June/July 2022 Bestsellers - The Missing Clue - August 2022

June/July 2022 Bestsellers

Need some inspiration? Here’s what was popular last month at Whodunit.

Hard Cover

1.      Jonasson, Ragnar Outside

2.      Tucci, Stanley   Taste: My Life Through Food

3.      Griffiths, Elly     The Locked Room

4.      Maynard, Robin    Rehearsals For Living

5.      Grisham, John   Sparring Partners

6.      Price, Neil   Children of Ash and Elm

7.      Fajardo-Anstine, Kali   Woman of Light

8.      Fowler, Christopher   Bryant & May: London Bridge is Falling down

9.      Aaronovitch, Ben    Among Our Weapons

10.  Goldberg, Leonard   The Blue Diamond

Trade Paper

1.      Cartmel Andrew    Attack & Decay

2.      McTiernan, Dervla   The Murder Rule

3.      Philipp Schott    Fifty -Four Pigs

4.      Robinson, Peter   Not Dark Yet

5.      May, Peter   The Night Gate

6.      Novik, Naomi   The Last Graduate

7.      Jonasson, Ragnar   The Girl Who Died

8.      Gentill, Sulari   The Woman in the       Library

9.      Sujata Massey,   The Bombay Prince

10.  Silva, Daniel    Portrait of an Unknown Woman

Mass Market

1.      Smith, Karen Rose   Murder with Darjeeling Tea

2.      Carlisle, Kate    Little Black Book

3.      Berenson, Laurien    Pup Fiction

4.      McKinlay, Jenn    Strawberried Alive

5.      Penny, Louise   The Madness of Crowds

6.      Berry, Tamara    Buried in a Good Book

7.      Kelly, Diane   The Proof is in the Poison

8.      Byron, Ellen    Bayou Book Thief

9.      Conte, Cate    Gone But Not Forgotten

10.  Laurie, Victoria    Coached in the Act

Recommendations by Aaron - The Missing Clue - August 2022

Michael and Wendy kindly asked me to do a little write up in this newsletter, letting you all know what I’ve been reading since I have started working at Whodunit?, and I am not going to lie, I was pretty excited!

The first book I brought home from the shop was My Annihilation by Fuminori Nakamura. I’m not ashamed to admit I was originally drawn to it purely from the fact that the cover is gorgeous, as I will be the first person to say that I’m a sucker for a good cover! There were other reasons, though, like the fact that I was familiar with the author from previous novels, Cult X and The Thief (another couple of good covers, just putting it out there!). Having characters question things like their own perception of the world, their place in it, and even who they are, are the kind of things I like to read in the horror genre and Nakamura’s work seems to revolve around examining these thoughts and reasonings in his characters, some of whom do reprehensible things. Unfortunately, My Annihilation was just okay, I felt that the book flatlines a bit in the third act which isn’t helped by the fact that the book really isn’t that long. It has been claimed that this book is extremely “dark and disturbing”, and while it by no means is an optimistic and cheerful read, his previous works that I’ve read have been far more disturbing, to the point where I hesitate recommending them. All that being said, while it wasn’t my favourite book I’ve read since starting at Whodunit, it is probably the one I have thought about afterwards the most, either positively or negatively.

One of the perks that I enjoy the most from working at Whodunit? has to be the used book selection. I love watching what comes and goes, always keeping an eye out for something that might jump out to me. A month or so ago, it was the bold graphic cover of The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt. This is one that has been on my ever expanding to-read list for years, since it came out in 2011, so I am a little late to be jumping on the deWitt train, but I very much enjoyed this read. For those of you who haven’t read it, The Sisters Brothers focuses on Eli and Charlie Sisters (written from the perspective of the former), two “bounty hunter” (read: assassin)  brothers in 1851 who are, well, pretty dumb, but clever enough to know this, which often puts them one step ahead of the various cast of characters that they meet between Oregon City and California. Whether it is their cleverness, dumb luck, or both, that keeps them just ahead of a doom of their own making, who’s to say, but their dubious trek south is extremely entertaining and often had me giggling to myself as I read. I love it when a narrative can find a way to not take itself too seriously, while still having an emotional weight that is easy to connect to. I think it’s safe to say that I probably shouldn’t wait another 10 years to pick up another of deWitt’s books.

I am going to cheat ever so slightly by including a series I was wrapping up just as I started at Whodunit, and that is the Remembrance of Earth’s Past by Liu Cixin. The entire series is fantastic, and The Three Body Problem is an excellent intro to it. I would highly recommend anyone interested in sci-fi, specifically more of a hard sci-fi where characters debate and dissect astrophysics, celestial mechanics, and theoretical physics (the titular Three Body Problem refers to determining the motion of three celestial bodies moving under their own gravity). The less I say about it, the better. I went in pretty blind to any of the plot and had a lovely time.

