Holiday Madness!

As the December holiday season approaches, the flurry of gift buying intensifies, along with the accompanying head-scratching and bouts of panic. Books are always the perfect gift for the readers on your list, and mysteries, suspense, and thrillers often top the list. The bookstores are full of wonderful choices clamouring for attention. Consider looking beyond the "best-sellers" and "hot picks" at the front, and taking a chance on lesser known voices that often offer a unique and fresh experience. A different setting, an unusual voice, characters that come alive.

Check out bookstores near you, and pay partcular attention to the independent bookstores, which are staffed by people who love and know books, and give great advice to the undecided. Many authors will be signing their latests books, which gives you a great chance the get to know them and browse through their work. Moreoever, a personally autographed book makes a very special gift for the mystery lover on your list!

Barbara has a few signings lined up in the next month, so if you happen to be in the Ottawa area, she'd love to see you! If not, sometimes there are signed copies to be mailed. The signings will feature Wreck Bay, the latest Amanda Doucette mystery, but as always, some backlist will be available.

Check out the News and Events page for details.

In Wreck Bay, Amanda Doucette pursues the connection between a reclusive artist and the wealthy surfer who turned up dead on a remote island in Vancouver Island’s Pacific Rim in a wilderness-infused mystery perfect for fans of Jane Harper or Louise Penny.

"Fradkin, a retired psychologist, creates well-drawn, complex characters, and she knows how to build tension and drama that hold readers to the end."

Starred review, Publishers Weekly

"Ottawa-based author Barbara Fradkin is one of today's finest mystery writers. Her Inspector Green mysteries linger long after the story is told."

Hamilton Spectator

"Fradkin's forte is the emotional cost of crime."

Ottawa Citizen