Lane Winslow Mystery

The second instalment in the Lane Winslow mystery series; for fans of the Maisie Dobbs and Bess Crawford series.On a snowy day in December 1946, Lane Winslow-a former British intelligence agent who's escaped to the rural Canadian community of King's Cove in pursuit of a tranquil life-is introduced to the local hot springs. While there she overhears nearby patrons speaking Russian. When one of those patrons is found dead in the change room, Lane's linguistic and intelligence experience is of immeasurable value to the local police force in solving the murder.The investigation points to the Soviet Union, where Stalin's purges are eliminating enemies, and the reach of Stalin's agent snakes all the way into a harmless Doukhobor community. Winslow's complicated relationship with the local police inspector, Darling, is intensified by the perils of the case-and by the discovery of her own father's death during the war.The case comes to a frantic and shocking end with a perilous nighttime journey along treacherous snow-covered roads."Iona Whishaw is an exciting addition to Canada's fine roster of mystery writers. I'm already planning to read {Killer in King's Cove} again, and this time I'll read the teaser for Whishaw's next novel provided at the end. A debut mystery by an author destined for awards." –Don Graves, Canadian Mystery Reviews blog Death in a Darkening Mist (#2) "The late L. R. Wright's marvellous mysteries set on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast remain some of my favourite Canadian books. But this second novel by Iona Whishaw, also set in BC, is every bit as good. Both writers know how to make a book's setting as important a factor as the plot line or the characters . . . {an} excellent chapter in what appears to be a terrific series." -Margaret Cannon, Globe and Mail "An absolute winner {that} moves the notch up several levels when it comes to mystery writing with a historical twinge. The highlight of the writing is the seamless blend of the sense of place into the storyline. The impact of both world wars settles into the essence of any place, and this is a sterling example of how place impacts both events and people." -Don Graves, Canadian Mystery Reviews blog "Set in 1946, this series cleverly combines both elements of a cozy and a spy thriller, with a heroine who is tough and independent, but harboring secrets of her own . . . The local townspeople are quirky and a nice addition, reminding the reader of another Canadian writer, Louise Penny, who populates her town with interesting characters . . . a series I hope to continue reading." -ReviewingtheEvidence.com Praise for the Lane Winslow Mysteries A Match Made for Murder (#7) is winner of the 2021 Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award "The 'find of the year', Iona Whishaw's Lane Winslow series is a real treat. Set after WWII, Lane has left England for Canada . . . settling in the small village of King's Cove. With a quaint cast of characters and the feel of Louise Penny's Three Pines, the independence and quick wit of Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher and the intelligence of Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs, this mystery series has it all!" -Murder by the Book, Texas "Relentlessly exciting from start to finish." -Kirkus Reviews "Whishaw deftly intertwines plot and psychology, giving readers insight not only into Lane's crime-solving strategies, but the perspectives and lives of her neighbors. The series also follows Lane's inner journey, from complicated family history to postwar trauma to the beginning of new love. Well plotted and laced with dry wit, Lane's adventures are entirely satisfying summer reading." -Shelf Awareness "Iona Whishaw is a writer to watch." -Globe and Mail "There's no question you should read it-it's excellent." -Toronto Star "Iona Whishaw's writing is worthy of taking its place alongside the works of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers. .

