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TouchWood Editions is proud to introduce the first female sleuth in our selection of mystery novels. Author Gwendolyn Southin uniquely blends the charm of gumshoe techniques with the fresh perspective of a developing female detective. The Margaret Spencer Mysteries offer action and suspense, with a human subtext. Just one year later, Margaret is coming into her own as an investigator, after leaving the comforts of her Kerrisdale home and her inattentive husband, a corporate lawyer.

It’s been a year since retired cop Dan Connor formed an unlikely partnership with ex-criminal Walker, to find Claire, a missing marine biologist. And it's been a year since he fell for her. Now he finally has the chance to enjoy both his retirement and the relationship as he travels up the Pacific Northwest coast of British Columbia to meet her in the remote village of Kyuquot. But when Dan stops for a visit with the lighthouse keepers of Nootka Island, he finds himself pulled into yet another case involving a missing woman.

Winner of the 2015 Bony Blithe Award for Best Canadian Light Mystery With birthday celebrations in the cards, Cait Morgan and her significant other, retired cop Bud Anderson, travel to Las Vegas. As they are about to finish dinner in the casino owners’ exclusive private dining room, Miss Shirley, a woman acknowledged as Queen of The Strip, is murdered. Security locks down the room. Cait, Bud, a corpse, and ten possible murderers are trapped in the luxurious restaurant for twelve deadly hours.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Inspector Liz Forsyth digs into the murder of a Chechen immigrant, while in London her colleague, Scotland Yard Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Hay, searches for the killer of a young Canadian traveller. In London, Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Hay of Scotland Yard heads up the investigation into the puzzling murder of a young Canadian woman travelling alone. Her killer was meticulous, leaving a serene-looking corpse and no clues.

"Duncan and Szanto bring their A-game to this daring and complex novel."—Lou Allin, Crime Writers of Canada. Sandro Vasiliadis, a nurse at the Whidbey Island General Hospital, has died of an apparent heroin overdose. When his grieving mother bends over to kiss her son’s corpse at the viewing, she shrieks, “That’s not Sandro!” Convinced that her son must still be alive, Maria Vasiliadis hires Kyra Rachel and Noel Franklin to solve the mystery.

The head of the Canadian High Commission’s trade section is found brutally clubbed and stabbed to death in the Official Residence in London, England. Scotland Yard’s Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Hay is called in to investigate, while Royal Canadian Mounted Police inspector Liz Forsyth is dispatched from Ottawa. There are a number of suspects from the diplomatic community: the High Commissioner and his beautiful wife, the smarmy head of the political section, the charming military attaché, the high-strung Deputy High Commissioner, and a deeply troubled engagements secretary.

When former TV star Lulu Malone finds her evil union representative stabbed to death, her first instinct is to run. Unfortunately, the exit is crowded, as she has four actor friends with her. Without much choice, Lulu becomes enmeshed in the real-life detective hunt, one that she has only experienced as an actor on TV. With her life in danger, and her beloved dog Horatio kidnapped, Lulu’s days are filled with threats, thrift store finds, and hindrances by unknown, overweight assailants.

It is January 1961 and Margaret Spencer and Nat Southby are relaxing on a ski holiday when their vacation takes a bone-chilling turn. While cross-country skiing the couple comes across the frozen body of Maurice Dubois, a man who went missing from a fishing resort the month before. When Maurice’s wife is also found murdered, the two Vancouver detectives are hired by the victims’ children to investigate.

When his best friend, and advocate for the homeless, Denman Scott asks him to help stop the demolition of the Lucky Strike—a once majestic hotel in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside that is now home to nearly three hundred of the city's least fortunate residents—Cole Blackwater gets more than he bargained for. Working with Vancouver Sun reporter Nancy Webber and street nurse Juliet Rose, Cole and Denman discover that homeless people in the area have been disappearing without a trace.

The sixth instalment in the Cait Morgan mystery series, a classic whodunit featuring an eccentric and funny female sleuth set on a Hawaiian cruise ship. Cait and Bud have set sail on a romantic and worry-free Hawaiian honeymoon cruise, but when a man drops dead at their card table, Cait can’t help but lend her expertise. The sudden death appears to have been from natural causes, but Cait suspects something sinister, and with only two days left at sea—and thousands of possible suspects—she and Bud join the head of security in an investigation.