I have taken it upon myself to read all of the manga currently on our shelves, so in the chance that someone needs a recommendation, I can oblige! One that has really stood out so far is Boys Run the Riot by Keito Gaku. It focuses on a transgender high school student who starts a clothing brand with his classmate. I have been wanting to read more fiction by transgender authors/artists, and not only is Keito transgender, but the English licensers of the manga hired an all-transgender team to translate it!

Next up for me is going to be Suburban Dicks by Fabian Nicieza, where a former FBI profiler, very pregnant with her 5th child, and a disgraced local journalist who once won a Pulitzer team up to solve a murder. Sounds fun!

Reading Notes by Wendy - The Missing Clue - August 2022

I get a newsletter from Blackwell’s, the bookstore in Oxford, every Saturday morning. This past Saturday the subject line was “666 books published this week”. Looking around Whodunit? I felt as if they had all been delivered here. There were so many books not to mention a large stack of Advanced Reader’s Copies (ARCs) that had arrived while I was away. Anyway, I did manage to unearth some things that I wanted to read.

The first was Death at the Savoy, by Canadian writers Ron Base and Prudence Emery. The Savoy is the hotel in London and the book is set in 1968. I really enjoyed reading it. The characters were engaging, and the plot moved along not getting bogged down in scene setting as sometimes happens in books set in an earlier period. (in stock, trade paper $18.85) A perfect book for a relaxing afternoon, or morning or evening for that matter.

In the stack of ARCs I quickly found the third title in Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series. The Bullet That Missed will not be released until September 20th (Hardcover $35) but the second title The Man Who Died Twice came out in trade paper this past Tuesday (in stock $$23). This has been a very popular series and sold millions of copies worldwide. I think that when the first one was released in the UK the fact that the author was a television personality may have helped to start the sales, but the book just took off and so did the subsequent title. It is an excellent series. If we have not already sold you a copy you might look at it next time you are in.

Another ARC that I read from my stack was Val McDermid’s 1989. This is the second title in her Allie Burns series. (Releases October hardcover $39.50). This is a very different read from the Osman, Allie Burns is an investigative journalist. The first title 1979 deals with among other issues the very divisive miner’s strikes. (In stock hard cover $39.95. Releases in trade paper October $23.95). 1989 deals with the issues of HIV/AIDS and drug use and the failure of particularly the Scottish authorities to deal with them in an effective manner. This is also the time of the newspaper wars in the United Kingdom where the owners seemed to be at perpetual war with their employees, journalists, and printers. Burns is not immune to this and her owner (made clear it is not Rupert Murdoch although I think it could be based on Robert Maxwell) is patently not a very nice man.

I found a new tv series last Sunday, Murder in Provence. The series is based on M.L. Longworth’s Verlaque and Bonnet series. It is beautiful to watch. The series made by British ITV was obviously filmed in and around Aix-en-Provence. Well worth watching if you can find.

Susie Steiner (1971-2022)

Susie Steiner, author of the Manon Bradshaw series, died on July 3rd. She had suffered from retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary disease, which resulted in the loss her sight. She had overcome this challenge and her first crime novel Missing Presumed was published in 2016. In 2019 she was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Summer Reads by Laura - The Missing Clue - August 2022

A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons by Kate Khavari (HC, 35.99) is set in 1920s London where a young female scientist is fighting for a foothold within the botany department at the University College of London. After the wife of a professor is poisoned at a party, Saffron Everleigh's supervisor is arrested - based on his previous study on the suspected poison. With the help of a young male professor, Saffron tries to prove his innocence. Definitely skews towards historical romance, this debut is perfect for fans of Sulari Gentill or Anna Lee Huber.

The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark (TP, 24.99) is a domestic thriller told from the perspectives of two women - one, an experienced con-woman capable of fleecing high-profile individuals out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, the other an investigative reporter devoted to tracking her down. As the two find themselves entrenched in each other's lives, they begin to understand each other's motives better. 

The Honey and the Sting by E.C. Fremantle (TP, 19.99) is a historical thriller following the saga of three sisters in 17th century England. Subject to societal pressures around chastity, religious fervour, and their place as women, the sisters must stick together to protect themselves. I've been waiting for some time to get my hands on a copy of this book and am excited to finally dig into it on the long weekend!

May 2022 Bestsellers - The Missing Clue - June 2022

May 2022 Bestsellers

Need some inspiration? Here’s what was popular last month at Whodunit.

