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MORT AU PRESBYTÈRE

Winner of the the 2017 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Short Story

1823 England: When Mr. Collins, an unpopular clergyman, dies a suspicious death while preparing his Sunday sermon, the quick-witted Elizabeth Darcy turns detective to come to the aid of old her friend Charlotte.


The Collinses at Home

« Mort au presbytère »

I'm delighted that my story, "A Death at the Parsonage",
along with 10 other Arthur award-winning short stories,
has been reissued in French

Les Prix Arthur-Ellis -3 (2011-2021)
from Les Éditions Alire
November 2023

thanks to writer, editor and bookseller Peter Sellers,

This story first appeared in English in The Whole She-Bang 3

The Arthur Ellis Awards are now known as Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence



Les Prix Arthur-Ellis -3 (2011-2021)
from Les Éditions Alire

Release date November 2023

Indigo.ca: paperback & Kobo
Les Éditions Alire: paperback, pdf, e-pub

TAMSIN & THE CHURCH LADIES
1974. The Reverend Michael Stewart has surprised his congregation by marrying a card-carrying feminist, Women's Studies professor Tamsin Engler.

From the start, I suspected Mrs. Eudora Corby of having a secret set of Commandments especially for me.
  • Thou shalt wear a hat in church.
  • Thou shalt not wear Birkenstocks at the ACW meeting.
  • Thou shalt not encourage the Minister to deliver light-hearted sermons by snickering at his jokes during the service.
So when the body of the People's Warden was found floating in the November River near the rectory dock, she might well have added:
  • Thou shalt do no murder investigation
St Nicholas - Birch Cliff
St. Mary's by the River

"Tamsin & the Church Ladies"
is one of many intriguing stories in the latest anthology
Mystery Most Traditional
from Malice Domestic 2023

April 2023








Mystery Most Traditional
from Malice Domestic 2023

Release date April 2023

Amazon.ca: paperback    ebook Amazon.com: paperback    ebook
Kobo: ebook
Indigo.ca: ebook

(ebooks were released mid-June)

THE AMERICANIZATION OF JACK MACKENZIE

When a classic Canadian memoir, The Winds of November, is picked up by an American director, to be filmed on location in the charming town of November Falls, it seems like a winning combination for everyone.

Until the mayor finds out the how much of the story -- and the setting -- and the hero -- will be sacrificed to Hollywood.

Clearly, something must be done.

Jack Mackenzie, portrayed by Tom Thomson
Jack Mackenzie
local legend and beloved landscape painter
(okay, yes, that's Tom Thomson standing in for Jack)

"The Americanization of Jack Mackenzie "
can be found among the 23 stories in
Hook, Line, and Sinker: The Seventh Guppy Anthology
by a plethora of talented crime writers

January 2023








Hook, Line, and Sinker
The Seventh Guppy Anthology

from The Guppies Chapter of Sisters in Crime and Wolf's Echo Press

Release date January 27 2023

Wolf's Echo Press paperback or ebook
Amazon.com paperback or ebook
Amazon.ca paperback or ebook
Kobo ebook
Indigo.ca ebook


MY NIGHT WITH THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH

You can find this caper short story in the
Moonlight & Misadventure (June 2021) and Fishy Business (April 2019) anthologies.


Princess Elizabeth and her gorgeous husband, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

Dateline: Toronto, October 1951. The lovely and popular Princess Elizabeth is making a cross-Canada tour, standing in for her father, the ailing King George VI. Escorting her is her glowing sun god of a husband, The Duke of Edinburgh.

Four university students decide the Royal visit to Toronto will provide an excellent opportunity for a little political pushback against the oppression of The Monarchy. What better plan than to kidnap the Duke of Edinburgh? Or at least, his waxwork effigy.

All they have to do is break into the Royal Ontario Museum at night, and spirit him away.

What could possibly go wrong?

Moonlight & Misadventure
the latest crime anthology from
Superior Shores Press

You can buy it at
Indigo.ca Kobo ebook
Amazon.ca paper or Kindle
Amazon.com paper or Kindle



Originally published in

Fishy Business
the 2019 anthology from the Guppy Chapter of Sisters in Crime.


DEATH OF ANOTHER HERO

When a local theatre group revives its modern interpretation of
Much Ado About Nothing,
the playwright, cast and crew are all ready
to reprise their roles from 25 years ago.

All except one.



Old sins cast long shadows and revenge is a dish best served cold.

A Shakespearian destiny is awaiting its cue,
as the playwright savours the words,
I would eat his heart in marketplace.


