All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda is definitely unique. And that’s a real compliment for a book that’s about young woman disappearing, as this is hardly a ground-breaking premise for a story. It’s a classic mystery, but told backwards. We begin by learning about two missing girls-one who disappeared 10 years ago, and the…
Clearly I’ve been missing out on a well-known fact; Ami McKay is an amazing writer. Many people are already aware of this, she’s a popular Canadian author, and has won lots awards for her previous books. I’m not sure why it took me this long to discover her, but I’m so glad I did. In…
It all starts with a little lab rat named ‘Buddy’. And this little rat appears in very unusual places, including a few pages of Jay Hosking‘s debut novel Three Years with the Rat. But what’s shocking about this rat is the fact that he disappears for a few weeks at a time, but then appears…
There is some seriously creepy stuff going on in this book. Rise the Dark by Michael Koryta is the latest in his Mark Novak series, which features a private investigator by that very name, hell bent on finding revenge for his wife’s murder. It’s a great premise for any mystery thriller, but what this Canadian…
Here’s a good book buying tip for you: when a major actress like Reese Witherspoon has blurbed a book, you can generally assume it’s going to be worthwhile. Now I know what you’re thinking; “But Anne, aren’t we just buying into the publicity plan that the publisher has laid out for us?”. The answer is…
Yesterday I spoke with the lovely Judy Aldous about one of my favourite genres of books: the thriller. We discussed The Fall by Noah Hawley and In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware. Obviously, I loved both these books, and I knew I would, based on the extraordinary publicity efforts made by the publishers….
Pretty sure I’ve mentioned that I’m a nervous flier before on this blog before. I wouldn’t call myself a bad flier, because I do it quite often (one of my life’s greatest ironies unfortunately), but I’m a white knuckler for sure. I care how big the plane is, I refuse to sit in the back…
The mountain landscape pictured on Amy Stuart‘s breakout thriller Still Mine has crossed my computer screen many times this year-it was a buzz book for 2016, so I was super excited to crack it open. Apparently it isn’t available in the U.S. until August, so my American readers are getting a jump start! I’ll make…
I have fond memories of my parents reading aloud Linwood Barclay’s witticisms from the Toronto Star newspaper when I was a kid, eating pancakes while they laughed at his latest opinion or humour piece. Back then, they enjoyed reading what he had to say and now I share the same love of his writing today, even if…
It’s Christmas, and I have the perfect way of celebrating: settling down with a cozy mystery featurning my favourite detective, Jessica Fletcher. But Santa has been kind to me this year, and brought not one, but two Murder, She Wrote (MSW) books my way. Murder Never Takes a Holiday features two Christmas-related stories within it:…
Suitcase City: a place where the margaritas are cold, and the danger is hot! Ok that may not have been the best tagline (and to think I used to be a book publicist!) but this gives you a good idea of where this book gets its inspiration. The story takes place in Tampa, Florida, and…
I read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn a few years ago, and really liked it. For those of you unfamiliar with the book (or the subsequent movie), it’s essentially a thriller rooted in marriage difficulties, with lots of twists and turns. It was enormously successful when it came out, so much so that a movie…