The third book in the popular Lane Winslow mystery series by an author the Globe and Mail has called a "writer to watch."It's early spring of 1947 in idyllic King's Cove, and the Hughes ladies, mère et filles, are gardening and sorting through the jars of food that have been put up for the winter. But while cleaning up after the roof of their root cellar has caved in slightly, they are horrified to discover a small skeletal hand embedded in the mess. Panicked, they call Lane Winslow, the ex-British secret service agent, and, not without some misgivings about the state of their tense relationship, Lane calls Inspector Darling.Before long the police crew discover the body of a young child buried almost 40 years before. Who is the child, and why has it not been buried in the local cemetery? Inspector Darling, already busy dealing with a teenage girl who has gone on a destructive rampage at a local mill, asks Lane for help in unearthing the long-forgotten secrets of the early life of the tiny town, and the identity of the long-forgotten child.This delightful new historical mystery series will appeal to fans of Maisie Dobbs and Bess Crawford. An Old, Cold Grave (#3) "A fascinating picture of a life in which many people spent every waking hour working and a disturbing look at the fate of orphaned children raise this mystery above the ordinary. " -Kirkus Reviews "Lane Winslow, the intrepid sleuth of King's Cove, is back in her third adventure and, like the first two, it's a charmer. Once again, British Columbia's own Iona Whishaw's delightful modern gloss on the venerable British cozy provides a perfect weekend getaway . . . a cleverly plotted story with a delightful setting and amusing characters. Once again, Whishaw keeps us guessing to the end." -Margaret Cannon, Globe and Mail "An Old, Cold Grave-Iona Whishaw's compelling third novel-gives us a gentle rural setting, a body in a root cellar, and, of course, Lane Winslow, the best new amateur sleuth to come along in quite some time. Plot, dialogue, and place: all the requisite elements for an award-winning novel." -Don Graves, Canadian Mystery Reviews blog "If you enjoy a puzzle set in a 1947, rural BC community, with dialogue that reaches into the soul and a sense of place that is integral to the mystery, then An Old, Cold Grave is a summer read for you . . . In short, sin, plot, dialogue and place: all the requisite elements for an award-winning novel. It's easy to imagine a fourth in this increasingly fine series." -Bay Observer "This series, with a strong and likable female protagonist . . . continues to get better and better. The novels not only use the past as a setting, but there are lessons about history-and how the consequences of past actions always catch up, sooner or later, with those involved." -ReviewingtheEvidence.com Praise for the Lane Winslow Mysteries A Match Made for Murder (#7) is winner of the 2021 Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award "The 'find of the year', Iona Whishaw's Lane Winslow series is a real treat. Set after WWII, Lane has left England for Canada . . . settling in the small village of King's Cove. With a quaint cast of characters and the feel of Louise Penny's Three Pines, the independence and quick wit of Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher and the intelligence of Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs, this mystery series has it all!" -Murder by the Book, Texas "Relentlessly exciting from start to finish." -Kirkus Reviews "Whishaw deftly intertwines plot and psychology, giving readers insight not only into Lane's crime-solving strategies, but the perspectives and lives of her neighbors. The series also follows Lane's inner journey, from complicated family history to postwar trauma to the beginning of new love. Well plotted and laced with dry wit, Lane's adventures are entirely satisfying summer reading." -Shelf Awareness "Iona Whishaw is a writer to watch." -Globe and

A Sorrowful Sanctuary (#5) "An excellent mystery complemented by an appealingly down-to-earth look at life in postwar Western Canada." -Kirkus Reviews "Whishaw's intricately plotted fifth Lane Winslow mystery opens with a bang. . . . Whishaw brings all the narrative threads together for a satisfying finale. Progress in the often-fraught personal relationship between Lane and Darling will please series fans." -Publishers Weekly "Engrossing and deftly plotted, the latest Lane Winslow Mystery is sure to enthral readers. Filled with rich history, clever intrigue, and subtle romance, this series is perfect for fans of Jacqueline Winspear and Susan Elia MacNeal." -Anna Lee Huber, bestselling author of the Lady Darby Mysteries and the Verity Kent Mysteries "If you've yet to meet Lane Winslow, erstwhile spy and reluctant detective, you're in for a treat. Iona Whishaw writes with an eye for the telling detail; she conjures a vanished British Columbia out of thin air. Complex, suspenseful, and deeply felt, this is a smart series for the ages." -Francine Mathews, author of the Nantucket Mysteries "There's no question you should read it-it's excellent . . . . While you could wait forever to read the series from the start (many books, little time, etc.), the taste offered by A Sorrowful Sanctuary of Lane Winslow and her companions pretty much guarantees you won't be waiting much longer to go back to the beginning and read everything about them." -Toronto Star "Captures the tone and depth of a mystery entwined in a story about people taking painful steps forward with post-WWII life. Vivid plotting, inventive dialogue in a setting that puts you right