18 Canadian mysteries & thrillers to read in summer 2021

If you love a read that sends a chill up your spine, check out one of these great Canadian books!

The Creepby MichaelLaPointe

InThe Creep, journalist Whitney Chase grapples with a mysterious compulsion to enhance her coverage with intriguing untruths and undetectable white lies. She calls it "the creep" an overpowering need to improve the story in the telling. And Whitneyhas a particular genius for getting away with it.

• Michael LaPointe's The Creep is a thriller novel about lies, truth and medical science gone awry

Set against the ramp-up to the US invasion of Iraq and the decline of print journalism,The Creepportrays an increasingly unequal 21st century exploring how deceitfulness, self-enhancement and confidently delivered lies can be transfused into fact and constitute a broader violence against the social fabric and public trust.

Michael LaPointe is a writer and critic from Toronto. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, The New York Times and the Times Literary Supplement.

The Case of the Murderous Dr. Creamby Dean Jobb

InThe Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream, Dean Jobbtells the story ofDr. Thomas Neill Cream, a Canadian doctor who was stalking and murdering women in London, England, in the late 1800s, and who was also suspected of murders in Canada and Chicago. The press called him the Lambeth Poisoner and he was one of most prolific serial killers in history. In thistrue story of a notorious murderer, Jobb looks at who Cream was and why it took so long to catch and convict him.

Dean Jobb is a journalism professor and writer living in Halifax. He is the author of several nonfiction books, includingEmpire of DeceptionandCalculated Risk.Empire of Deceptionwon the Arthur Ellis Award for best true crime book.

The Next Chapter11:41Sheena Kamal on No Going Back and Fight Like a Girl

Sheena Kamal talks about the third instalment of her Nora Watts mystery series No Going Back and debut YA novel Fight Like a Girl.

The Perfect Familyby Robyn Harding

The Perfect Familyis the latest thriller from Robyn Harding. InThe Perfect Family, the Adlers seemperfect: happy and successful parents, a charming house andtwo happy and healthy teenage kids. But when vandals start attacking their house, this facade unravels. Who is attacking their home, and why? The answer lies in a dark secret that could change everything.

• The most important lesson filmmaker and author Robyn Harding learned from writing her last novel

Harding is a writer and filmmaker from Vancouver. Her thrillers includeThe Party,Her Pretty FaceandThe Swap.Harding also wrote the screenplay for the independent filmThe Steps,which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

No Going Backby Sheena Kamal

InNo Going Back,the latest Nora Watts crime thriller bySheena Kamal, Nora finds herself trying to protect Bonnie, the daughter she had given up for adoption. Two years previously, Bonnie had been kidnapped by the ruthless Zhang family. She has made an enemy in Dao, the intimidating triad enforcer for the Zhangs. From Canada to southeast Asia, Nora finds herself pursuing her adversary.

• Why Sheena Kamal ran away screaming from this Q&A

Kamal is a Vancouver-based writer of crime novels. Her bookThe Lost Oneswon the2018 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. She is also the author ofIt All Falls Down.

The Next Chapter16:14Carol Rose GoldenEagle on Bone Black

The Cree/Dene writer and journalist Carol Rose GoldenEagle on her thriller Bone Black, about an Indigenous woman who takes justice into her own hands when the system fails her.

The Almost Wifeby GailAnderson-Dargatz

In this thriller by novelist Gail Anderson-Dargatz, a woman named Kirais living the life she's always dreamed. Her fianc is handsome,wealthy anda great dad to his 13-year-old daughter Olive and their baby Evie. When Kira takes the girls to her childhood summer home, she realizes that her fianc's ex-wife has followed them.

• Gail Anderson-Dargatz on the therapeutic value of soup-making

Anderson-Dargatz is a writer from B.C. Her first novel,The Cure for Death by Lightning,was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Her other books includeA Recipe for Bees,The Spawning GroundsandTurtle Valley.

The Huntedby Roz Nay

The Huntedis athrillerthat takes place on a beautiful island off the coast of Tanzania.The main character, Stevie, isstill reeling from the death of her grandmother when she decides to follow her boyfriend Jacob on a work trip. As her relationship with Jacob worsens, Stevie finds herself fending off attacks on her life.

