National Network for Equitable Library Service

Short-listed for the 2001 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel In the fourth Inspector Bliss mystery, Bliss teams up with Daphne Lovelace to trace the father of a Canadian woman whose husband is dying of cancer. While Ruth Jackson may believe that she was sired by a Beatle, Bliss and Daphne have other ideas. In Vancouver, Ruth's world falls apart when her dying husband suddenly disappears and she is arrested on suspicion of murder. His substantial life insurance policy and the blood-stained knife found in her kitchen don't help her case.

Calgary, Canada’s booming oil capital, is caught in the grip of terror as a serial killer with the chilling nickname TLC stalks its streets and pathways. His rampage has put intense pressure on Homicide Detective Chris Crane, the lead investigator in the case. TLC can seemingly strike at will, blatantly displaying the obscenely mutilated bodies of his victims in city parks. As the body count steadily mounts, TLC zeroes in on Chris, acknowledging him as a worthy opponent in the deadly game. But are the taunts really from TLC? Or are they the work of a sick impersonator?

Born with a split lip and cleft palate, Toshy Wolfman's life is an uphill battle. Believing he is dim-witted and ugly, Toshy finds his resentment slowly building as he is ridiculed, used, and misled. Ultimately, he is imprisoned after being caught stealing a valuable and famous diamond, the Orange Sunset. But Toshy's story is not his alone ó it is shared with his two sisters: Lil, a radical and a devotee of anarchist Emma Goldman; and Bessie, who goes to work for one of Goldman’s enemies, the owners of the Orange Sunset.

Long-listed for the 2006 Re-Lit Award for Best Novel For 15-year-old Cathy Mugan, "a place apart" is where she longs to be: apart from her mother, an unhinged, uncontrollable terror who explodes at the slightest provocation. So Cathy has a chance to work at a rectory for the summer, she seizes it. But "a place apart" is also where Cathy is: surrounded by violence, a cowering father, and a contemptuous brother, she is almost completely alone.

Short-listed for the 2005 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize Declan O'Malley came to the coast of British Columbia because it was as far away from Ireland as he could possibly go. Haunted by memories of his family's death at the hands of the Black and Tans, Declan is unable to escape his grief. He immerses himself in a new life, seeking to produce a more perfect translation of Homer's Odyssey while at the same time becoming closer to the family on whose property he is living.

Someone walked up to Joe "Shoe" Schumacher’s best friend, Patrick O’Neill, in a Vancouver restaurant and shot him dead. It looks like a professional hit, but who wanted O’Neill dead? Was it, as police believe, a "settling of accounts"? Was it Victoria, O’Neill’s beautiful but damaged wife? Or was it O’Neill’s boss, industrialist William Hammond, with whom O’Neill had a falling-out and with whom Victoria had once had a short-lived affair?

"Startled, Mishbee gasped, frozen with horror. She was staring down the barrel of a musket and was familiar with the sound those weapons made. The young girl knew muskets meant death." At the beginning of the nineteenth century in Newfoundland, the Beothuks, a First Nations people, have been decimated by disease, and their numbers dwindle further as they are hunted and persecuted relentlessly by European settlers. Young Mishbee, her older sister Oobata, and Oobata’s baby struggle courageously on Exploits Island against tuberculosis, misunderstanding, and prejudice.

Sara has the perfect career: as a photographer for a glossy travel magazine, she is able to pursue her passion for photography while at the same time appeasing her mother, who wants her to have a "real job." But Sara's ideal world comes crashing down when she is diagnosed with macular degeneration. As her vision begins to deteriorate, she faces the devastating prospect of having to give up both her career and her passion. Hoping to avoid surgery, Sara is introduced to Sitara - an acupuncturist troubled by doubts and family scars.

Short-listed for the 2004 CLA Book of the Year for Children Award, for the 2005 Diamond Willow Award and for the 2005 Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award On the shores of Bedford Basin in Halifax, 12-year-old Selina Palmer is growing up in the community of Africville in the 1960s. Struggling with what it means to be the only black student in her Grade 6 class, Selina takes comfort in the fact that every day she goes home to a loving and vibrant neighbourhood, where friends and family accept her as she is. But ugly rumours are starting to surface about the fate of Africville…

Eric Wright’s popular detective, Charlie Salter, is introduced in this collection of the first three books in the well-loved mystery series: The Night the Gods Smiled, Smoke Detector, and Death in the Old Country. Self-righteous and outspoken, Salter has gotten himself shunted to routine duties from what he considers the "real" police work of investigation. However, circumstances give him the chance to redeem himself, and his intelligence and sensitivity guide him through the cases that follow.