Hard Cover

1.      Mick Herron, Bad Actors

2.      Olia Hercules, Summer Kitchens

3.      Nancy Atherton, Aunt Dimity and the Enchanted Cottage

4.      ANNE HILLERMAN, The Sacred Bridge

5.      John Sandford, The Investigator

6.      Anne Perry, Three Debts Paid

7.      Deon, Meyer, The Dark Flood

8.      Emma Haughton, The Dark

9.      Richard Osman, The Man Who Died Twice

10.  Ben Aaronovitch, Amongst Our Weapons

Trade Paper

1.      Philipp Schott, Fifty-Four Pigs

2.      Ann Cleeves, The Heron’s Cry

3.      Quintin Jardine, Deadlock

4.      Robert Thorogood, The Marlow Murder Club

5.      Iona Whishaw, Framed in Fire

6.      Raye Anderson, Down Came the Rain

7.      Peter Robinson, Not Dark Yet

8.      Dervla McTiernan, The Murder Rule

9.      Michael J. Clarke, The Truth You’re Told

10.  Child, Lee/Andrew, Better Off Dead

Mass Market

1.      Deborah Blake, Claws for Suspicion

2.      Paige Shelton, Deadly Editions

3.      Lisa Gardner, Before She Disappeared

4.      Lauren Elliott, A Margin For Murder

5.      Victoria Thompson, Murder on Wall Street

6.      Khurrum Rahman, East of Hounslow

7.      Ben Aaronovitch, Midnight Riot

8.      John Sandford, Ocean Prey

9.      Lorna Barrett, A Deadly Deletion

10.  Veronica Bond, Death in Castle Dark

Summer Reading by Sian - The Missing Clue - June 2022

I was sitting at my desk at Simon & Schuster 15 years ago when Mum and Dad announced they were buying Whodunit. I had been there on occasion over the years, particularly when tracking down harder to find series in used (I’m thinking here particularly of Lauren Henderson’s excellent ‘Sam Jones’ series) and suddenly it was the epicentre of our family life. And while Michael could not have envisioned having so much to do with the store, I couldn’t have envisioned having so little to do with the store now, to my regret. Life comes at you fast though, or in the case of the last two years, very very slowly. But my work and building my own family in Toronto has taken me further away from the day to day of the bookstore than I would have liked. That’s why I continue to edit this newsletter, to stay connected with you all and the books constantly streaming into the shop. This time last year I still didn’t know when I would be able to come home again, since July I’ve been home seven times, which is much more back to normal.

Things are different now, of course, than 15 years ago. We have a beautiful new larger space. We have Laura and Aaron helping Mum and Michael. And there is still a wheelchair shaped hole in the store that all the returns in the world can’t fill. I still wonder what books Dad might yet have pressed on me and what he would have thought of things like the TV adaptation of Slow Horses (Mum, “Oh, he wouldn’t have liked it. Well. No. Maybe he would have. You never knew with him.”)

But there are still books. So many books. And not just mysteries! Mum and Michael have done an amazing job growing our offerings to respond to the needs of the neighbourhood. And that pivot means that I can start to talk about some of the non-mystery books that I’ve been loving.

An Instagram recommendation brought me to Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis and I just inhaled it on a recent work trip to Vancouver. I don’t know much about science, but I am very well-versed in academia. This was such a fun, lovely, and heartwarming book whilst taking into account actual social issues facing female academics particularly. We’ve got the trade paperback in store.  She has a second book in the series, Love on the Brain, coming in August and I cannot wait.

I went to a lovely independent bookstore in Atlanta and picked up A Lady’s Formula for Love, first in Elizabeth Everett’s ‘Secret Scientists of London’ series. It’s marked as Historical Romance, but it’s as much of a mystery as some things we’ve had before and features intrepid lady scientists with some romance on the side. If you liked Darcie Wilde’s ‘Rosalind Thorne’ series, Manda Collins ‘Ladies Most Scandalous’ series, or Deanna Raybourn’s ‘Veronica Speedwell’ series, you’ll like this one. Book #2, A Perfect Equation, is in the store in TP now with a third book coming in January.

Speaking of Deanna Raybourn, I finished An Impossible Impostor. This is book #7 and there is always a point when you get on in a series where narrative arc must commit to staying the same or veer a different direction. This could be a veering? I don’t love a cliffhanger, but Veronica made some very human choices and I’m curious where those decisions will lead her. The next book is not yet scheduled, but she has a proper thriller called Killers of a Certain Age coming out in September about lady assassins in their 60s which sounds quite intriguing.

It is always a good day when there is a new Ben Aaronovitch and I loved Amongst Our Weapons just like the previous eight books. I’m thinking of a reread because I’m curious to go back and reexperience the first books. Book #10 doesn’t have a date yet, but we’ve got the whole back catalogue in new mass market as well as some of the graphic novels if you likewise want to reread or catch up what you’ve missed.

I am trying to read beyond my comfort zone a bit, so when I saw The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox on the table with a quote from Deborah Harkness, I decided that was as good a leap as any. I’m not done it yet. It’s an intense and weird book. The sort you’re not sure if you like it but you keep reading. I’d be curious if anyone else has dipped their toe in.

