The Day She Died by S.M. Freedman
I like novels that tell a story in both the present and the past. After all, so much of what we become is tied up in where we have been. When an author uses this shifting perspective it’s like getting two mysteries for the price of one. In any old book you can read to…
Women in the Mob
In Starr Sign, my second novel in the Candace Starr Crime Series, Candace infiltrates her estranged Detroit mafia family, the Scarpellos, in search of her mother, Angela. In honour of the fictitious Scarpello clan (and Candace), I bring you some real-life women who made their mark in the male-dominated world of organized crime. Virginia Hill…
Still Life by Val McDermid
Still Life begins with a corpse being pulled out of the Firth of Forth by a group of lobster fishermen. Definitely not your typical catch of the day. The body belongs to a man who was a suspect in his brother’s disappearance and probable murder over a decade ago, but he did a runner when…
Elizabeth Báthory, the Blood Countess
It’s Halloween and as such my mind turns to the macabre, which when I think about it, isn’t an event exclusively restricted to Oct 31st. I mean, after all, l wrote a book about a spiritual pilgrimage across Northern Spain and put walking dead people on it (Petra’s Ghost). But even my deep affection for…
The Less Dead by Denise Mina
My mother used to work as a social worker, reuniting adult adoptive children with their natural parents. She’d be the first to tell you that those reunions can be wonderfully rewarding. They can also be a complete flippin’ disaster. That’s the thing with birth families, just like Forest Gump’s iconic box of chocolates, “you never…
Interview with Erin Ruddy
BIO ERIN RUDDY is a writer, editor, and award-winning journalist. She is currently the executive editor at MediaEdge Communications. She lives in Toronto. Q&A Your debut novel, Tell Me My Name, is a nail-biting, domestic noir set in cottage country. What inspired you to write a story in this genre and this setting? The idea…
Interview with Nicole Lundrigan
BIO NICOLE LUNDRIGAN is the author of six critically acclaimed novels, including The Substitute and Glass Boys. Her work has appeared on best of the year selections of The Globe and Mail, Amazon.ca, and Now magazine. Her most recent novel, Hideaway, is currently on the shortlist for a 2020 Arthur Ellis Award. She grew up…
Facebook Live with Author C.S. O’Cinneide & friend
With all in-person author events cancelled for the near (and sometimes rather distant) future, it was so much fun to do this live “broadcast” from the Dundurn Press FB page. Find out about The Starr Sting Scale, barnacle boyfriends and how it feels to have your teenage daughter drop an f-bomb online. Just click on…
Darling Rose Gold By Stephanie Wrobel
Rose Gold and her mother, Patty, have a complicated relationship in the dark domestic thriller, Darling Rose Gold. This is in part due to Patty being in prison for the last five years. Incarceration tends to put a damper on most family get-togethers, particularly birthdays when everybody expects cakes with a file in them. But…
Diary of a SARS Quarantine
In 2003, I was quarantined for SARS, and wrote a funny story about it. I’m thinking we could all use a laugh right now, so I am publishing my short memoir on this blog, raw and unedited. Day 1 The Phone Call Have had hectic day. With four children between the ages of 2 and…
