autistic child begins to read from its pages, the Vatican will stop at nothing to keep its secrets from being revealed.

Although this book is a work of fiction, the mysteries discussed are real. The Voynich Manuscript is real and has become a famous subject of modern cryptology, and all references to its contents and history are accurate. For more, visit www.bradkelln.com

Hardcover

ECW Press

ISBN: 978-1-55022-830-4

October 2008

$24.95

Mike Knowles, Darwin's Nightmare

Wilson has spent his entire life under the radar. Few people know who he is, and even fewer know how to find him. Only two people even know his real occupation: carrying out confidential – and illegal – jobs for a very bad man. But one day he crosses the line, earning the hatred of a vengeful mob boss. He survives only by delving even deeper into the underworld of Hamilton. His next job is deceptively simple: transporting a seemingly harmless bag whose contents are both secret and dangerously valuable. Soon Wilson discovers who the bag’s real owners are and just how badly they want it back.

"The evolution of the gangster novel takes a step forward with Darwin's Nightmare. Mike Knowles's hardboiled spin on Hamilton's underworld is written with a tireless and controlled intensity." – Alan Guthrie, author of Savage Night

Hardcover
ECW Press
ISBN: 978-1-55022-842-7
October 2008
$24.95

Rick Mofina, Six Seconds (a stand-alone global thriller)

A California mother's anguished search for her abducted son and a haunted Mountie's investigation into an American reporter's mysterious death in the Canadian Rockies uncover a global plot to assassinate the Pope…using the woman's boy as the weapon.

"Six Seconds should be Rick Mofina's breakout thriller. It moves like a tornado." – James Patterson, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Echoing Ludlum and Forsythe...(a) big international thriller that grabs your gut – and your heart – and never lets go." – Jeffrey Deaver, New York Times bestselling author

Mass market paperback
Mira Books
ISBN: 978-0-7783-2612-0
December 2008
$6.99

John Moss, Still Waters: A Quin and Morgan Mystery

Detectives Miranda Quin and David Morgan, like a married couple except for the sex, know each other intimately yet don’t know each other at all. They share eccentricities yet have minds so different they form a perfect complement in dealing with the intricacies of intentional death.

Rene Natan, The Red Manor

Lucio Maria de’ Vigentini, Lord of the Red Manor, is loaded with years, money, memories and regrets – the ancient curse cast upon his family weighing heavily on his soul. He lost his son Rick at sea and his wife left him, taking Rick’s twin, Chris Sandcroft, to Canada. Lucio, lonely and ailing, is tortured by the prophesy predicting the extinction of the Red Manor and its occupants at the turn of the millennium.

When Chris invites his father to live with him, Lucio accepts, in the hope of escaping the curse. Then the unearthing of two precious cups, once Red Manor possessions, brings much excitement to the blue-collar city of Harrisville, Ontario, and with it, crime. Then the malefic prophesy of the Red Manor seems to take its inexorable course, as shadows of the past occur with menacing consistency.

Trade paperback
PublishAmerica
ISBN: 978-1-606-723258
November 2008
US$18.95

Louise Penny, The Murder Stone: A Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery

It’s high summer, and isolated Manoir Bellechasse is hosting a reunion. When bitter rivalries boil over and a body is discovered, Gamache knows the murderer is trapped. But a cornered predator is always the most dangerous…

Robert Scott, Murder Express: Book 3 in the Jack Elton Series
Trouble finds Jack Elton wherever he goes. During what he had hoped would be a relaxing train excursion, he is plunged once again into a murder investigation. One of his fellow travelers has been found dead. At first it looks like suicide. But Jack sets out to prove otherwise. The perpetrator must be found before the train arrives at its final destination.

Praise for Lost Youth, the second book in the series: "…an engaging second book. The intricate plot along with the evolving relationship of Jack and Val provide the appeal here." – Barbara Bibel, Booklist

Hardcover
Avalon Books
ISBN: 978-0-8034-9928-7
November 2008
$25.33 (US$23.95)

The Compact, a group of wealthy, powerful men, has been organized to run Canada by all but guaranteeing that their hand-picked candidate wins the next federal election. The candidate is a popular singer with an impeccable reputation.

Older 2008 releases by new CWC members

And now a book published earlier in 2008 by an author
who has just joined the CWC.

In the mountains of Colombia, an old man stumbles into the Jaguar Forest. Cursed, he feels forced to commit a savage act, and a family is destroyed – his own. Decades later, veteran reporter Jack Doyle is about to become his network’s next anchor star. Doyle has always done his job the right way, and when eight girls, including a US senator’s daughter, are brutally murdered, Doyle discovers a trail of blood and drugs that leads to Colombia, a country on fire.

“With his taut prose, and gripping storytelling, Carter delivers a stunning page-turner.” – Rick Mofina, two-time Arthur Ellis Award-winning author of A Perfect Grave

If you missed any back issues of Cool Canadian Crime, you can find them at:
Cool Canadian Crime, October to December 2005
Cool Canadian Crime, January to March 2006
Cool Canadian Crime, April to June 2006
Cool Canadian Crime, July to September 2006
Cool Canadian Crime, October to December 2006
Cool Canadian Crime, January to March 2007
Cool Canadian Crime, April to June 2007
Cool Canadian Crime, July to September 2007
Cool Canadian Crime, October to December 2007
Cool Canadian Crime, January to March 2008
Cool Canadian Crime, April to June 2008
Cool Canadian Crime, July to September 2008

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

· 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