Spring Reads by Laura - The Missing Clue - June 2022

As soon as spring began (according to the calendar, anyways), I became inundated with advanced readers' copies of books to be released this season. Beginning with Kate Quinn's The Diamond Eye (TP, 24.99), a fictionalization of a true story of a Soviet sniper during WWII who toured America to encourage President Roosevelt to send troops to Europe. At turns a war story, an espionage story, and even a love story, Kate Quinn returns with another engaging novel. I am a big proponent of Dervla McTiernan, known in the store for her popular Irish police procedural. Her newest release, The Murder Rule (TP, 24.99) is a departure from her O'Reilly series, instead being a legal thriller set in America. I would recommend it for fans of Shonda Rhimes shows, particularly fans of "How to Get Away With Murder," as it follows a law student with ulterior motives volunteering with a legal aid team. Similarly, Ragnar Jonasson's upcoming release Outside (HC, 36.99, June 28) is another thriller and change of pace from his other series. It is a locked room-esque mystery, wherein friends from university become trapped in a winter storm in an isolated part of Iceland. Finally, I am currently reading A Spoonful of Murder by J.M. Hall (TP, 24.99, Not Yet Received), a delightful cosy set in Yorkshire centred on three retired teachers investigating the suspicious death of their former colleague.

Event Update - The Missing Clue - June 2022

We had a lovely time with Philipp Schott and everyone's pets last month, as well as feteing the Crime Writers of Canada's newly crowned Best Crime Novel winner Dietrich Kalteis on Zoom.  We look forward to having more in person events as the summer progresses.  Unfortunately, a couple of those events which were already in our calendar and ready for announcement have had to be postponed due to author availability just as we were arriving to press.

With that said, we are thrilled to announce that we will be having a live event in June, and one that is a little bit different from what we have been doing recently. On Wednesday the 22nd at 1900, Michael will be moderating a discussion with art historian Celia Rabinovitch to discuss the investigations that went into her newest work Duchamps Pipe. The discussion will be the first in person launching of the book but will also be the last of a series of events at which Dr Rabinovich will be discussing the artist and the fascinating role that he played in the Surrealist movement in the 20th century. Visit our social media where we are sharing details of her other events on the 2nd and 12th of June respectively!

June Introduction by Michael - The Missing Clue - June 2022

Fifteen years is a long time.

As we prepared this version of the "Missing Clue" for press, I did so with this thought often at the front of my mind. I can say with some confidence that I did not think I would be writing this introduction at all, or that I would be having much, if anything to do with the shop at this point. As is the case with many such milestones, most of us would be surprised to look back and mark the trials and tribulations of the last decade and a half and realise exactly how much has happened between Day One and Day 5,479.  But I am certain that I know that I did not envision that I would be preparing something for you all to read on, or about, Day 5,480.

Day One, at Whodunit, for the Bumsteds, was June 1, 2007, and looking back, it is remarkable at how many of you have been visiting us for at least that long, and how little some things have changed. Those of you who have customer files that go back to that day, (or before) we do hope that you know how grateful we are that you stuck with us through all these years. In fact, we have a surprise for those of you who visited us in our first June the next time you stop in. (We will also have surprises for those who stopped by in July and August of 2007 as well, as the calendar turns.)

That is not to say that we do not also value those of you who have come to read these words, or shop with us, more recently. You too are critical to the success of our little shop, and we are grateful that you have found us, and make the effort to visit us as well.  The anniversary sale in the later part of the month is for everyone, and, as we kick off our 5th year in what will long be referred to as "the new shop" at the end of August, we promise that there will be surprises aplenty for you as well.

Such an anniversary is also a stark reminder of who is no longer with us, and how much we, ourselves, have changed. I am fairly confident that none of us would have thought that after those first few days we would still be here, mostly intact, to celebrate a decade and a half of business.

Most of the last few years, in particular, have not, perhaps, been what we would have wished them to be.  Time has not passed lightly of late, and too often we have had to include messages of loss, or frustration, or restriction (or lack of restriction), in the opening pages of this newsletter. Some days, it is of heavy heart and mind that we even open up to sell books that, whether cosy or noir, mostly involve death. As failures of politicians to quell health crises, climate emergencies, and violence both domestic and international grow to take up more and more column inches of the news, it is an odd position to find oneself to be selling medical thrillers, or political ones, but most especially at present, novels that involve large amounts of gun violence. We hope that we can all collectively move forward to a place where these issues in particular return to being more likely to be read in fiction rather than in the news.

What has made it all worthwhile, however, has been you, dear reader. Whether visiting us from that first day or having only just visited us for the first time. The changes that have come into our own lives because of the shop, and because of each and every one of you are incredible (and mostly good). The direction of our lives has been made the better by being able to continue to share the books that we love with you, and to learn about the books that you love so that we can share those with others. To be able to open our doors to help you find something for yourself, or a spouse, or a child. Or to just offer you a safe space to be able to get away from a child, or a spouse, or even yourself, if only for a little while.

