“A true standalone gothic fantasy, What Wakes the Bells is full of blood and guts, action, and of course, romance”: for YA readers, a striking debut. —Myshara McMyn reviews What Wakes the Bells, by Elle Tesch (New York: Feiwel & Friends, 2025) $26.99 / 9781250322807
With vicious bare-knuckle fights, illicit booze runs, and bloody tussles with Al Capone’s goons, a veteran crime novelist gives the career of Huck Waller an immense, though gritty, appeal. —Ron Verzuh reviews Dirty Little War: A Crime Novel, by Dietrich Kalteis (Toronto: ECW Press, 2025) $26.95 / 9781770417960
Freshly returned to Vancouver, PI Dave Wakeland strives to keep cynicism and despair at bay as he investigates the Houseboat Massacre. Sam Wiebe’s latest excels in all the right ways. —Brett Josef Grubisic reviews The Last Exile: A Wakeland Novel, by Sam Wiebe (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2025)
$24.95 / 9781998526086
A debut collection of “spare, sharply focused” and “intensely male” short stories depicts a “world of physical work, training for it, engaging in it—or suffering from its absence.” —Theo Dombrowski reviews Cane Wood: Based on True Stories, by Stephen L. Howard (Altona: Friesen Press, 2025) $13.49 / 9781038326300
In the latest instalment, a plucky “Canadian kid from a middle-class family” meets larger-than-life characters from the heyday of ’60s London. The bodies really pile up too. —Ron Verzuh reviews Curse of the Savoy: A Priscilla Tempest Mystery, Book 4, by Ron Base and Prudence Emery (Madeira Park, BC: Douglas & McIntyre, 2025) $19.95 / 9781771624381
“Citra vividly captures contemporary life for young people. The fact that it’s rural life makes little difference really: urban, suburban, or rural, our existence now is complicated.” —Alison Acheson reviews Like a Bird, by Becky Citra (Toronto: Second Story Press, 2025) $15.95 / 9781772604177
Debut novella offers a “heartfelt embrace of iconic werewolf lore, a tragic but charming peek at wholesome male friendships, and a careful balance between horror and humour,” but is overly influenced by its source material. —Zoe McKenna reviews A Canadian Werewolf in Montana, by W. K. Shephard (Altona: Friesen Press, 2025) $11.99 /9781038319982
“Deep Cuts is a fantastic debut novel that aptly captures being in your twenties, loving music, and chaotic will-they-won’t-they romance. Winsome, full of heart, and with unusually excellent dialogue, Deep Cuts is destined to become a fondly dog-eared novel, meant to be reread and replayed.”—Jessica Poon reviews Deep Cuts, by Holly Brickley (Toronto: Doubleday, 2025) $26.99 / 9780385699907
“If ever Moore decides to transform his novel into a screenplay for a Casablanca sequel, an intention suggested by naming his chapters as acts and scenes, I’d like to request a reserve seat. It promises to be a marvellous viewing treat.” —Ron Verzuh reviews The Last Reel: A Sequel to “Casablanca,” by John Moore (Victoria: Ekstasis Editions, 2024) $25.95 / 9781771715140
Set in urban and rural England during the 1940s, a debut novel features a captivating heroine with a noteworthy story. It throws in mystery, intrigue, and ornithological details too. —Valerie Green reviews Letters from Gerald, by R.W. Butler (Altona: Friesen Press, 2024) $22.49 / 9781038305459