"Death of Another Hero"
can be found among 33 stories of theatre-based mystery and crime
by a cast of wonderful crime writers in

Mystery Most Theatrical
Mystery Most Theatrical


from Malice Domestic Mystery Conference








Mystery Most Theatrical
from Malice Domestic and Wildside Press

Buy it from
Wildside Press paperback or ebook
Amazon.ca Paperback
Amazon.com Paperback
Rakuten Kobo Kobo eBook


DEEP FREEZE IN SUBURBIA

The Honourable Dina Calder has it all.

She's a newly elected Member of Parliament in a majority government, with a cushy Cabinet post and a great view of the Ottawa River from her luxurious office in the East Block. She's flying high.

Until a lurid true-crime paperback lands on her desk from out of the past. Her past.

Deep Freeze in Suburbia the trashy tell-all (or almost all) book about what happened twenty-seven years ago, when Dina had another life and another name.


There's more in there than frozen waffles and ice cream

It's clear someone hasn't forgotten. And they're ready to talk.

"Deep Freeze in Suburbia" (my story, not the trashy true-crime novel) can be found with 21 other stories of mystery and crime by a plethora of great crime writers in Heartbreaks & Half-truths
From Superior Shores Press








Heartbreaks &Half-truths, the second crime anthology from Judy Penz Sheluk's
Superior Shores Press
available at
Indigo.ca paper or Kobo
Amazon.ca paper or Kindle
Amazon.com paper or Kindle


SPIRIT RIVER DAM

This story of art fraud (maybe, maybe not) appears in The Best Laid Plans, the first mystery anthology from Superior Shores Press .


Tom Thompson's 1915 painting of Tea Lake Dam.
Does the mysterious work, Spirit River Dam look something like this?

Imogen runs a trendy art gallery in Toronto in the Sixties. She is equally surprised and delighted and wary when her ex walks in with Spirit River Dam, a painting that could very well be a long lost work by iconic Canadian artist, Tom Thomson.

It looks right, it feels right. It ticks all the right boxes. Except for one little detail.

Now, if they could just make that one little detail disappear....


Tom Thomson, after a good day's fishing in Algonquin Park








The Best Laid Plans
is the first anthology from Judy Penz Sheluk's
Superior Shores Press



Where to buy
Indigo.ca paper or Kobo
Amazon.ca paper or Kindle
Amazon.com paper or Kindle


MURDER ON THE NORTHERN LIGHTS EXPRESS

My short mystery story is part of the Mystery Most Geographical anthology


Northern Lights Express arrives at Cumberland Bridge, Ontario

"Murder on the Northern Lights Express" takes place in 1961, on a train journey from Toronto to Borealis Bay, Ontario.

Writer Alice Berlin boards the Northern Lights Express for a reunion trip with her old friends from university. The only member of the group missing is Walter, who died in an accident two years ago.

As the train speeds northwards through the autumn countryside, Alice begins to work on her hidden agenda, finding out who knows the truth behind Flames Along the St. Lawrence, the brilliant historical work that’s taking the academic world by storm.

The train in my book is inspired by Ontario Northland's Polar Bear Express, which still makes the run from Cochrane to Moosonee, on James Bay.


Mystery Most Geographical anthology is published by those wonderful folks at Malice Domestic, in connection with the 30th annual Malice Domestic Conference, 2018

Where to buy
Indigo.ca Kobo eBook
Amazon.ca paper or Kindle
Amazon.com paper or Kindle
Wildside Press paper


THE LADY'S MAID VANISHES

I'm happy to have my short mystery included in Mystery Most Historical , where I'm in good company with 29 other mystery writers, including Catriona McPherson, Marcia Talley and Martin Edwards.


Vicountess Byng of Vimy
"The Lady's Maid Vanishes" takes place in 1931, when Lady Byng, wife of the former Governor General of Canada, and her entourage are staying at a rustic lodge in the Rockies. Her maid, Vaughan, goes for a walk in the woods, and vanishes.

The story was inspired by an incident I read in the memoirs of Evelyn, Lady Byng, Up The Stream of Time.

In real life, Vaughan was found safe, though terrified, long after nightfall.

In my story, however, things turn out quite different, and the indomitable Lady Byng joins forces with the local Mounties to discover what happened.


The anthology
Mystery Most Historical,
published in conjunction with the 29th annual Malice Domestic Conference, 2017

Where to buy

Indigo.ca Kobo eBook
Amazon.ca paper or Kindle
Amazon.com paper or Kindle
Wildside Press paper or eBook

GOSSIP

I'm so pleased my short story, "Gossip" is part of the 2017 anthology,
Fish out of Water.


Another busy morning in Carpathia, Ontario

Amy Hartman, a successful artist, returns to the small town she left behind her nearly twenty years ago, having heard a surprising revelation about her reputation.

She's back to set the story straight, but soon finds it's not easy to root out what really happened.