• Real-life secrets and lies spurred Roz Nay to write the psychological thriller Hurry Home

Roz Nay is a thriller writer from British Columbia. Her other books includeOur Little SecretandHurry Home.Our Little Secret,won the Douglas Kennedy Prize for best foreign thriller.

The Retreatby Elisabeth de Mariaffi

The Retreattells the story of a former principal dancer,Maeve Martin, whoarrives at a snowy mountain retreatcalled High Water Center for the Arts. Maeve'splans to start her own dance company are derailed after an avalanche traps everyone inside andguests start dropping one by one.

• Elisabeth de Mariaffi gives some insights into her writing process

Elisabeth de Mariaffi is a writer from St. John's. Her debut collection of stories,How to Get Along with Women, was a finalist for the 2013 Scotiabank Giller Prize. Her other books includeHysteriaandThe Devil You Know.

The Next Chapter5:06Shari Lapena takes our Proust Questionnaire

Best selling author Shari Lapena takes The Next Chapter Proust Questionnaire.

Bone Blackby Carol Rose GoldenEagle

Bone Blackis about one woman's search for her missing sister, and her need to take the case into her own hands.When her twin sister goes missing, Wren StrongEagle immediately reports it to the local police. Feeling dismissed and worrying the case won't be investigated properly, Wren launches into action and decides to find justice on her own.

• Carol Rose GoldenEagle wanted to speak up for missing Indigenous women by writing a tale of vengeance

Carol Rose GoldenEagle is a Cree and Dene author whose books include the novelBearskin Diaryand the poetry collectionHiraeth. Her forthcoming novelThe Narrows of Fear, is set to be released in fall2020.

The Next Chapter11:27Laurie Elizabeth Flynn on The Girls Are All So Nice Here

Laurie Elizabeth Flynn talks to Shelagh Rogers about her psychological thriller The Girls Are All So Nice Here.

Not a Happy Familyby ShariLapena

In Shari Lapena's new thriller,Not a Happy Family, the wealthy residents of Brecken Hill are shaken by the murders of their neighbours, Fred and Sheila Merton. The suspicion turns on Fred and Sheila's three adult children, who stand to inherit millions.

• Shari Lapena hated being a lawyer but being a bestselling thriller writer suits her just fine

Lapena is an internationally bestselling author of thrillers likeThe Couple Next Door,Someone We KnowandThe Endof Her. She lives in Toronto.

The Next Chapter16:52Marissa Stapley on Lucky

Marissa Stapley talks to Shelagh Rogers about her new novel, Lucky.

The Girls Are AllSo Nice Hereby Laurie Elizabeth Flynn

Newfound freedom, insecurity, sexual competition these are the elements Laurie Elizabeth Flynn mixes together in her psychological thriller,The Girls Are All So Nice Here.The book is about two former best friends, Ambrosia and Sloane, who return to their college reunion to learn that they have been targeted by someone who wants revenge for what they did 10years before.

• Laurie Elizabeth Flynn's suspense novelThe Girls Are All So Nice Hereis a tale of toxic friendship

Flynn is a novelist based in London, Ont.She is also the author of the YA novelsFirsts,All Eyes on HerandLast Girl LiedTo.

The Next Chapter16:53Charles Demers on Primary Obsessions

Charles Demers talks to Shelagh Rogers about his new book, Primary Obsessions.

Not Dark Yetby Peter Robinson

Not Dark Yetis the 27th book in the Inspector Banks mystery series by Peter Robinson. InNot Dark Yet, there's been a double murder on a property developer's luxury home. The owner has ties to the mafia and when the security camera reveals ties to even more crimes, the original murders that brought Banks on the scene look completely different.

• Peter Robinson reflects on writing his latest Inspector Banks mystery novel in a post-Brexit world

Robinson is a Canadian mystery writer. His books have won awards and have been translated into 20 languages. He's been called the master of the police procedural.

Obsidianby Thomas King

Thomas King's sly investigator Thumps DreadfulWater returns inObsidian. After the famed producer of a true-crime documentary turns up dead, Thumps is forced to look into an old cold case he had tried to forget: the Obsidian murders. When someone starts leaving reminders of the case around Chinook, Thumps is compelled to confront the incident that left his girlfriend and her daughter dead.

