Set in assorted time periods and on land (Australia, Italy) and water (Indian Ocean, Mediterranean Sea), a historical murder mystery is marked by the return of a coolly stylish PI and a cast of striking characters. —Valerie Green reviews The Italian Secret, by Tara Moss (Toronto: HarperCollins Canada, 2025) $25.99 / 9781443461290
“That’s not to presume that the novel is necessarily autobiographical, only to suggest that [the author] clearly holds a great fondness for the people and places of Vancouver Island, a fondness that is capably demonstrated through this curious and entertaining story of Tibetan Buddhism, talking fish, and the weight of familial legacy.” —Logan Macnair reviews The Atoner of Alberni, by Edward Cepka (Vancouver: Granville Island Publishing, 2025 ) $23.95 / 9781989467770
With her late-Victorian setting on Vancouver Island, a debut novelist “clearly takes much care in constructing her story, using metaphor effectively to enhance the reader’s appreciation of the wilderness setting and the lengthy cast of characters.” Despite the successes, the novel proved confounding on occasion for our reviewer. —Ron Verzuh reviews A Snake and a Feathered Bird, by Angie Ellis (Saskatoon: Thistledown Press, 2025) $24.95 / 9781771872812
An author’s fourth historical novel is buoyed by tumultuous ocean voyage scenes and a love for the ages. Its exposition, however, raises the question of whether it might have met greater success as nonfiction. —Valerie Green reviews The Rebel’s Wife, by Gerald Richardson Brown (Vancouver: Granville Island Publishing, 2025) $24.95 / 9781989467794
Inspired by a fearless and revengeful “Queen of Outlaws,” the spirited young protagonist of a vibrant, prairie-set debut novel begins a lengthy quest for self-determination as she moves from job to job, location to location, and man to man in the early twentieth century. —Trish Bowering reviews I Want to Die in My Boots, by Natalie Appleton (Victoria: Touchwood Editions, 2025) $28.65 / 9781990071270
With three timelines—1908, 1934, 1998—and “a ghoulish atmosphere that will delight dark academia and horror fans alike,” a prolific author’s latest novel drips with chills, trials, and, of course, witchcraft. —Sophia Wasylinko reviews The Bewitching, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Toronto: Del Rey, 2025) $39.00 / 9780593874325
In a warm, captivating tale, campaigning politicians, lovestruck Cranbrookers, and the Sells-Floto Circus turn 1920s small town BC into the proverbial three-ringer. —Ron Verzuh reviews Frank and the Elephants: A Romance of the Rockies, by R.D. Rowberry (Nelson: Nelson History Theatre Society, 2024) $18.95 / 9781738218004
Historical fiction—set in northern Alberta circa 1806—features winter storms, intrigue, romance, and a cougar attack. Given “that few white females were part of the fur trade in the far north of Canada in the early 1800s,” our reviewer has some reserve about the novel’s focus on Abigail Williams. —Ron Verzuh reviews The Fort, by Christy K. Lee (Toronto: Rising Action Publishing, 2025) $24.99 / 9781998076413
As she portrays hardship and resilience in Saskatchewan and British Columbia, a debut novelist “tells an engrossing story about Clara, a talented doctor and loving woman trying to find the right path to take in late Victorian Canada.” —Valerie Green reviews The Roads We Take, by Christy K. Lee (Toronto: Rising Action Publishing, 2023) $21.99 / 9781998076062
Author draws on true-life experiences to portray hardship and perseverance in a wintry city during a horrific three-year campaign of attrition. —Heidi Greco reviews Winter of Siege, by Jan DeGrass (Garden Bay: MW Books, 2023) $20.00 / 9780995277830
“Does the novel work? The implied audience is a small one, and even within it, some readers may find the novel more work than reward. But others will likely revel in the intricacy…” —Candace Fertile reviews Hester in Sunlight, by Hannah Calder (Vancouver: New Star, 2024) $22.00 / 9781554202102
A brooding hero gives a centuries-spanning novel gravity, but too many characters “create a pacing that is reminiscent of old ‘monster of the week’ television, à la Scooby Doo, or Doctor Who, without the levity that makes these shows so digestible.” —Zoe McKenna reviews The Mona Lisa Sacrifice, by Peter Darbyshire (Hamilton: Wolsak & Wynn, 2024) $24.00 / 9781998408054
Debut novelist’s tale brings together two women and two centuries in a satisfying book that “sparkles with excitement, history, and the agency of women.” —Valerie Green reviews The Champagne Letters, by Kate MacIntosh (Toronto: Gallery Books, 2024) $36.99 / 9781668061886
Vancouver Island author’s sophomore novel is “a tightly plotted, ambitious work of historical fiction that has fast-paced thriller elements and, at other times, the makings of a slow burn romance.” —Jessica Poon reviews The Last Secret, by Maia Caron (Toronto: Doubleday Canada, 2024) $25.00 / 9780385688826
Infectiously fun, rapid-fire novel recounts tales from the golden age of charismatic criminals, and ushers readers into “into a fictional world of real-life events that is grippingly good reading.” —Ron Verzuh reviews Crooked: A Crime Novel, by Dietrich Kalteis (Toronto: ECW Press, 2024) $22.95 / 9781770417076
Readers will feel anger and compassion “as they follow this pathetic, arthritic, alcoholic woman through the last years of her life as she finally realizes that Hitler’s horrific ‘Final Solution’ was the most odious event in history.” —Valerie Green reviews The Imposter, by Johanna Van Zanten (Las Vegas: Histria Books, 2024) $29.99 / 9761592113767
Expansive sophomore novel showcases an author’s “talent for delving into the minds of different personalities across several decades.” —Jessica Poon reviews The Leap Year Gene, by Shelley Wood (Toronto: HarperCollins Canada, 2024) $25.99 / 9781443473163
The closing novel of the McBride Chronicles tetralogy mulls over past and future as it introduces a host of contemporary social issues. —Vanessa Winn reviews Tomorrow, by Valerie Green (Surrey: Hancock House, 2024) $24.95 / 9780888397843
This fast-paced murder mystery with a “wonderfully wry” tone is “great fun.” It’s also an “animated and sharp” glimpse of Vancouver’s social landscape, circa 1929. —W.H. New reviews Mr. Good-Evening, by John MacLachlan Gray (Madeira Park: Douglas & McIntyre, 2024) $34.94 / 9781771623957
Montreal in the late 1940s is the backdrop for appealing portraits of young women navigating convention and discovering themselves. —Bill Paul reviews A Real Somebody, by Deryn Collier (Seattle: Lake Union Publishing, 2023) $15.70 / 9781662512643