We are none of us the same as we were. We are hopeful that the next fifteen years however, will not only pass a little lighter, but will allow us to continue to improve who we are, what we are, and how we can be of service to those who privilege us with their business.
The sun will come out, we are forever being told. But even if it does not, there will always be books, and we are forever thankful to those who buy them from us.

MCB, June 2022

Spring in Books by Sian - The Missing Clue - April 2022

Firstly, my apologies for the lateness of this newsletter. I have been traveling again suddenly and this past weekend had the privilege of going to the Masters in Augusta, but it has meant a lot of chaos and running around.

 Secondly, I have a confession. I’ve mostly been reading romance novels again. Romance novels are seeing a resurgence and there are so many great ones and I have been diving into them for some easy stress-free reading. But never fear! There have been some mysteries too.

 I finished my second copy of The Untold Story by Genevieve Cogman, the 8th book in her ‘Invisible Library’ series. I don’t think it is the last book in the series, but it was clearly the end of a narrative arc. This would be a good series too for precocious tween/teen readers as there is a hint of romance, but no particularly adult content. She has a new series coming out at the end of this year based on The Scarlet Pimpernel called Scarlet.

 I cannot explain how I came to read Will Thomas’ ‘Barker & Llewelyn’ series, but here I am, 12 books in. I finished Dance with Death in hardcover, which comes out in TP this week. It is a very easy to read series with lots of interesting historical subplots and surprisingly strong females characters. Book #13, Fierce Poison, is out this week in hardcover.

 When I tell you my To Read pile is out of control, that is the understatement of the century. I’m about halfway through Deanna Raybourn’s An Impossible Impostor, book #7 in her ‘Veronica Speedwell’ series. She has a proper thriller called Killers of a Certain Age coming out in September about lady assassins in their 60s which sounds quite intriguing.

 April also always brings the delightful double whammy of a new Anna Lee Huber in TP (A Perilous Perspective, #10 in her ‘Lady Darby’ series) and a new C.S. Harris (When Blood Lies, #17 in her ‘Sebastian St. Cyr’ series). I was ecstatic to see in the lists that there is also a new Ben Aaronovitch this month, Amongst Our Weapons, #9 in his ‘Rivers of London’ series. And looking a teeny bit further ahead to May, there is a new Andrew Cartmel in his ‘Vinyl Detective’ series, #6 in Attack and Decay.

 I’ll be in the store May 6th and 7th if anyone wants some in-person romance recommendations as well!

What Wendy's Reading by Wendy - The Missing Clue - April 2022

A box of ARCS (Advanced Readers Copies) arrived the other week and one title caught my eye. It was called The Marlow Murder Club. I must admit that I felt a little dismissive about the title, it felt a little like trying to benefit from the amazing success of Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club books especially when the major character seemed to be a seventy-seven-year woman. While imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery, I was not that enthused about reading it. When I did a little more research, I realized that the author was Robert Thorogood, the creator of the popular television show Death in Paradise. To cut a long story short, I did read the book and after a bit of muttering do we need another murder club, I did really enjoy it. The main character is a crossword puzzle creator, and I learned some things about how to approach cryptic crossword clues. Definitely, an engaging and worthwhile read. There is a second title Death Comes to Marlow due in the Fall. The Marlow Murder Club is due to be released on May 3rd (trade paper $24.99).

Most of my reading in the last couple of months seems to have featured Asian women. I finally caught up with Ian Hamilton’s new Ava Lee title, The Sultan of Sarawak, which was released in January. While I have not loved every title this continues to be a good series. I have not read any of the three titles in the spin off, the Lost Decades of Uncle Chow Tung series. The fourth and final title in the series, Finale, is being released in July (trade paper $19.99).

A book that we had missed when it was released in April 2021 was Jesse Q Sutanto’ s Dial A for Aunties. I found out about the book when I saw the details of the second book in the series due to be published soon. I ordered the first title and soon discovered why it had been named as one of NPR’S Best Books of 2021, this is a laugh out loud book. The series is centered on a Chinese-Indonesian family who run a wedding business in California and the first book deals with an accidental murder and the problems it creates for a business in the midst of organizing a 2,000 guest billionaire wedding, (In stock now trade paper $22).  The second title in the series Four Aunties and a Wedding, revolves around the mishaps that occur when the Chan family engage another wedding company to organize a wedding for one of the family. But it seems that their main business may not be weddings but assassinations! (Not yet received, trade paper $22).

