Janet Brons' debut novel A Quiet Kill (Touchwood, 2014) was shortlisted for the Best First Crime Novel by the Arthur Ellis Awards and the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. It's the first installment in Brons' Forsyth and Hay mystery series. When the head of the Canadian High Commission's trade section is found brutally murdered in the Official Residence in London, Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Hay of Scotland Yard investigates with RCMP Inspector Liz Forsyth from Ottawa. Assisted by Sergeant Gilles Ouellette, the pair must unravel international conspiracy, militant nationalism, and murder. Hay and Forsyth are faced with many suspects and a second death raises the stakes.

Not a Clue (Touchwood $14.95) is the second installment in her Forsyth and Hay mystery series. Set in Ottawa and London, both detectives investigate the puzzling murders of two young women ' a Canadian backpacker in London and a Chechen woman shot to death by a hidden assassin during a protest outside the Ottawa Russian embassy. The National Post observed that this mystery series is worth following, particularly for its unique details and settings.

Before taking to crime writing, Brons worked as a foreign affairs consultant following a seventeen-year career in the Canadian foreign service with postings in Kuala Lumpur, Warsaw, and Moscow. She lives in Sidney, BC.

BOOKS:

A Quiet Kill (TouchWood, 2015) $14.95 9781771510608

Not a Clue (TouchWood, 2016) $14.95 9781771511476

Measured for Murder (TouchWood, 2017) $14.95 978-1-77151-222-0

[BCBW 2017]