Crime Wave 1: Where Maple Meets Murder

Short Fiction Collection

Crime Wave 1: Where Maple Meets Murder

Western Canada. A vast and varied land of hidden coastal islands and inlets, towering icy mountains, wind-tossed ranges and wheat fields, and cold lakes that keep their secrets. These are its stories.


About This Book

Sisters in Crime - Canada West's first anthology, Crime Wave, was published November 2, 2020. It contains eight amazing stories. Two of the authors gained nominations for a Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence–Winona Kent for her novella Salty Dog Blues, and Marcelle Dubé for her short story Cold Wave, which ultimately won the Award of Excellence for Best Short Story!

In “The Potluck Brigade,” visit a dying Alberta town and a senior citizen trying to cope with murder as well as her own failing mind. The police procedural “Local Intelligence” follows a young RCMP constable in an isolated coastal town facing a most unusual collection of flotsam. In “Salty Dog Blues,” the crew and passengers on a west coast cruise ship confront a mystery involving a verrry annoying little passenger. In the Yukon, “Cold Wave” forces a lone cross-country skier to choose between personal safety and saving her friends.

“News on the Buckhorn” brings us to British Columbia ranch country in a taut suspense tale of a timid young girl dealing with the mutilation of her show horse. Visit the prairies early in the Great War when a North West Mounted Police officer investigates an unlamented death in “Autumn is a Time for Dying.” An Okanagan bed and breakfast owner takes the stage in the rollicking “A Midwinter Night’s Scream” to solve a tinsel-draped celebrity death. Finally, in “Pickled to Death,” a small BC town’s annual Pickle Festival descends into chaos for a peck of unusual characters following the untimely demise of a pickle aficionado.

From thrilling to wistful to laugh-out-loud funny, these short stories draw the reader into a Canadian West where maple meets murder.

Featuring these talented authors:

KL Abrahamson
JE Barnard
Alice Bienia
Marcelle Dubé
Debra Henry
Winona Kent
Charlotte Morganti
Merrilee Robson

Winona's contribution is Salty Dog Blues.
A pampered pooch, a color-allergic diva, and a cruise ship entertainer who didn’t sign up to solve crimes. All aboard Salty Dog Blues!

In this whimsical tale, join Jason Davey—ship's entertainer and aspiring amateur sleuth—as he grapples with his dual identity on a ship filled with eccentric characters. Assigned as crew but considered an officer, Jason enjoys the comfortable freedom of ship life, where his only audience anxiety comes from the occasional bout with disagreeable canines.

When Abigail Ferryman, a hilariously dramatic passenger with a ridiculous allergy to the color blue, boards with her pampered service dog, Lord Fothergill, Jason quickly finds his quiet life disrupted. From culinary catastrophes to canine chaos, every moment is filled with misadventures. And when Lord Fothergill mysteriously disappears, all fingers point to a nefarious plot aboard the ship, and Jason is drawn into the chaos of an impromptu detective role.

As he navigates through shipboard shenanigans—from a dog on a bender to culinary confrontations—will Jason put the pieces together before the ship reaches Juneau? Packed with witty humor, memorable mishaps, and a cast of quirky characters, Salty Dog Blues is a delightful short story where the salty sea isn’t the only thing stirring up a storm!

Salty Dog Blues  was nominated as a finalist in Crime Writers of Canada's Awards of Excellence for Best Crime Novella on April 21, 2021.


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