Lane Winslow Mystery

In wartime England, Lane Winslow has been pulled out of her studies at Oxford and spends her days in London translating for the war office. Things are grim, and it looks like no one is going home for Christmas-that is, not until Lane's commanding officer orders her to drop everything to do just that. He's loathe to send a woman, but a very important agent needs an escort into the country from an isolated cove in Scotland in just a few days, and Lane's family connections in the north are the perfect cover for this mission of utmost secrecy. On rails, wheels, and snowshoes, Lane makes her way up the country through the thick snows, navigating inquiries from old friends, distrustful townspeople, and dangerous interference on her race against time. Resourceful, but still untested, Lane will have to use all of her wits to make it out of her mission unscathed. Meanwhile, Lane's grandparents are delighted by the news that she'll be up for the holidays, but their cheery preparations are interrupted by clues suggesting a mysterious visitor has dropped right down into the forest outside their cottage. They might have a British airman wandering around in danger-or someone much more sinister lurking in the woods. Cozy and action-packed, this prequel to the beloved Lane Winslow mysteries shows readers just where Lane got her mettle.

A smart and enchanting postwar mystery that will appeal to fans of the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear. It is 1946, and war-weary young ex-intelligence officer Lane Winslow leaves London to look for a fresh start. When she finds herself happily settled into a sleepy hamlet in the interior of British Columbia surrounded by a suitably eclectic cast of small-town characters she feels like she may finally be able to put her past to rest. But then a body is discovered, the victim of murder, and although she works alongside the town's inspectors Darling and Ames to discover who might have possibly have motivation to kill, she unknowingly casts doubt on herself. As the investigation reveals facts that she has desperately tried to keep a secret, it threatens to pull her into a vortex of even greater losses than the ones she has already endured. A clever postwar mystery that will appeal to fans the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear or the Bess Crawford series by Charles Todd.

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.

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.

Finalist for a 2019 Lefty Award The fourth book in what the Globe and Mail has proclaimed "a terrific series" by "a writer to watch." Summer descends over the picturesque King's Cove as Darling and Lane's mutual affection blossoms. But their respite from solving crime is cut short when a British government official arrives in Nelson to compel Darling to return to England for questioning about the death of a rear gunner under his command in 1943. In Darling's absence, Ames oversees the investigation into the suspicious death of a local elderly woman and uncovers a painful betrayal inflicted forty years earlier. Meanwhile, Lane follows Darling to London, where he is charged with murder and faces hanging. While desperately seeking answers, Lane is presented with a proposal that could save the man she loves, but only if she returns to the very life she sought to leave behind.

In the fifth book of the series that the Globe and Mail calls "terrific," Lane Winslow investigates the murder of an unidentified man she found adrift in a boat near King's Cove. Lane Winslow is enjoying a perfect, sunny day at the lake when she spots a gravely injured young man drifting in a sinking rowboat. Hypothermic, bleeding, and soaked in icy, bloody water, he is unable to speak, leaving Lane at a loss. What series of events brought him to this grisly fate? Darling and Ames are quick to pick up the case, but leads are few until Angela's young son finds an unsettling clue on the beach-a bright red swastika lapel pin-that points to the National Unity Party of Canada. When the anonymous man succumbs to his injuries, Darling and Lane are thrown headlong into a murder investigation with ties to the old country. Fans of Maisie Dobbs, Bess Crawford, and the ever-popular Kopp Sisters will be enchanted by Lane Winslow, a clever, no-nonsense sleuth based on the author's own mother, who was a wartime spy.

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.