About Me

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Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada
I am a lawyer in Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada who enjoys reading, especially mysteries. Since 2000 I have been writing personal book reviews. This blog includes my reviews, information on and interviews with authors and descriptions of mystery bookstores I have visited. I strive to review all Saskatchewan mysteries. Other Canadian mysteries are listed under the Rest of Canada. As a lawyer I am always interested in legal mysteries. I have a separate page for legal mysteries. Occasionally my reviews of legal mysteries comment on the legal reality of the mystery. You can follow the progression of my favourite authors with up to 15 reviews. Each year I select my favourites in "Bill's Best of ----". As well as current reviews I am posting reviews from 2000 to 2011. Below my most recent couple of posts are the posts of Saskatchewan mysteries I have reviewed alphabetically by author. If you only want a sentence or two description of the book and my recommendation when deciding whether to read the book look at the bold portion of the review. If you would like to email me the link to my email is on the profile page.

Rest of Canada

ALBERTA

(Bragg Creek) - (2018) - When the Flood Falls and Q and A with Jayne Barnard; (2023) - Why the Rock Falls

(Calgary) - (2019) - Crisis Point by Dwayne Clayden

(Calgary) - (2019) - Murder Audit by Michelle Cornish

(Calgary) - (2008) - Wild Thing by Mike Harrison

(Calgary and Foothills of the Rockies) - (2013) - Healthy, Wealthy & Dead (1994) and (2014) - Bones to Pick (2003) by Suzanne North

(Calgary) - The Lucky Elephant Restaurant by Gary Ryan

(Edmonton) - (2015) - Another Margaret by Janice MacDonald and Q & A; (2017) - Hang Down Your Head and Shopping Perfection; (2018) - The Eye of the Beholder and Puerto Vallarta in The Eye of the Beholder and Exchange with Janice on The Eye of the Beholder

(Lethbridge) - (2022) - The Traitors of Camp 133 and Fiction and Real Life Murders in a Canadian Prisoner of War Camp by Wayne Arthurson


BRITISH COLUMBIA

(Haida Gwaii and Vancouver) - Harlick, R.J. - Silver Totem of Shame and Totem Carving Shed on Granville Island and Totem Pole Raising and Button Blankets and The Golden Spruce (see also Nunavut)

(Imaginary Pacific Island and interior B.C. and Saskatchewan and New Brunswick) - Christie, Michael - Greenwood and Tree Ring Edging on a Sustainably Published Book and Email Exchange with Michael Christie on Greenwood, Trees and Saskatchewan

(Imaginary Gulf Island) - Juby, Susan - Mindful of Murder and Butlers in Fiction and Real Life and Exchange with Judy

(Kootenay Landing - Fictional Town) - Collier, Deryn - Open Secret

(Near Mission) - Ace, Cathy - (2022) - The Corpse With the Iron Will

(Nelson) - Toews, J.G. - (2019) - Give Out Creek

(Nelson) - Whishaw, Iona - (2021) - A Killer in King's Cove

(Prince George area) - White, Loreth Anne - (2020) - In the Dark

(Revelstoke) - Little, Darwin - (2019) - The Mica

(Sechelt - Sunshine Coast) - Wright, L.R. - (2012) The Suspect; (2012) - "W" is for L.R. Wright

(Trafalgar - Fictional Town) - A Cold White Sun by Vicki Delany and Shaking Hands with the Devil

(Vancouver) - Bala, Sharon - (2019) - The Boat People and An Ending for The Boat People and Thoughts on the End of Summer 2020

(Vancouver) - Black, Jay - (2019) - Poppy and Highway of Heroes

(Vancouver) Deverell, William - (2011) - A Trial of Passion; (2011) - Snow Job; (2012) - I'll See You in My Dreams; (2012) - Removing Indigenous Children from Their Families in Crime Fiction; (2012) - "D" is for William Deverell; (2014) - Kill All the Lawyers; (2014) - The Lawyers of Kill All the Lawyers; (2015) - Sing a Worried Song and Truth is Stranger Than Fiction - Sing a Worried Song; (2018) - Whipped and A Fictional Porcupine Plain; (2021) - Stung and A Fictional Defence of Necessity

(Vancouver) - Devlin, A.J. - (2019) - Cobra Clutch; (2020) - Rolling Thunder and Stampede Wrestling and Exchange with Author A.J. Devlin; (2022) - Five Moves of Doom and Discussing Five Moves with A.J.