in the action. This is one of the best series currently in print." -Don Graves, Canadian Mystery Reviews "An enthralling mystery. The plot intrigues and resonates, sadly, with current events, while the deepening relationships and evolving characters of all the main players add to the appeal of this book . . . Recommended." -Historical Novel Society Praise for the Lane Winslow Mysteries A Match Made for Murder (#7) is winner of the 2021 Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award "The 'find of the year', Iona Whishaw's Lane Winslow series is a real treat. Set after WWII, Lane has left England for Canada . . . settling in the small village of King's Cove. With a quaint cast of characters and the feel of Louise Penny's Three Pines, the independence and quick wit of Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher and the intelligence of Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs, this mystery series has it all!" -Murder by the Book, Texas "Relentlessly exciting from start to finish." -Kirkus Reviews "Whishaw deftly intertwines plot and psychology, giving readers insight not only into Lane's crime-solving strategies, but the perspectives and lives of her neighbors. The series also follows Lane's inner journey, from complicated family history to postwar trauma to the beginning of new love. Well plotted and laced with dry wit, Lane's adventures are entirely satisfying summer reading." -Shelf Awareness "Iona Whishaw is a writer to watch." -Globe and Mail "There's no question you should read it-it's excellent." -Toronto Star "Iona Whishaw's writing is worthy of taking its place alongside the works of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers. . . deftly crafted and briskly paced." -Fiona Valpy, author of The Dressmaker's Gift "Another fantastic entry in the unique and compelling Lane Winslow series!" -Anna Lee Huber, author of the Lady Darby Mysteries "I absolutely love the modern sensibility of these novels, of their feminism, sense of justice, their anti-racism, their progressiveness, which somehow never seems out of place in a tiny BC hamlet in 1948. . . But it's never preachy or pedantic, and Whishaw continues to use her murder mysteries to explore the limitations on women's lives and freedom that were con

Wedding bells, a grisly murder, and a defecting Russian spy bring drama to King's Cove in the newest Lane Winslow mystery, a series that the Globe and Mail calls "terrific." A wedding is on the horizon for Lane Winslow and Inspector Darling. As one of the few Russian speakers in her community, Lane is obliged to act as translator and hostess for Countess Orlova, an elderly Russian woman who has tracked her missing brother to the Nelson area. Nelson PD investigates, but then the murder of a lone hunter in the hills above King's Cove takes top priority. Darling works the case with a Constable Oxley-a newcomer to the area, assigned in Constable Ames' temporary absence-and a British agent contacts Lane to warn her to be on the lookout for a fleeing Russian defector. Bound by the Wartime Secrets Act, Lane is conflicted about keeping the information from Darling, especially when it begins to put a strain on their relationship. Fans of Maisie Dobbs and the Kopp Sisters will delight in this rousing adventure of intrigue and espionage. PROLOGUE September 1947 The hunter stopped and stared at the thing in front of him, so familiar, but so out of place. Puzzled, he looked toward the whispering forest and at the meadow, just visible under a golden blanket of sun on the other side of a shadowed gully. He could hear the creek below him. He strained his ears, alert now. His best buddy had operated one of these in Sicily. Why was it here? He scanned the forest in front of him again as if it might yield an answer and then reached for his rifle and dismounted, letting the reins drop. He propped the rifle against the rock and knelt down to see better. He only looked up when his horse whinnied and skittered sideways. "Don't turn around." The voice, sudden, surprising, utterly unlikely, made him want to laugh. He felt only shock, not pain, as his head was yanked backwards by his hair. He could hear the slide of the gun along the rock as it toppled. In an eternity of time, he wondered at how his hat had come off, at why it didn't hurt to have your hair pulled this way. His eyes wide, head held back at an impossible angle, he saw the sudden glimpse of heaven and then pitched forward, surprised by the warm, draining finality of death. CHAPTER ONE July 1945 The dacha garden, slightly unkempt, was a lush emerald green of grass bordered by the wildflowers that the deputy director liked to grow: yellow buttercups, blue cornflower, nodding chamomile. The air was the very scent of summer, Stanimir Aptekar thought. He was so strongly assailed by a memory of his childhood in his garden at home near Saint Petersburg that he was momentarily in its complete possession. He was running joyfully through the trees to the river, his brother Stepan in full pursuit. He pulled himself back to the present with some effort, drinking the vodka remaining in his glass to anchor himself. The four men sat in white wicker chairs around a small table under the shade of an ancient and spreading apple tree. Its living branches were filled with tiny green apples; its dead branches untrimmed, provided a suggestion of decay. The men leaned back, all of them smoking. The vodka bottle was depleted to below the halfway mark, the plate of sausage and loaf of bread nearly spent. Despite the languid comforts suggested by this scene, there was a sense of urgency about the meeting. "It has been going well," Ivanov said. "We have people in place in Britain and, as you know, some important defections. It is excellent that we had the foresight to begin this process before the end of the war. We are in a consolidating phase, yes? Koba is pleased that we are finally getting some traction. But the next moves are critical. Our ability to build a nuclear capacity depends on what happens now. If we are exposed, it will mean critical delays. And he will not stomach delays." There was a dark obviousnes

