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
A Vancouver-set debut crime novel, a “very enjoyable, fast-paced thriller that does not disappoint,” entangles a psychologist in a suspected suicide case. A whole school of red herrings ensues. —Valerie Green reviews Hired Gun: Uncovering Buried Secrets, by Bill Koch (Altona: Friesen Press, 2025) $30.49 / 97810368329448
A chilling and enthralling “psychologically perilous tale of deception, manipulation, and murder” is anchored by Esther Maile, a character who strives “to fill her need for connection in the most maladaptive ways.” —Trish Bowering reviews Days of Feasting and Rejoicing, by David Bergen (Fredericton: Goose Lane Editions, 2025) $25.00 / 9781773103433
Timely thriller about AI technology, corporate intrigue, and marriage also manages to engage meaningfully in the cultural debate about MAID and end-of-life. —Sophia Wasylinko reviews The Deepest Fake, by Daniel Kalla (Toronto: Simon & Schuster Canada, 2025) $25.99 / 9781668032534
“In a thriller populated with criminals and, possibly, a ghost, the scariest thing in this book is their marriage.” —Jessica Poon reviews Every Fall, by Angela Douglas (Toronto: Rising Action, 2025) $25.99/9781998076819
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
Nigeria-set sophomore novel “has enough tangly relationships for a soap opera, ample tension for a psychological thriller, and meaningful, if slightly under-explored sociopolitical commentary on race, religion, and gender.” —Jessica Poon reviews Every Drop of Blood Is Red, by Umar Turaki (New York: Little A (an Amazon Imprint), 2024) $24.99 / 781662508110
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
With a cast of writers, this stylish thriller provides “deeply satisfying escapism; however, it also skillfully depicts parental grief, artistic struggles, and that persistent feeling that, if you just find the right words, then, your life will have meant something.” —Jessica Poon reviews The Deepest Lake, by Andromeda Romano-Lax (Toronto: Soho Crime, 2024) $26.95 / 9781641295604
“What do schools of dead fish, a cure for Alzheimer’s, and nuclear fusion have in common?” A debut psychological thriller answers this question and more. —Jessica Poon reviews The Outlier, by Elisabeth Eaves (Toronto: Random House Canada, 2024) $24.95 / 9781039008045
A thriller compels with “epic marriage baggage, a classically bratty stepdaughter, and theatrically terrible weather even by Pacific Northwest standards.” —Jessica Poon reviews The Off Season, by Amber Cowie (Toronto: Simon & Schuster Canada, 2024) $24.99 / 9781668023518
Adept thriller is a welcome cause for “a single session of binge-reading punctuated with that rapturous state of feeling appalled at human behaviour.” —Jessica Poon reviews The Haters, by Robyn Harding (New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2024) $29.00 / 9781538766101
A cutting edge psychiatrist faces her own traumatic past and the mysterious deaths of her clientele in a thriller where tension mounts page after page. —Valerie Green reviews High Society, by Daniel Kalla (Toronto: Simon & Schuster, 2024) $24.99 / 9781668032510
Political nail-biter spans three continents, delves into brutal realpolitik, and features a plot that requires a reader’s “concentrated effort.” —Valerie Green reviews The Black State, by John Delacourt (Surrey: Now or Never Publishing, 2024) $19.95 / 9781989689608
Although addictive and inventive, a debut novel’s storyline could use a trim. —Valerie Green reviews The Wickedest of Things, by Russel Barrie (Kamloops: Russel Barrie Books, 2023) $24.00 / 9781738060701
Seaweed under Fire by Stanley Evans Victoria: Ekstasis Editions, 2017. $25.95 / 9781771711920 Reviewed by Phyllis Reeve First published May 6, 2018 * A hiker and his dog find a corpse in Beacon Hill Park. Two cops find another corpse in an Italian restaurant. Before long our provincial capital is littered with more dead bodies…
Read more #299 The tough love of Seaweed
First published March 29, 2018. No Dog Barked: Who Killed the MacLauchlans? (Archives New West $30) by Rob Drown and Ken McIntosh 978-1-7750952-1-7 reviewed by Beverly Cramp * Last year John Gray gained wide approval for his novel about Vancouver’s most infamous unsolved murder with The White Angel, a retelling of the perplexing 1924 murder…
Read more #275 Unsolved murders revisited
First published March 28, 2018. The Haunting of Vancouver Island: Supernatural Encounters with the Other Side by Shanon Sinn Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2017. $20 / 9781771512435 Reviewed by Carol Anne Shaw * No matter our age, or whether or not we believe in the supernatural, there is something compelling about a good ghost story. Shanon…
Read more #274 Spooks, not kooks
Blood, Sweat, and Fear: The Story of Inspector Vance, Vancouver’s First Forensic Investigator by Eve Lazarus Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2017 $21.95 / 9781551526850 Reviewed by Bonnie Reilly Schmidt First published Nov. 8, 2017 * In Blood, Sweat, and Fear: The Story of Inspector Vance, Vancouver’s First Forensic Investigator Eve Lazarus rescues one of the…
Read more #198 Inspector Vance, I presume?
Deadpoint by Nikki Tate Victoria: Orca Book Publishers, 2017 $9.95 / 9781459813526 Reviewed by Carol Anne Shaw First published May 31, 2017 * In Deadpoint, Ayla, a reluctant rock-climber, finds herself with two experienced injured climbers on the side of Black Dog Mountain. Reviewer Carol Shaw finds much to admire in the steep learning curve…
Read more #133 Black Dog desperation