(Vancouver) - Gray, John MacLaughlan - (2023) - Vile Spirits

(Vancouver) - Jones, Shilo - (2019) - On the Up

(Vancouver) - Kamal, Sheena - (2019) - The Lost Ones and Detecting Deception

(Vancouver) - Siemens, J.T. - (2022) - To Those Who Killed Me and Exchange with Jeremy and Codicils in Fiction and Real Life

(Vancouver) - Wiebe, Sam - (2015) - Last of the Independents and The Unhanged Arthur Award; (2016) - Invisible Dead and Sam Wiebe on His Sleuths; (2018) - Cut You Down and Sam Wiebe on Dave Wakeland; (2021) - Hell and Gone and A Vulnerable Tough Guy; (2023) - Sunset and Jericho

(Victoria) Haldane, Seán - (2014) - The Devil's Making


MANITOBA

(Fictional Mouse Bluffs) - Blondal, Patricia - (2016) - A Candle to Light the Sun and Patricia Blondal and Reflections

(Southwest) Wiebe, Armin – (2010) - Murder in Gutenthal 

(Winnipeg) Van Rooy, Michael - (2011) - An Ordinary Decent Criminal; (2012) - "V" is for Michael Van Rooy


NEW BRUNSWICK

(Hopewell Hill) Martin, Barbara - (2014) - The Hero of Hopewell Hill and My Personal Connection to Bennett Jones


NEWFOUNDLAND
 
(Fictional Hampden) Morrissey, Donna - (2017) - The Fortunate Brother and Sharing Grief in Small Town Canada

(Fictional Island) Walsh, Alice - (2022) - Death on Darby's Island

(L'Anse aux Meadows) Nicol, Susan - (2019) - Sagas and Sea Smoke and A Viking Ship Evokes Memories of Ancestors 1,000 Years Ago

(St. John's) Escott, Helen C. - (2019) - Operation Wormwood and Comparing the Discovery of Wormwood with the Discovery of AIDS

(Trinity and Trouty) Major, Kevin - (2022) - Three for Trinity


NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

(Inuvik and Fort Norman) - (2012) - Murder in a Cold Climate;  (2012) - "Y" is for Scott Young; (2012) - Traditional Outdoor Journeys in Cime Fiction; (2013) - The Shaman's Knife; (2013) - Flying on the Edge of the World


NOVA SCOTIA

(Cape Breton Highlands Park) - (2018) - Dyed in the Green


NUNUVUT

Harlick, R.J. - (2010) - An Arctic Blue Death (see also British Columbia)

Murphy, Dennis - (2009) - Darkness at the Stroke of Noon


 ONTARIO

(Cobourg) Kellough, Janet - (2017) - Wishful Seeing

(Port Dundas - Fictional Town) Wolfe, Inger Ash - (2009) - The Calling; (2011) - Who is Inger Ash Wolfe?; (2012) - The Taken; (2012) - Being Affected by a Male Author Creating a Female Sleuth; (2012) - Q and A with Michael Redhill on his Psuedonym Inger Ash Wolfe; (2014) - A Door in the River and Other Reviews of A Door in the River and Email Exchange with Michael Redhill on A Door in the River (Part I); (2016) - The Night Bell

(Gannoque - Kingston) Sinnett, Mark - (2011) - The Border Guards

(Hamilton) Campbell, Melodie - (2018) - The B-Team

(Niagara Falls and Toronto) Shelstad, Sam - (2023) - Citizens of Light

(Niagara-on-the Lake) Lang, Cam - (2021) - The Concrete Vineyard

(Ottawa) Chapman, Brenda - (2015) - Cold Mourning

(Ottawa) Fradkin, Barbara - (2015) - None So Blind and None So Blind with Spoilers

(Ottawa and Fictional Elgin) Tallo, Katie - (2020) - Dark August

(Prince Edward County) Hurley, S.M. - (2019) - Blackwater Bluff and Sitting in the Dock

(St. Margaret's - imaginary town) Petrou, Laurie - (2019) - Sister of Mine

(Southwest and B.C. and other places) - Munro, Alice - (2022) - My Best Stories and A Close Look at an Alice Munro Story

(Stone Mills now Glenora) Benns, Roderick - (2012) - The Legends of the Lake on the Mountain - An Adventure of the Young John A. Macdonald

