Shamus, The Urban Rez Dog, P. I. By Leslie Gentile Toronto: Cormorant/DCB, 2023 $14.95 / 9781770867079 Reviewed by Linda Rogers * Teacher, singer, and now writer Leslie Gentile’s second middle grade novel is Shamus, The Urban Rez Dog, P.I. There’s no doubt juvenile readers with an appetite for fiction to match Shamus shameless pursuit of…
Read more 1872 An ‘adventure-filled whodunnit’ (for kids)
Tides of the Sovereign By Kate Gateley Victoria: FriesenPress, 2022 $37.99 / 9781039126572 Reviewed by Myshara Herbert-McMyn * Kate Gateley’s debut novel Tides of the Sovereign is a tale a millennium in the making. Julia and Domhnall are fated lovers kept apart lifetime after lifetime when they’re cursed by the infamous Child of Rome: Cassius…
Read more 1866 Magic, curses, and prophecies
Killer Coin: A Vancouver Island Mystery by Elka Ray Toronto: Seventh Street Books, 2020 $17.95 / 9781645060154 Reviewed by C.L. Shoemaker * Written by Victoria author Elka Ray, Killer Coin: A Vancouver Island Mystery follows Toronto divorce lawyer Toby Wong. Having recently relocated to Victoria to be close to her mother, Toby is…
Read more 1865 Twist endings and ‘aha’ moments
Scandal at the Savoy: A Priscilla Tempest Mystery (Book 2) by Ron Base & Prudence Emery Madeira Park, BC: Douglas & McIntyre, 2023 $19.95 / 1771623452 Reviewed by Amy Whitmore * “Our Savoy… is populated by made-up characters who exist only in the world that we shaped for them. The royal, rich and famous who…
Read more 1863 Quick plot, too many twists
Naked Defiance: A Comedy of Menace by Patrik Sampler Vancouver, BC: New Star Books, 2023 $19.00 / 9781554202003 Reviewed by Steven Brown * A Comedy of Menace is the subtitle of this fine novel. Although it can be looked at as menacing comedy, there’s a lot else going on. Naked Defiance is also an arcane…
Read more 1862 ‘Part of the spectacle’
Sunsetter By Curtis LeBlanc Toronto: ECW Press, 2023 $22.95 / 9781770416901 Reviewed by Bill Paul * In the fictional prairie town of Perron, it’s a tradition for residents to attend the annual Sunsetter Rodeo and Fair held in late May. For Dallan and Brooks, two close friends in their late teens, it’s an occasion to…
Read more 1851 ‘A town without pity’
To Track a Traitor: A Lane Winslow Mystery by Iona Whishaw Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2023 $18.95 / 9781771513876 Reviewed by Ginny Ratsoy * Iona Whishaw doesn’t allow her heroine much time for grass growing underfoot in this, the tenth in the Lane Winslow Mystery series. It is spring 1948, and fast on the heels of…
Read more 1832 ‘Rife with suspects and motives’
Wreck Bay: An Amanda Doucette Mystery by Barbara Fradkin Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2023 $21.99 / 9781459743878 Reviewed by Bill Paul * Amanda Doucette has worked overseas as an aid worker and across Canada with men and women who have struggled, “battered by addiction.” She’s nearing forty and has a history of trauma. While organizing activities…
Read more 1816 An ‘atmosphere of isolation and suspicion’
Welcome Trevor and Brett by Richard Mackie * On behalf of the Board of the Ormsby Literary Society and our Advisory Board I’d like to welcome Trevor Marc Hughes and Brett Josef Grubisic as interim editors of The British Columbia Review for the year May 1, 2023 to May 1, 2024. The position was made possible…
Read more 1813 Welcome Trevor and Brett
The Vicar’s Knickers: The Mildly Catastrophic Misadventures of Tony Vicar, Book 2 by Vince R. Ditrich Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2022 $19.99 / 9781459747289 Reviewed by Caileigh Broatch * The Liquor Vicar, the first of Vince R. Ditrich’s three book series, introduces wannabe musician Tony Vicar. He’s missed his big break by a couple of years…
Read more 1803 The locals of Tyee Lagoon
Crime Wave: Women of a Certain Age. A Canada West Anthology by Elizabeth Bass, Karen L. Abrahamson, and J.E. Barnard (editors), with a foreword by Gail Bowen Vancouver: Sisters in Crime (Canada West Chapter), 2022 $24.27 / 9781777246655 Reviewed by Ginny Ratsoy * Stories are not chapters of novels. They should not be read one…
Read more 1795 Move over, Miss Marple
Blood Atonement by S.M. Freedman Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2022 $22.95 / 9781459750241 Reviewed by Myshara Herbert-McMyn * S.M. Freedman‘s Blood Atonement is shocking and thrilling, terrifying from the moment you realize the broad accuracy of the events it describes the aftermath of. And of course, this is a situation where it pays to pay attention….
