Andy Boychuk is a successful Saskatchewan politician—until one sweltering August afternoon when the party faithful gather at a picnic. All of the key people in Boychuk’ s life—family, friends, enemies—are there. Boychuk steps up to the podium to make a speech, takes a sip of water, and drops dead. Joanne Kilbourn, in her début as Canada’s leading amateur sleuth, is soon on the case, delving into Boychuk’s history. What she finds are a Bible college that’s too good to be true, a woman with a horrifying and secret past, and a murderer who’s about to strike again.
GAIL BOWEN was an author, playwright, and educator best known for the acclaimed Joanne Kilbourn mystery series, spanning more than three decades and including twenty-four novels. The first Joanne Kilbourn mystery, Deadly Appearances (1990), was nominated for the W.H. Smith/Books in Canada Best First Novel Award and A Colder Kind of Death (1994) won the Arthur Ellis Award for best crime novel. In 2018, Bowen was awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Merit and the Grand Master Award of Crime Writers of Canada. In 2009, she received the Derrick Murdoch Award from the Crime Writers of Canada, and in 2008, Reader's Digest named Bowen Canada's Best Mystery Novelist. Her plays have been produced across Canada and on CBC Radio. She was associate professor of English at First Nations University of Canada before retiring from teaching. Bowen lived in Regina, Saskatchewan. www.gailbowen.com.