(Toronto) Aubert, Rosemary - (2013) - Red Mass

(Toronto) Drummond, V.V. - (2019) - In Extremis Begun and Finished

(Toronto) Edmondson, Jill - (2011) - Blood and Groom; (2011) - Dead Light District; (2011) - Questions and Answers with Jill; (2011) - Thoughts on Questions and Answers with Jill; (2012) - The Lies Have It; (2012) - Questions and Answers with Jill (The Lies Have It); (2012) - Thoughts with Questions and Answers with Jill (The Lies Have It); (2012) - "E" is for Jill Edmondson; (2014) - Frisky Business and Email Exchange with Jill and More Email Exchanges with Jill on Porn Movies

(Toronto and Saskatchewan) - Gordon, Alison - (2014) - Night Game; (2016) - Safe at Home and A Baseball Coming Out in Mystery Fiction

(Toronto) - Haberman, Arthur - (2019) - Wild Justice

(Toronto and the Rest of the World) - Hamilton, Ian - (2012) - (The Ava Lee series) - The Water Rat of Wanchai; (2013) - The Disciple of Las Vegas; (2014) - The Wild Beasts of Wuhan; (2014) - The Red Pole of Macau; (2016) - The Scottish Banker of Surabaya; (2018) - Two Sisters of Borneo; (2019) - The King of Shanghai; (2020) - The Princeling of Nanjing; (2023) - The Couturier of Milan - (See also Hong Kong for the Chun Tung trilogy)

(Toronto) - Jennings, Maureen - (2023) - Heat Wave (See also England)


(Toronto) - Paquella, A.G. - (2019) - Yard Dog

(Toronto) - Prentice, Bill - (2019) - Why Was Rachel Murdered?

(Toronto and the United States) - Rotenberg, David - (2012) - The Placebo Effect; (2012) - Questions and Answers with David Rotenberg; (2012) - Thought on Questions and Answers with David; (2013) - A Murder of Crows; (2014) - The Glass House

(Toronto) Rotenberg, Robert – (2011) - Old City Hall; (2011) - The Guilty Plea; (2011) - Questions and Answers with Robert; (2011) - Thoughts on Questions and Answers with Robert; (2012) - Stray Bullets and Q and A and Thoughts; (2012) - "R" is for Robert Rotenberg; (2013) - Stranglehold and Q & A and Thoughts; (2017) - Heart of the City and Lawyers Hate to Lose and The Unknown Children of Ari Greene, Travis McGee and Harry Bosch; (2021) - Downfall

(Toronto) Ryan, Desmond P. - (2019) - 10-33

(Toronto) Shrier, Howard – (2010) - Buffalo Jump; (2013) - High Chicago; (2014) - Miss Montreal and Social and Cultural Issues in Miss Montreal

(Windsor and Colchester) - Woodward, Caroline - (2013) -Showdown at Border Town - An Adventure of the Young Paul Martin and The Contest to Write The Adventure and Q & A with Caroline


QUEBEC

(Montreal area) - Farrow, John (pseudonym of Trevor Ferguson) - The Storm Murders

(Three Pines - Fictional Location) Penny, Louise – (2005) - Still Life; (2006) - Dead Cold (Tied for 3rd Best fiction of 2006); (2007) - The Cruelest Month; (2009) - The Murder Stone (Tied for 4th Best fiction of 2009); (2010) - The Brutal Telling; (2011) - Bury Your Dead (Best Fiction of 2011); (2011) - A Trick of the Light; (2012) - The Beautiful Mystery (Part I) and The Beautiful Mystery (Part II); (2013) - "P" is for Louise Penny - Movie Producer and Review of the Movie Still Life; (2013) - How the Light Gets In and Comparing with The Gifted; (2014) - The Long Way Home; (2014) - The Armand Gamache Series after 10 Mysteries - Part I and Part II; (2015) - The Nature of the Beast (Part I) and The Nature of the Beast (Part II); (2016) - A Great Reckoning - The Academy and Comparisons and The Map(2016) - Louise Penny and Michael Whitehead Holding Hands; (2017) - Glass Houses - Happiness and Unhappiness and Getting the Law Wrong; (2019) - The Magic of St. Denis and Three Pines; (2019) - Kingdom of the Blind and Irreconcilable Dispositions; (2019) - A Better Man; (2020) - All the Devils Are Here and Relationship Restaurants in Fiction and Real Life; (2021) - The Madness of Crowds and Responding to Evil in The Madness of Crowds and Considering "People"
; (2021) Three Pines - The Amazon Prime Series; (2022) - Season One of Three Pines; (2023) - A World of Curiosities and Do You Believe in Goodness?; (2023) - Surprise Cancellation of Three Pines Series