Michael has been enthusing about Jane Pek’s The Verifiers, since he read an Advanced Reader’s copy last Fall. Claudia Lin is a first-generation Chinese American who has just taken a job with an agency whose purpose is to check out the credentials of people you are matched with at dating sites. Are they really what they say they are? I have to agree with Michael and Laura that this is a good read. It is a little quirky but thoroughly enjoyable. I am limited in what I can say because it is the Book Club book for April. Although there is no second book listed, when we did the Zoom interview with the author from New York earlier this year she made it clear that a second title will be forthcoming. (In stock, trade paper $23).

April Announcements - The Missing Clue - April 2022

Zoom Event - Brad Smith- April 21

Brad Smith's new book Copperhead Road, takes us to Depression-era Appalachia and a family fighting for survival in the face of a decimated molasses business and a competitive moonshine industry. Join us, Brad, and our friends at At Bay Press, in launching the book via Zoom!

Canadian Independent Booksellers Day - April 30

Contests, giveaways, and excitement abound as we arrive, once more at the Canadian Independent Booksellers Association annual celebration of stores like ours! Join us on the day for the safest form of celebration that we can muster!

In Store Event - Philipp Schott - May 15th

Well known local veterinarian and author Philipp Schott will be joining us to celebrate his debut mystery, Fifty-Four Pigs, in what we are planning to be our first "Bring your Pet" reading on Sunday May 15, starting at 1500h.

Zoom Event - Dietrich Kaletis - May 26

Nobody from Somewhere is the latest from BC crime writer Dietrcih Kalteis. Dietrich will be joining us via Zoom to talk about his new book, his career writing a darker side of Vancouver, and more!

Maple Leaf Mystery Conference - May 24-28

Sponsored by Sisters in Crime and the Crime Writers of Canada, a virtual crime fiction conference will be taking place in the end of May. Details of registration can be found here. Cost of the five-session conference is $25.

(More Than) A Year in Books by Sian - The Missing Clue - February 2022

It turns out that it has been more than a year since I told you with any kind of detail about what I have been reading. That is for a variety of reasons. Sometimes I wasn’t reading. Sometimes there wasn’t room for me in the newsletter. But here we are, in January, and I am sitting in the bookstore and there is room in the newsletter and I have done some reading.

I read 29 books in 2021 which is…not many for me in the grand scheme of things. But those were all hard-fought reads. My life in 2021 was a dumpster on fire with wings. The same pandemic features we all faced, with the addition of work pressures and a surprise diabetes diagnosis for Penny. In November, I made a big move from my insane job selling pet food to a somewhat less insane job selling candy to be closer to home with Penny. The hope is that, among other things, this will lead to more time for reading.

So what have I been reading? My most recent read was Anna Lee Huber’s A Stroke of Malice (#8 in her Lady Darby series). I have been carrying around this book for over a year and finally finished it, which is no fault of the book itself which was as ever excellent. I have on deck A Wicked Conceit (#9) and book #10, A Perilous Perspective will be in store in trade paperback in April.

I picked An Heiress’s Guide to Deception and Desire by Manda Collins as my Christmas Eve book and promptly discovered it was book #2 in a series! I fall on team ‘Read Books In Order’ so I quickly got my hands on A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Mayhem. This is a fun and easy-reading series.

Speaking of books I had been carrying around, I also finally got to Tasha Alexander’s The Dark Heart of Florence. This was #15 in her ‘Lady Emily’ series. I hadn’t been loving the duel plotlines in the book, but I actually quite liked the one from this story if you too had been finding that a barrier. Book #16, Secrets of the Nile, comes in hardcover in October and we still have trade paperback copies of The Dark Heart of Florence. I’m excited for some Elizabeth Peters-type vibes!

I did not sit on Laurie R. King’s Castle Shade (#17 in her ‘Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes’ series). I mean, here’s the thing about series that get this long. Some are as great as the original books that hooked you, some are not. I quite liked this one and it’s clear they are leading up to a run in with Mycroft. There is no new book scheduled yet.

As you may or may not remember, my favorite book of the year is often the new ‘Lady Sherlock’ book by Sherry Thomas and the only reason I don’t pick them every year is that Michael doesn’t let me (he thinks he’s the boss of me). Miss Moriarty, I Presume was interesting and twisty and I don’t want to give anything away but maybe sometimes it’s more compelling when people can’t be together?

From the looks up my upcoming releases calendar, it’s going to be a quiet winter for me, which is great news because I still have a lot of catching up to do. That said, I just had to buy my second copy of Genevieve Cogman’s The Untold Story (Invisible Library book #8) because I read a chapter and left it on the plane. And I am looking forward to Deanna Raybourn’s An Impossible Impostor in hardcover in February very much (Veronica Speedwell book #7.

