Prolific author returns to Europe during WWII with a twisty page-turner. “The action didn’t let up until the last page. With a descriptive historical setting, an intriguing plot full of suspense and action, and a bit of romance to boot, The Double Life of Eve Sinclair is historical fiction well worth a read,” our reviews says. —Trish Bowering reviews The Double Life of Eve Sinclair, by C.C. Humphreys (Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2026) $25.00 / 9780385701075
Surreal Toronto-set novel takes place over a single day and features prose with a hypnotic cadence, staccato passages that are “closer … to Palahniuk than Hemingway,” and characters who speak “in impulsive half-sentences.” “And in the end,” our reviewer writes, “I would prefer to engage with art that takes these big swings, even if some of them occasionally miss, than to see no big swings taken at all.” —Logan Macnair reviews I Met Death & Sex Through My Friend, Tom Meuley, by Thom Vernon (Gananoque: Guernica Editions, 2024) $29.95 / 9781771838795
An artist, an oligarch, an ex-resistance operative who’s 94, a family vineyard in Crete… In a thought-provoking, prettily descriptive novel, the heist elements grab and hold a reader’s attention (while that’s less true for the protagonist’s erotic awakening). —Valerie Green reviews The Angels’ Share, by Jane Bow (New York: Red Elixir, 2026) $37.00 / 9781966293309
An “intricate story about neither a library nor a brothel” and the first book in a new triptych, a novel showcases an author’s nonpareil sense of absurdity. “Schofield’s latest requires hard work, but it remunerates at time-and-a-half,” our reviewer says. —Marcie McCauley reviews Library of Brothel, by Anakana Schofield (Toronto: Knopf Canada, 2026) $35.00 / 9780735273245
A poet’s debut novel, “a quintessential fantasy story,” features an unconventional hero’s trial-filled quest. It’s awfully short for the fantasy genre, though, and that impacts its characterization (and a story that feels “a tad truncated”). —Zoe McKenna reviews Not All Dragons, by David Ly (Hamilton: Poplar Press/Wolsak & Wynn, 2026) $24.00 / 9781998408429
In a poet’s Jerusalem-set first novel, sixteen-year old Aziz seeks “the right side” as he wanders and works—and learns about himself, his family, and his society. “Zaghal invites us into Aziz’s world, shows us what he’s up against, and elicits our compassion for a young man finding his way against all odds,” our reviewer writes. —Janet S. Pollock reviews Seven Heavens Away, by Ashraf Zaghal (Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 2026) $26.99 / 9781487013486
An author of thrillers changes tack, with winning results: “Of course, hilarious mystery novels are not an invention of the post-Covid era, but, given the seemingly instant transition the world has made from a pandemic to geopolitical chaos, this round has come at an opportune time. And, as much as any other country, Canada needs more humour. Nay’s Kirby Crime Crackers are a promising addition to the roster of comedic detective female gumshoes.” —Ginny Ratsoy reviews All Rise for Murder, by Roz Nay (Toronto: Viking, 2026) $26.95/ 9781037801877
A novel’s pensive narrator, a museum curator smitten with the realms of art history and ideas, recalls her childhood, marriage, and quest for personal alchemical gold. A slim book with many literal questions and much philosophizing, it left our reviewer wanting less as well as more. —Brett Josef Grubisic reviews The Alchemy of Paradise, by Susannah M. Smith (Halifax: Invisible Publishing, 2026) $24.95 / 9781778430855
With the sudden appearance of silent, prismatic alien orbs (that have transdimensional capabilities), humans react to yet another crisis. “Despite the narrative scope, and the frequently metatextual, multilingual nature of the story it weaves, The Coffin of Honey remains staunchly humanist, entertaining. It begs for a read, and then another,” exclaims our reviewer. —Kenna Clifford reviews The Coffin of Honey, by Geoffrey D. Morrison (Toronto: Coach House Books, 2026) $24.95 / 9781552455180