Winner of the 2021 Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award "An intriguing mix of character, plot, time, and place. Highly recommended." -Ian Hamilton, author of the bestselling Ava Lee novels Lane and Darling's Arizona honeymoon is interrupted by gunshots in the newest instalment in a series Kirkus Reviews calls "relentlessly exciting." It's November, and Lane and Darling have escaped the chilly autumn in the Kootenays for a honeymoon at the posh and romantic Santa Cruz Inn in sunny Tucson, Arizona. But despite her very best intentions to relax, soon after their arrival Lane's plans to spend the holiday poolside with a good mystery are interrupted by gunfire. One of the hotel's wealthy guests has been shot point blank and Lane is second on the scene. Though Lane and Darling attempt to distance themselves from the investigation, the longer they stay at the Santa Cruz Inn, the deeper they are drawn into a web of suspects and bystanders, and a collection of seemingly perfect marriages fraught with jealousy and violence. The situation threatens first their honeymoon and then their lives when Lane puts herself directly in the sights of local criminals who will stop at nothing to get what they want. Back in Nelson, Sergeant Ames has been left in charge of the department during Darling's absence. As he investigates a case of vandalism at the Van Eyck garage, it seems to lead directly to the death of the suspected vandal himself. Working with Constable Terrell, the new recruit, to piece together what happened in this strange and unsettling murder, Ames finds his romantic interest in mechanic Tina Van Eyck creates complications that are more than awkward; they could be deadly. Fans of Maisie Dobbs and the Kopp sisters will delight in the latest Lane Winslow, a study of matrimony and mirage in the American Southwest. CHAPTER ONE November 1947 Lane's first impression was of the whiteness. The mid-afternoon sun, which she had always thought of as golden, bleached everything here to the purity of bones. The endless desert had given way to adobe and wood houses that seemed to lie low away from the sun, and then to the white of the station they were approaching. Her honeymoon. It was ridiculous and wonderful. A year and a half before, she had arrived at King's Cove, a tiny hamlet an hour outside of the city of Nelson, in the middle of British Columbia, and moved into her beautiful house among her eccentric neighbours with no other object than to lose herself, and her memories, and put the war behind her. The danger of dropping out of airplanes into occupied France carrying weapons and encrypted messages began to seem more and more like a life that had happened to someone else. The misery of her first love affair had been swept away, almost against her own better judgement, by Frederick Darling, inspector of the Nelson Police. She looked at him now, his dark hair slightly tousled from leaning against the window, and her heart skipped. They'd had a bad start, she had to admit; he had arrested her over the death of a man on her property. He was extraordinarily reserved, not to say impenetrable, but he had come, very slowly and most reluctantly, to accept that she had some skills that were invaluable in some of his other cases. And she in turn had come to appreciate his profound sense of justice, and his philosophical turn of mind, perhaps a product of his surprisingly academic background. She had not expected a degree in literature from a policeman. She wondered if either of them had realized how completely they were falling in love. She smiled. She was pretty sure his sidekick, Sergeant Ames, had. She wouldn't have been surprised to learn it was he who had pointed it out to Darling. "Not terribly punctual. It's gone two forty-five," she said, consulting her watch. The train screeched, as if protesting at having to slow down, and then stopped and hissed. People began to stand up, st

Nominated for a 2023 Lefty Award An April 2022 Loan Stars Top 10 A shallow grave, a missing person, and near-fatal arson keep Lane, Darling, and the Nelson police on high alert in the latest mystery in this Globe and Mail bestselling series. It's early spring 1948 and Lane arrives in New Denver to find that her friend, Peter Barisoff, is not at home. Instead, in a nearby meadow, she encounters Tom, an Indigenous man in search of his ancestral lands. Lane is intrigued. Unfortunately, once Peter returns home, the day takes a gloomy turn when the trio uncovers human remains next to Peter's garden, and Lane must tell her husband, Inspector Darling, that she's inadvertently stumbled into his professional domain-again. Back in Nelson, the Vitalis, Lane and Darling's favourite restaurateurs, are victims of arson. Constable Terrell's investigation suggests prejudice as a motive, and the case quickly escalates, as the Vitalis receive increasingly threatening notes of warning. Meanwhile, Sergeant Ames works a robbery while alienating Tina Van Eyck in his personal time, and a swirling rumour sets the entire station on edge and prompts