• Stories can be both wondrous and dangerous, according to writer Thomas King

Kingis a Canadian-American writer of Cherokee and Greek ancestry. He delivered the 2003 Massey Lectures,The Truth about Stories. His books includeTruth & Bright Water,The Inconvenient IndianandThe Back of the Turtle.The Back of the Turtlewon the Governor General's Literary Award for fiction in 2014.

The Sunday Edition20:48Ashley Audrain on motherhood and her debut novel 'The Push'

Host Piya Chattopadhyay speaks to Ashley Audrain about her debut novel, The Push a searing look at motherhood told as a psychological thriller. The conversation explores the expectations put on moms, including the ones they put on themselves; what goes wrong when motherhood and womanhood get too entangled; and goes beyond "bad mom" tropes to delve into the things mothers wish they could say and why we all need to listen when they do say them.

Luckyby Marissa Stapley

Luckyis a novel about a scam artist named Lucky Armstrong. She just pulled off her biggest scam yet, a million dollar heist with her boyfriend. But things don't go as planned and Lucky ends up alone. Her escape hatch is a lucky lottery ticket she bought. It's worth millions, but if she cashes it in, the police will know where she is. With no one she can trust, and nothing to lose, what is she going to do?

• How an unconventional childhood prepared Marissa Stapley for life as a writer

Marissa Stapley is a writer and journalist from Toronto. Her other novels includeMating for Life,Things to Do When It's RainingandThe Last Resort.

Linwood Barclay talks about the art of writing crime fiction

4 years ago

Duration 4:11

In the CBC Books 'Why I Write' series, Canadian authors talk about what literature means to them.

Lost Immunityby Daniel Kalla

In the novelLost Immunity, a dangerous bacteria has caused local outbreaks around the world. When it hits Seattle, the local public health officer asks a pharmaceutical company working on thevaccine to release it to the city early. At first, the controversial plan works. But when people start dying from an even more terrible and more mysterious illness, the vaccine gets blamed. Can they figure out what's really happening before it's too late?

• Why Daniel Kalla wrote about a modern pandemic

Daniel Kalla is an emergency room doctor, as well as an international bestselling author of 10 books, includingWe All Fall DownandThe Last High.

Primary Obsessionsby Charles Demers

Primary Obsessionsis the first book in a new mystery series revolving around psychiatrist Dr. Annick Boudreau by comedian and novelist Charles Demers. In Primary Obsessions, one ofDr. Boudreau'spatients, Sanjay, is accused of a violent crime. The policeas convincedhe's the culprit, butBoudreaudisagrees and she's going to do whatever it takes to prove Sanjay's innocence.

• What's the secret to being funny? Comedian and novelist Charles Demers has the answer

Demers is a Juno Award-nominated comedian and author from Vancouver. He is also the author of thecrime novelProperty Values.

Dead Dead Girlsby Nekesa Afia

Dead Dead Girlsis set in 1926 Harlem, where young Black women like Louise Lloyd are ending up dead. Following a harrowing kidnapping ordeal in her teens, Louise is doing everything she can to maintain a normal life. But when a girl turns up dead in front of the caf she works at, Louise is forced to confront something she's been trying to ignore two other local Black girls have been murdered in the past few weeks.

Nekesa Afia is a publishing student who recently finished a degree in journalism.Dead Dead Girlsis her second novel.

The Pushby Ashley Audrain

The Pushis a thriller about a woman who is experiencing motherhood for the first time, but it's not like anything she expected in fact, it's everything she was terrified it would be. When Blythe's first child, Violet, is born, she feels no connection to the baby and Violet isn't anything like other babies. But Blythe's husband is convinced it's all in her head, and everything will be fine if she just relaxes. But what if he's wrong? And if he's right, what does that say about Blythe?

Ashley Audrainis the formerpublicity director of Penguin Canada.The Pushis her first novel.

Find You Firstby Linwood Barclay

Find You Firstis the latest thriller from bestselling author Linwood Barclay. Miles Cookson is a millionaire who has been told he only has a short time left to live. He decides it's time to connect with the children that were born with sperm he donated decades before. But as his search unfolds, his offspring vanish, one by one. What is happening? Who is behind it? And can Miles figure it out before it's too late?

• Linwood Barclay talks about the art of writing crime fiction

Barclay is an American Canadian thriller writer, with almost 20 books to his credit. His books include the adult thrillersBroken Promise,A Noise Downstairs,Elevator Pitchand the middle-grade novelsEscapeandChase.