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Pre-order Canadian Chronicles!

  • Aug 7

Updated: 2 hours ago

CANADIAN CHRONICLES, 17 tales set in Canada by 17 Canadian crime writers, is now available for Amazon pre-orders. Release date is September 8.



"Crimeucopia presents 17 of the best Canadian short form crime fiction writers," says Murderous Ink Press publisher John Connor in his back-cover book blurb.


And here is the story lineup:


Jeff Beck’s Stratocaster — by William Kitcher

The Millennium Project —by Rosemary McCracken

Borderline Illegal — by Susan Daly

Murder in the Marsh — by Judy Penz Sheluk

The Lake — by Amanda Capper

Not Fit to Print — by David Jón Fuller

Ahead of the Competition — by Bruce Johnson

Wishful Thinking — by Karen Keeley

Étoile Rouge — by donalee Moulton

A Little Knowledge — by Holly Schofield

Double Double — by Rand Gaynor

The Comedian — by J.M. Connors

Buggable — by Edward St. Boniface

Autumn is a Time for Dying — by Merrilee Robson

A Passion for Mining — by Abe Margel

With Marilyn Along the Miramichi — by Albert N. Katz

The Murder —by Ethan Canter


And the fabulous cover:



 
 
 

The Power of 13!

  • Jul 3

Updated: Aug 4

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO, 13 Canadian crime writers came together to form a writers' collective. With the goal of enhancing members' visibility, the Mesdames of Mayhem have since put out an online monthly newsletter, posting about members' milestones and activities. They've organized writers' panels at public libraries and elsewhere. And every second year, they've released an anthology of members' short crime fiction.


Several of these stories have been finalists for Crime Writers of Canada and Derringer awards. Catherine Astolfo's "The Outlier" won CWC's award for Best Crime Story in 2018. And Therese Greenwood's "Hatcheck Bingo" won the CWC award in 2025.


This year marks the Madames' 13th anniversary. We are now a collective of more than 20 members, including three Messieurs. And this fall, Carrick Publishing will publish our seventh collection of members' stories, The Power of 13. Thirteen has been our lucky number!


The cover design by Sara Carrick has just been finalized. Stay tuned for the date of publication and the book launch this fall at Sleuth of Baker Street bookstore.




 
 
 

Queen of Canadian Crime Fiction

  • Jun 26

Updated: Aug 5

Acclaimed crime fiction writer Gail Bowen passed away on June 25, 2026.
Acclaimed crime fiction writer Gail Bowen passed away on June 25, 2026.

ON EVERY EMERGING AUTHOR'S JOURNEY established authors will step up with valuable advice. Their thoughtfulness can be game-changing.


When I was working on an early draft of my first mystery novel in 2009, I booked an appointment with acclaimed Canadian crime writer Gail Bowen who was doing a stint as writer-in-residence at Toronto Reference Library. I showed Gail a few opening chapters of Safe Harbor, which I’d written in third person. “Write this in first person,” she said. “This is Pat Tierney’s story, and you need to get inside her head. Tell the story from Pat’s perspective.” I followed Gail’s advice, and I felt the story come to life as I did my rewrites. The revised Safe Harbor was a Debut Dagger finalist in 2010.


At that meeting in the library, Gail told me she would write an endorsement blurb for the novel when it was accepted for publication. I took her up on that. And she endorsed all five of my Pat Tierney mysteries.


Gail died on June 25 in Regina at the age of 83. Her latest Joanne Kilbourne mystery—the twenty-fourth, which she said would mark the end of the series—will be released later this year. It has been 36 years since the first Joanne Kilbourne was published in 1990.


Known as the Queen of Canadian Crime Fiction, Gail’s many awards were well-deserved, among them Crime Writers of Canada’s 1995 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel for A Colder Kind of Death. Six of her novels were adapted into six TV movies that aired on CTV.


Born and raised in Toronto, Gail moved to Saskatchewan as a graduate student, and remained there after earning her doctorate, eventually becoming the head of the English department at First Nations University in Regina. Like Gail, Joanne Kilbourne is a Saskatchewan university professor with three children.


“Regina is a city most people drive through to get somewhere else,” Gail said in Sleuth: Gail Bowen on Writing Mysteries, her 2018 handbook on crafting crime fiction. “But Regina offers me the perfect canvas on which to work…It allows me to say what I believe is true about the human condition.”


Gail’s Regina is a living, breathing, often-flawed city in need of repair. It’s not a romanticized setting like Louise Penny’s Eastern Townships. Gail did a splendid job of bringing social issues to light throughout her series. To mention a few:


Censorship in Murder at the Mendel.


Child prostitution in The Wandering Soul Murders.


Prostitution. A broad cross-section of sex workers are depicted in The Brutal Heart.


Prisoners’ rights. In Verdict in Blood, a judge leaves her estate to a half-way house for ex-cons because she feels guilty about the harsh sentences she’s handed out.


Inner-city housing. In 12 Rose Street, Gail and Joanne tackle the thorny issue of slum housing.


Indigenous issues. In several of the earlier books, Joanne has a romantic relationship with an Ojibway police officer. One scene with Alex in A Killing Spring provides the most negative portrayal of Joanne in the series. She and Alex are taking a walk when a passing motorist yells out a racial slur. Joanne’s reaction is to run across the street, distancing herself from Alex. For a long time afterwards, she is haunted by her cowardice. In the more recent books, Gail examines how city planners and developers accommodate the housing needs of Regina’s Indigenous citizens.


Feminism. Three novels directly address feminist issues: Murder at the Mendel, Burying Ariel and The Brutal Heart. Joanne would probably consider herself a moderate feminist, but she often finds herself under attack by women who consider her part of the patriarchy.


Gail’s stories were written from the heart, and Joanne’s family melodrama is a large part of their appeal. Gail's many readers, myself included, will greatly miss her.


We have something to look forward to, however: Gail's final Joanne Kilbourne mystery will be released this fall.

 
 
 
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