an RCMP investigation into Darling's integrity. Amid the local bustle series readers have come to love, Framed in Fire is bound up in difficult questions of community and belonging, and the knowledge that trusted neighbours can sometimes be as sinister as a stranger in the dark. PROLOGUE The man stopped the car. He got out and, standing for a moment, gazed along the edge of the forest. The evening was almost golden, the way the clouds filtered the setting sun. Even the air, with the March chill closing in, felt fresh, just as he loved it. There was another car nearby, its hood shining in the sun. Someone fishing, no doubt. He could hear the creek cascading over the rocks toward the lake. He went along the path he knew so well. Approaching the cottage, he didn't think about what he would say. He pushed open the small gate and walked up the two steps to the door. A crow called out from somewhere in the forest, its voice rising over the sound of water. He listened to that call-gravelly and dark, the way crows are-and smiled. He did not think it a warning. He turned and rested his hand on the doorknob. There was a male voice, and the door was thrown open. A tall man filled the doorway. "What do you want?" The voice low and furious, the "you" emphasized, as if the man had warned him off before. And then the man in the doorway turned his head slightly without removing his eyes from the man on the step and called out, "Get me that rifle." The surprised man put up his hands, chest high, palms outward. A gesture of calm. He wanted to say, "Take it easy," but the rifle was pointed now. What the hell was this? He stepped backward down the steps, his hands still up, in an attempt to calm. "No need for that," he managed. He heard a scream, and a shot exploded into the silence. The crows flew up out of the tender trees that grew in a circle near the cottage and raised their voices in anger and fear. CHAPTER ONE March 1948 Lane was jolted awake in terror, her body seized by the certainty of death. She found herself sitting up, gasping in great draughts of air, her heart pounding in the dark. Her eyes focused on the faint drift of the curtains, lifted by a gust of cold air coming in through the open window. It was an ordinary movement. She was not dying. But she still felt herself taking in air as if she had somehow stopped breathing in her sleep. Darling was, amazingly, still asleep beside her, lying on his side so that his back was to her. How had he not heard the commotion of her gasping? She was grateful he hadn't. She swung her legs off the bed and reached for her dressing gown, slipping it on as she crept out of the room. Once in the hallway, she could see the cold stretches of light from the full moon comi

With events spanning both world wars, the tenth installment in the Lane Winslow mystery-which first began with the bestselling adventure A Killer in King's Cove-series is a transatlantic tale of sibling rivalry, infidelity, and espionage. It's an early morning in May when Lane is pulled from a deep sleep by a concerning phone call from Scotland-her grandfather has had a heart attack. Lane hastily makes plans to fly overseas, and a dejected Inspector Darling prepares himself for a stint of bachelorhood. But before he can begin to dwell on it the Nelson Police learn that Ben Arden, a local cad, has gone out for a late-night boat ride and not returned, which immediately sets the town rumour mill churning. In Scotland Lane finds her grandfather on the mend but her estranged sister Diana caught up in stressful-and mysterious-circumstances of her own. As Lane follows the thread leading from South Africa to Aberdeen to the War Office in London it becomes apparent that her sister is on the run, and that keeping secrets seems to be a Winslow family trait. Back at the Nelson Police station a strange assemblage of clues begins to amass around the Arden case, stretching from the local printshop all the way back to the Great War. But progress is interrupted when the mayor himself issues a demand that Darling travel to England to tie up a decades-old mystery with local connections. True to form, upon Darling's arrival in London he is quickly swept up in Lane's mission, which threatens to endanger the entire family.

Beginning with a bang, the latest mystery in the series, this is a study of bygone promises and lingering prejudice. A warm June afternoon in King's Cove is interrupted by an explosion. Following the sound, Lane goes to investigate. Up a steep path she discovers a secluded cabin and, hiding nearby, a young Japanese girl injured and mute, but very much alive. At the Nelson Police Station, Inspector Darling and Sergeant Ames, following up on a report of a nighttime heist at the local jeweler’s, discover the jeweler himself dead in his office, apparently bludgeoned, and a live wire hanging off the back of the building. As Lane attempts to speed the search for the girl's family with her own lines of inquiry, Darling and his team dig deeper into a local connection between the jeweler and a fellow businessman that leads across the pond to Cornwall and north to a mining interest on the McKenzie River. Away at her police course in Vancouver, Sergeant Terrell's favorite (former) waitress April McAvity is drawn into the case when Darling asks for her help with finding possible relatives in the city for Lane's young charge. Meanwhile offices are being ransacked and someone is following Lane. Through the alleyways of Nelson onto the country roads and woods trails of King's Cove, the latest Winslow mystery is a study in bygone promises and lingering prejudice.