Especially when the Church Bazaar Ladies get down and dirty with the gossip.


Fish out of Water
is the fourth fishy anthology from the Guppies Chapter of Sisters in Crime, released Spring 2017

Where to buy Fish Out of Water
Indigo.ca Kobo ebook
Amazon.ca paper or Kindle
Amazon.com paper or Kindle
Wildside Press ebook

THE WHOLE SHE-BANG 3

Two of my stories, "A Death at the Parsonage" and "Family Traditions" , along with those of 17 other Canadian crime writers, are included in the newest anthology from Canadian Sisters in Crime.
A DEATH AT THE PARSONAGE

Winner of the 2017 Arthur Ellis Award
for best Short Story
from the Crime Writers of Canada
News flash 2023: This story has been republished in French as
« Mort au presbytère »

1823 England: When an unpopular clergyman dies a suspicious death while preparing his Sunday sermon, a quick-witted lady turns detective to come to the aid of her friend.

The story is based on characters from Pride and Prejudice (as if no one has done that before) because I feel that Charlotte deserves better in life than to be stuck with Mr. Collins forever, though she explains her low expectations to Elizabeth:
I am not romantic, you know; I never was. I ask only a comfortable home; and considering Mr. Collins's character, connection, and situation in life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness with him is as fair as most people can boast on entering the marriage state. (P&P, Chapter 22)
Mr Collins proposing to Charlotte
Mr. Collins proposing to Charlotte, in happier times

It was inevitable, perhaps, that someday someone would get fed up with the "conceited, pompous, narrow-minded, silly man" (as Elizabeth roundly describes him) and take a swing at him.

When the finger of guilt points to Mrs. Collins, it's fortunate that her dearest friend, Elizabeth Darcy, is on hand to set matters straight.

Perhaps not surprisingly, no one who's read this story seems to feel any sadness over the loss of Mr. Collins.

From the Toronto Star whodunnit reviewer, Jack Batten: "Then we have Susan Daly, the prize of the collection, who presents a clever and funny take on Jane Austen...."

FAMILY TRADITIONS

Stuck in the kitchen on the biggest Turkey and Football and Santa Claus Parade day of the year, Terri, a long-suffering housewife, takes a new look at sacred family traditions, and how they all seem to conflict with each other.
    









The Whole She-Bang 3
is the collaborative work of members of Toronto Sisters in Crime, co-ordinated by Helen Nelson, edited by Janet Costello and brought to life by a tireless team of volunteers.

The anthology features works by 20 Canadian crime writers, and is (can you tell by the title?) the third in the Whole She-Bang Series.

All are available from your favourite on-line booktores.

Where to buy The Whole She-Bang 3
Rakuten Kobo ebook
Lulu.com paper
Amazon.ca paper or Kindle
Amazon.com paper or Kindle
Smashwords ebook



Where to buy
The Whole She-Bang 2

Rakuten Kobo ebook
Smashwords ebook
Amazon.ca paper or Kindle
Amazon.com paper or Kindle
THE WHOLE SHE-BANG 2

November 2014 saw the start of my life of crime, when my short story "Poetic Justice" was published in The Whole She-Bang 2, an anthology from Canadian Sisters in Crime.

Following the 2011 success of the first book, The Whole She-Bang , the Canadian members of Sisters in Crime decided to publish a second anthology of crime stories by Canadian writers, from first offenders to hardened veterans.

I had a ton of fun writing "Poetic Justice" and couldn't resist basing it on recent, crazy events in Toronto. Jack Batten of the Star said, Susan Daly presents a juicy story of confrontations between characters based on Rob Ford and Margaret Atwood.

Doughnut shops vs. libraries, anyone?

Editor Janet Costello and her crew have pulled together 24 stories ranging from cosy to noir, from deadly serious to dying laughing. I'm thrilled to be included among such a talented crew of sisters and brothers.

What other writers are saying....

The Whole She-Bang 2 is wonderful! With accomplished short stories that range from hilarious to gruesome to downright unsettling, this is a collection sure to appeal to any taste. It does Canada's female crime writers proud.
     Louise Penny, New York Times Bestselling author

Thoughtful, well-written and above all, entertaining, this collection of short stories by established and up-and-coming crime writers is as Canadian as a polite little murder on a winter's afternoon.
      Elizabeth J. Duncan, award-winning author of the Penny Brannigan series.

Are the stories in this new collection by Sisters in Crime ingenious? Check. Well written? Check. A delight, a surprise, and unputdownable, story after story? Check, check, and check. If ever there was an anthology worth checking out, this is it.
      Scott Mackay, Arthur Ellis Award winner for best short mystery fiction

Libraries will get you through times without money
better than banks will get you through times without books