What Wendy's Reading by Wendy - The Missing Clue - February 2022

A big surprise yesterday (Friday) the long delayed 32nd title in Quintin Jardine’s ‘Bob Skinner’ series arrived. The Roots of Evil starts during a Hogmannay event to celebrate the arrival of 2020. I must admit that it took me a while to get into the book, because the three-year gap between titles, remembering exactly who was who took a while. That caveat apart I thoroughly enjoyed being back in the world of Scottish policing. The 33rd title in the series, Deadlock, is due to be released in Canada in March.

S.J. Bennett’s follow-up to The Windsor Knot is called All The Queen’s Men and is due for release at the beginning of March. Set in Buckingham Palace the story revolves around the difficulty in keeping track of objects, particularly art in a facility with 775 rooms, miles of corridors and unknown numbers of treasures. I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with a most interesting collection of characters.

A new author to us is T.A. Willberg whose first mystery Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder has just been released. Set in London in the 1950s it is very evocative of the locked room mysteries of the period. Marion Lane is a first-year apprentice in Miss Brickett’s Investigation and Inquiries, a secret investigation service hidden deep below the streets of London. The organization has links reaching back to WWII and although it does co-operate with Scotland Yard the links are very tenuous in order to protect the organization.

As always, I do dip into the used shelves to go back to some of my favorite titles. I have just recently re-read Dick Francis’ Hot Money and the first of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

February Announcements - The Missing Clue - February 2022

February arrives once again, and as much as things stay the same, things are still changing in Winnipeg and at Whodunit?

The hopes in November that we would be able to return to in-person events, or even have our Book Club move off of Zoom were dashed by Omicron, which feels like the dozenth time that we have written a version of that. We now expect to transition back to once again managing COVID without provincial mandates, and can at least feel confident that you, our readers have continued to support the safety steps that we maintain.

We are still in plans to return to many of the things that we have missed over the past two years. Author Events, theme nights, the Used Book Sale, Canadian Independent Bookstore Day, and a few more surprises are all on our calendar for 2022, and we intend to do the best forms of all of those we can given the constraints of the times. There are details deeper in these pages for many of those things, and a few hints to come on our social media as we get closer to the days.

Our supply chain continues to be...inconsistent, especially in terms of titles that are printed in the United Kingdom. Which books are affected by this are pretty variable: there was no clear reason as to why. Only Headline UK can tell you why it took them two extra years to get Quintin Jardine's The Roots of Evil to arrive in Canada, while one of our children's authors had his book stuck on the Evergiven, and one spring cookbook will be delayed because its journey ended in the Atlantic after its cargo container fell off a different ship! All of that is to say nothing of the domestic shipping issues that have come from the weather, from warehouse problems, and from more sinister trucking delays.

2022 has certainly arrived with challenges, both new and old. But it has also come with some very exciting new developments for us at Whodunit? Many of you will already have seen that our website is being upgraded, and as it gets more polished, we are thrilled to be able to offer more features and functionality. If there is a specific feature you would like to see, do please let us know, and we will see what we can do. Already, for those who have been on there recently you will also have notice a few of these that we have already launched:

New Feature - Book Subscriptions

Folks have asked for a while, and we have listened! With this issue, we will be starting our first subscription service! Joining is simple: let us know how often you want us to choose you a book, and what format you would like it in.

That's it. Really. We do everything else. When it is time for your book to go out, we will contact you to make arrangements.

So if you have someone special in your life who you want to keep reading, or you just want to make sure there is always something new on your own "to read" pile, get in touch and we can get everything set up.

New Feature - Book Boxes

For those of you who want to have a few more things show up at once, we have also launched our Book Boxes! Starting at $25, these are great for those among you who read lots but may either have lacunas on their shelves, or difficulty getting into the shop to pile them up. Or maybe you have a loved one who consumes more books than others would believe possible.

For whatever reason, if you buy a Book Box, we will fill it for you to fit your needs. Used cosies? Cold War spies? Sherlock Holmes? You let us know how much, and what kind of books you want and we will get it put together for you. Or, tell us about the person you are buying for and we can tailor the box to their tastes!

Both of these features are ready for you should you want them, but they are not the end to what we hope to add to our services as the year goes on. Some, as mentioned above, will depend on the nature of the world, but some will also depend on you! There is no better way for us to know if you like the things that we offer than you using them.

For those of you who haven't stopped in in a while, we also have some new surprises in store for you as well. However, as space in this newsletter is also required for the parts that most of you actually use it for (See page 5 for the start of the lists), I will leave here for many of you to be shocked when in the coming weeks a secret door starts opens to reveal something else.