(Montreal) Reichs, Kathy - Deadly Decisions


YUKON

(Dawson City) - (2014) - Delany, Vicki - Gold Web

(Vicinity of Dawson City) - (2016) - Pitt, Steve - The Wail of the Wendigo - An Adventure of the Young Pierre Trudeau


SET IN CANADA BUT NO PROVINCE OR TERRITORY IDENTIFIED

(Somewhere in Atlantic Canada) - (2022) - Porter, C.S. - Beneath Her Skin


SET OUTSIDE CANADA

(Canada, somewhere United States, Italy, Turkey, France, Germany, New Mexico and briefly Vancouver) - (2017) - Michael Helm - Another James and Continuing on Another James and What Makes a Book Crime Fiction? and Michael Helm Discussing After James as Crime Fiction

(Ancient Alexandria) - Johnstone, D.L. - Furies

(Croatia and Sweden) - Mattich, Alen - Killing Pilgrim and Who Killed Olof Palme

(Cuba and Northern Ontario) - Hungry Ghosts

(England) - Bradley, Alan - The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and A Postage Stamp Provides the Motive and The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag and A Red Herring Without Mustard

(England) - Huang, Christopher - (2019) - A Gentleman's Murder

(England) - Humphreys, C.C. - (2015) - Plague

(England - Tom Tyler series) - Jennings, Maureen - (2015) - No Known Grave (See also Toronto)

(England) - Robinson, Peter - (2012) - Before the Poison

(England) - St. James, Simone - (2014) - An Inquiry into Love and Death and Prejudice in Reading Romantic Suspense

(France) - Brooke, John - (2014) - Walls of a Mind and Clashing Women in Authority; (2015) - Tropéano’s Gun and A Woman and Her Gun 

(France) - Young, Robert J. - (2019) - Another Spy in Paris

(Hong Kong) - Hamilton, Ian - (2020) - (Uncle Chun Tung Trilogy Plus) Fate and Foresight and Fortune and Finale - See also Toronto for Ava Lee series)

(Ireland) - Egan, Francis P. - (2019) - Black Donnelly, Rats and Pigs

(Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Scotland and the United States) - Ferguson, Will - (2021) - The Finder

(Japan) - Shreve, Craig - (2023) - The African Samurai

(Mexico) - Stapley, Marissa - (2020) - The Last Resort

(Sweden) - Ekbäck, Cecilia - (2021) - The Historians

(United States) - Barclay, Linwood - (2008) - Bad Move; (2008) - No Time for Goodbye

(United States - Detroit) - Lamothe, Lee - (2014) - Presto Variations

(United States - Fictional Elizabeth in South Carolina) - Vernon, P.J. - (2019) - Where You Find Me

(United States - Fictional Happy Rock, Oregon and Los Angeles) - Ferguson, Ian and Ferguson, Will - (2023) - I Only Read Murder

(United States - Fictional Moses Springs, Colorado) - Nay, Roz - (2021) - Hurry Home and The Settings of Hurry Home

(United States - Fictional Chinook, Montana and Prague) - King, Thomas - (2019)- DreadfulWater and The Humour of Thomas King and (2021) - Indians on Vacation and Following Indians on Vacation Through Europe and Obsidian

(United States) - Vicki Delany:

      (Outer Banks of North Carolina) - writing as Eva 
      Gates - (2014) - By Book or by Crook and Bodie
      Island Lighthouse; (2015) - Booked for Trouble and
      Men v. Women in Clothing - Descriptions

      (Cape Cod in Massachusetts) - Elementary, She
      Sherlock and Where is"Gemma" From? and (2018)
      on Baker Street; (2020) - There's Murder Afoot and
      (2022) - A Three Book Problem

(United States - Salt Lake City) - Hunt, Andrew - (2016) - A Killing in Zion and Not Prosecuting Polygamy

(United States - Seattle) - Ripley, Nathan - (2018) - Find You in the Dark

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(Fantasy Earth) - Polk, C.L. - (2019) - Witchmark

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(2014) - Canadian Crime Fiction and Our Indigenous Peoples