“A quick online search of Vancouver-based detective fiction turns up several other Vancouver-based private eye mysteries. Sam Wiebe, J.T. Seimens, A.J Devlin, Elizabeth Bowers, and others are prominent. Regrettably, the online lists I saw were missing the creative pen of Roy Innes. A correction is in order.” —Ron Verzuh reviews The False Creek Murder: An Inspector Coswell Mystery, by Roy Innes (Edmonton: NeWest Press, 2026) $23.95 / 9781774391389
Set in Canada and Japan, a debut novel traces the unsteady and occasionally wayward development of Maggie, a student artist no longer making art. In Japan, Maggie’s social circle is a problem in more ways than one. —Brett Josef Grubisic reviews Welcome to Sunny Town, by Théodora Armstrong (Calgary: Freehand Books, 2026) $24.95 / 9781997534112
A “diluvial narrative” that flows with references to and musings on Arendt, Woolf, Barthes, Derrida, Cixous, and many others, a novel presents “a history of disappeared locution and a locational archive”: “Overflowing and magically disappearing, Robertson’s indelible river meets Mark Twain’s Mississippi and James Joyce’s Liffey.” —Michael Greenstein reviews Riverwork, by Lisa Robertson (Toronto: Coach House Books, 2026) $24.95 / 9781552455173
“These are the dichotomies of human experience: keeping grudges, granting forgiveness; making up lies, trying perhaps to undo them; dealing with the miracles of new life or of death. All of them are here, encapsulated in five amazing stories, ones you may perhaps never forget.” —Heidi Greco reviews Like a River Divides the Earth: Five Stories, by Dora Dueck (Calgary: Freehand Books, 2026) $22.95 / 9781997534204
The latest mystery for irrepressible West Kootenay amateur sleuth Lane Winslow begins with a bespoke hat. From there, a missing boy, a stolen boat, and a hoard of cash… It’s “the perfect compact source of entertainment to exercise the brain when it comes to solving a murder mystery while at the same time rooting for each characters’ journeys and desires,” our reviewer writes. —Sergio Espinosa reviews A False and Fatal Claim, by Iona Whishaw (Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2026) $21.95 / 9781771514668
“When I finished the last page and closed the book, I came away satisfied. And the ending? That, I really liked.” With that said, an author’s follow-up to a phenomenally successful debut is not quite as stellar. —Trish Bowering reviews The Caretaker, by Marcus Kliewer (Toronto: Atria/Emily Bestler Books/12:01 Books, 2026) $26.99 / 9781668228944
Final book of a pentalogy rife with dualities — “the epic conclusion to an action-packed, magic-filled saga of love, loss, and becoming who you were meant to be” — leaves our reviewer satisfied and, happily, unbothered by any unanswered questions. —Myshara McMyn reviews The Call of the Rift: Fuse, by Jae Waller (Toronto: ECW Press, 2026) $23.95 / 9781770417137
The opening volume of a speculative fiction trilogy ranges between Germany of the present decade and Canada of 2085. In spite of an intriguing set-up, the novel’s surfeit of plot threads and wildly unlikable characters diminished the book’s appeal. —Sophia Wasylinko reviews Gaia’s Revolution: Book 1 of the Icaria Trilogy, by Nina Munteanu (Calgary: Dragon Moon Press, 2026) $6.88 [ebook] / 9781774000762
BC-set debut novel portrays environmental politics and a volatile family of five in 1989, 2001, and 2022. Against a forested backdrop, the novel “explores how a thriving family is a unique ecosystem with its own fragility and resilience.” —Trish Bowering reviews The Fall-Down Effect, by Liz Johnston (Toronto: Book*hug, 2026) $24.95 / 9781771669627
Reissued collection adds content in the form of four new stories. In complex pieces “underpinned by psychological and philosophical considerations” the author is drawn to careful examinations of Singaporean politics, culture, and history. —Candace Fertile reviews Heaven Has Eyes: Stories, by Philip Holden (New York: Gaudy Boy, 2026) $26.00 / 978958652220
Verse-like fiction and/or novelistic lyrics, a seminal poet’s latest book dazzles our reviewer: “It’s a dream of touching people. Everyone. And the world. Which is a person, too. Even bill’s drawings are touch. His paintings are made out of gentle finger strokes on canvas. Through touch, bill makes a world.” —Harold Rhenisch reviews th book uv lost passwords 1, by bill bissett (Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2025) $24.95 / 9781772016932