Read more 1783 Hooked from the start
Sunset and Jericho: A Wakeland Novel by Sam Wiebe Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2023 $24.95 / 9781990776236 Reviewed by Brett Josef Grubisic * Regarding Sunset and Jericho, an expected question might be “So, is it any good?” Happily, the unhesitant answer (“Yes, absolutely”) inspires a better follow-up: “Oh, what’s so worthwhile?” The easy reply is…
Read more 1774 Hardwired for defiance
Announcing the BC Review interview series by Richard Mackie * In November 2022, at the most recent board meeting of the Ormsby Literary Society, the chair, Byron Sheardown, suggested that we open a YouTube channel and start an interview series. Board member Trevor Marc Hughes jumped at the suggestion. “I’ve got filmmaking experience,” he said,…
Read more 1757 Announcing interview series
Long Time Dead: My Investigation into the Unsolved Murder of Ralph Wilson Snair by Susan McIver Victoria: FriesenPress, 2022 $14.99 / 9781039151123 Reviewed by Sheldon Goldfarb * The great advantage a fictional murder mystery has over a true crime saga is that in fiction the detective always gets his man. Oh, okay, there was that…
Read more 1735 The matter of Snair & Weasner
Deadly Triangle: The Famous Architect, His Wife, Their Chauffeur, and Murder Most Foul by Susan Goldenberg Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2022 $23.99 / 9781459750302 Reviewed by Valerie Green * Anyone who lives in British Columbia’s capital city or has visited the beautiful city of Victoria and admired the Parliament buildings and the world-famous Empress Hotel in…
Read more 1705 Scandal of the century
Nobody from Somewhere by Dietrich Kalteis Toronto: ECW Press, 2022 $24.95 / 9781770416116 Reviewed by Bill Paul * The plot of this entertaining crime novel begins at a bar in a casino near the Vancouver airport. Park Won-Soon, a Korean businessman fluent in three languages and working out of Hong Kong, is having a drink…
Read more 1682 Show me the money
Cold Case BC: The Stories Behind the Province’s Most Intriguing Murder and Missing Person Cases by Eve Lazarus Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2022 $22.95 / 9781551529073 Reviewed by Zoe McKenna * One need only to briefly browse through the most popular shows and documentaries on Netflix to begin to understand our culture’s obsession with true…
Read more 1678 Keeping cold cases warm
A Bicycle Story by Dave Steen Thetis Island: Thetis Island Publishing, 2022 $12.99 / 9798409188085 A Bicycle Story is available on Amazon.ca Reviewed by Howard Macdonald Stewart * Dave Steen’s mystery novel about old crimes and old age might well have been entitled A Tale of Many Bicycles or A Tale of Many Cyclists. All…
Read more 1677 The rough side of cycling
Sulfur Heart by Brooke Carter Victoria: Orca Book Publishers, 2022 $10.95 / 9781459831605 Reviewed by Myshara Herbert-McMyn * Sulfur Heart is a wonderfully dark and gritty story with all the elements readers crave in a noir novel: crime, murder, tragedy, whodunnit, revenge. It took me less than ninety minutes to read, and it will no…
Read more 1672 A noir novel for teens