Pat Tierney is back!

I'VE BEEN FRIENDS with Pat Tierney for a long time. With the release of Riversong in September, there will be five books featuring Pat as the protagonist. Her character was an offshoot of my career as a financial journalist, writing about Canada’s financial services industry. A financial advisor, Pat is a champion of underdogs, especially the victims of financial fraud. She hates these fraudsters, believes the penalties levied against them are far too lenient. She’d like to see them locked up forever.

In her first four mysteries, Pat runs up against a variety of scoundrels including money launderers, real estate scamsters, a biker drug gang, a financial advisor who tries to put her out of business . . . and murderers.

The first novel in the series, Safe Harbor, was a finalist for Britain’s Debut Dagger Award in 2010. It was followed by Black Water, Raven Lake, Uncharted Waters, and Riversong next month.

Jack Batten, the Toronto Star’s former crime fiction reviewer, called Pat Tierney “a hugely attractive sleuth figure.”

In Riversong, Pat’s new client, Monika Lentz, appears to live a charmed life. Monika is beautiful, wealthy, and enjoying a hugely successful career as the star columnist at the Toronto World newspaper. When she confides that she is pregnant, Pat’s heart goes out to her, knowing that raising a child alone can be challenging. Soon after their meeting, Monika fails to meet her newspaper column’s deadline, and she’s found strangled in her home.

Like Riversong’s cover? It was designed by talented Toronto artist, Sara Carrick.

Riversong will be released as an ebook and a paperback on Amazon, Rakuten Kobo, and Barnes & Noble on Sept. 30. The ebook is now available for pre-orders.