Avi's Pick - The Missing Clue - December 2021

Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh, TP $22.00

I’m going to confess something… I didn’t like this book at first. It made me angry, and a little sad. But days, and even weeks after I finished the last words, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. This is a book about isolation and loneliness — two things that have become all too familiar to many of us over the past year and a half. Don’t get me wrong, the last thing I want is to sit in those feelings any more than I have to. But Moshfegh is able to put into words all of the things that I cannot. I’ve read several of her other books and I can say with certainty that one of her greatest strengths is her ability to delve deep into her characters’ minds, to speak out loud the thoughts we can’t even admit to ourselves. In this book the reader lives there — inside the main character’s thoughts. We get to know her not by what she puts out into the world, but by what she hides from it. This book is dark, scary, and at times a little gross. It’s a book about a murder that may not have even happened; about a mystery that might not be a mystery at all. It’s about what we make of the world around us and how we build our own realities. It’s been months since I read it and something about it won’t leave me. Somehow, in all of the isolation of this year, this story made me feel better about my own reality. And while I know it won’t be for everyone, it turned out to be the perfect book for me this year.

Laura's Pick - The Missing Clue - December 2021

We Know You Remember by Tove Alsterdal, HC $35.99

Tove Alsterdal's We Know You Remember has to be my pick of the year. While she is a well-known author in Scandinavian countries, We Know You Remember is Alsterdal's debut to the North American market. Alsterdal's writing is dark and atmospheric, twisty without being murky, and hard to put down. We Know You Remember follows the investigation of a suspicious death in a small town, where the father of the man convicted of sexual assault and murder has been found dead. In her pursuit of the man's killer, detective Eira Sjödin searches for the truth in the decades-old crime which still haunts the town. Great for fans of Ragnar Jonasson, Camilla Lackberg, or Ake Edwardson looking for a fresh new series.

Michael's Pick - The Missing Clue - December 2021

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik, TP $24.99

If you put the staff of Whodunit? in a lineup, you would probably not choose me as the one most likely to choose the quasi YA magical girl novel as their book of the year.  However, books like A Deadly Education which on the surface begin as one thing and become quite another are often the books that stick with me most as we get down to reflecting on the books we have read for this selection process.

A Deadly Education is set in a magical school which attracts monsters.  With no adult supervision, young wizards are fed, cared for, and educated by the structure of the Schoolomance, functionally the school itself.  However, the schools protections have weakened, and more and more of the monsters are arriving to kill the students, who each graduating year, must fight through a gauntlet of them to get back to the real world and survive.

Novik does a wonderful job of building suspense, first through the real outside threats that the students face, but increasingly through the threats that they are to one another.  Galadriel, the narrator, has survived by keeping to herself, and until the unwanted appearance of Orion Lake (just a lightning bolt scar short of being a more obvious allegory for a more famous boy wizard), has survived through to her penultimate year.  After being provided with the context of the world and the school, Galadriel is then thrust deeper and deeper into the politics of the school itself, while at the same time fending off (or having Orion interfere with fending off), targeted attacks at herself and her growing circle of friends.  The mysteries around why certain barriers are failing, and what exactly has made the narrator such a target work to drive the narrative and Novik does a wonderful job of sprinkling in the necessary clues even while the story focuses on the political dramas.

My book of the year next year is almost certainly going to be quite different, but a book that makes you want to use its sequel as a reward is always one worth serious consideration.  This book gripped me so much so quickly this summer that I have been saving its sequel The Last Graduate for Jolabokaflod, and the end of Whodunit's holiday season.

Sian's Pick - The Missing Clue - December 2021

A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones, TP $24.50

I can resist the urge to be longwinded this year because, as Michael says, I will be in the store for two weeks over the holidays. I have been very transparent about my struggles to read this year so when it came down to picking a favorite book, it was a shorter short list than usual. That said, just because the list of nominees was short, it doesn’t mean the winner is any less deserving of the title of my favorite book.

I lost track of Darynda Jones’ ‘Charley Davidson’ series mid-way (perhaps a project for 2022?), but the blurb for her new ‘Sunshine Vicram’ series was more inline with my more recent reading interests. A sassy and too smart for her own good teenage girl? Check. A mom with a big job in a male dominated career with meddling parents? Check. A handsome and elusive love interest? Check!

A Bad Day for Sunshine features Sunshine Vicram moving back home to her hometown with her daughter who was conceived under mysterious circumstances. Sunshine’s whole life features a lot of mysterious circumstances. It’s a fun, smart, and breezy read and the best news is if you love it, you can buy book #2, A Good Day for Chardonnay, in hardcover!

Wendy's Pick - The Missing Clue - December 2021

The Fine Art of Invisible Detection by Robert  Goddard, TP $16.99

Robert Goddard is a British writer who has written many mysteries, primarily stand-alone titles. The main character of this book is Wada, a forty-seven-year-old Japanese widow. Her husband, Tomohiko, had been on the Tokyo subway during the sarin attack of 1995. He had not died immediately but lingered in a coma for ten years before he did die. She is the secretary of a private detective but there is no glamor or excitement in her work, it is purely administrative, low key like the rest of her life. But when her boss becomes involved in a cold case everything changes. Robert Goddard is a good writer and a great storyteller.