DEAR READERS,
The days are growing shorter, but our Mesdames and Messieurs continue to pack in new books, interviews and other events for your delight.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
ANNOUNCING!
The real-world launch of our new anthology, The Power of 13, will take place on Sunday, November 1st at 2 p.m., in keeping with our spooky Halloween tradition. Our celebration will take place at our favourite mystery bookstore, Sleuth of Baker Street, 907 Millwood Road. Refreshments will be served. Come out and meet your fabulous Mesdames and Messieurs of Mayhem! More details later this month.
The Power of 13 is now available for pre-order in hardback, paperback and Kindle on Amazon! The official publication date is October 30th.
CONGRATULATIONS
Mme Lorna Poplak is thrilled to announce that her book, On the Lam, about great and not-so-great Canadian prison escapes, has been nominated for this year’s Heritage Toronto Book Award. Other nominees include Margaret Atwood, Robert Sharpe, Carolyn Strange and Rick Westhead. The awards ceremony will take place between 5:30 and 9:30 p.m. on October 21 at The Carlu, located within College Park in downtown Toronto.
On the Lam is published by Dundurn Press. On the Lam: Great (and Not So Great) Escapes from Prison: Poplak, Lorna: 9781459754379: Books – Amazon.ca
Mme Melodie Campbell’s new book, The Kennel Club Murders, the fourth in her Merry Widow murder series, is now available for pre-order. The publication date is scheduled for April 24, 2027. Published by Cormorant.
The Kennel Club Murders: Campbell, Melodie: 9781770868762: Books – Amazon.ca
INTERVIEWS AND EVENTS
Mme Melodie Campbell will be at the Burlington Central Library Theatre on October 20 at 7 p.m. in conversation with Vikki VanSickle, author of The Mystic and the Missing Girl. Sponsored by Viking and Different Drummer Books. Registration is free, but attendees must register beforehand at www.bpl.on.ca
Experience Welsh and Finnish hospitality at a joint book launch with Alice Fitzpatrick (A Cruel Cold) and A.L. Jensen (aka Liisa Kovala) (Murder by Nordic Design). Mme Cheryl Freedman will be interviewing the two authors, followed by them reading from their books. Refreshments include bara brith (a Welsh tea loaf with raisins soaked in tea) and pulla (a Finnish cardamom-flavoured sweet bread).
Date & time: Tuesday, October 6, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Place: Ben McNally Books, 108 Queen St. E. (just west of Jarvis).
Mme Melissa Yi was interviewed on the podcast Writers of the Future by John Goodwin about her crime novel, Killing Me Slothly and its monster villain, Cthulhu (Windtree Press). Catch the podcast here: htttps://writers of the future.com/podcast/episode-398/
Several Mesdames and Messieurs will be attending this year’s Bouchercon, from October 21st to 25th in Calgary, Alberta: M. H. Callway, Lisa De Nikolits, Therese Greenwood, Hope Thompson and Melissa Yi. We’ll be moderating or sitting on panels, selling and promoting our books, as well as helping out in the Crime Writers of Canada media room. More details on panels, CWC and SinC events to come later this month in a special newsflash!
FRIENDLY REMINDERS
Submissions for the Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence open on October 1st. Check here for the submission guidelines. Crime Writers of Canada – Awards of Excellence – Submission Rules
Brews and Clues, hosted by friend and mystery author Des Ryan, takes place on Thursday, October 10 at 6:30 p.m. at the Stout Irish Pub, 221 Carlton Street, Toronto. Instagram
2027 Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award – Submission Rules
The Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award is for books that are fun to read. No angst, no gravitas, no brutality or horribleness. It’s for traditional mysteries, cozies, capers, satires, heists, humorous books (from gentle humour to laugh-out-loud fun), books that don’t hammer us with A Message. In other words, books that entertain us, that make us feel good, that make us smile.
Your book is eligible if:
- it was published for the first time between January 1 and December 31, 2026. The book can have been published in any format: print, e-book, or audio book;
- it is in English;
- it is a minimum of 60,000 words; and
- you are either a Canadian citizen (you do not have to be living in Canada) or a permanent resident of Canada.
We are accepting entries in e-book format only. Entries may be submitted as an ePUB, PDF, or DOC/DOCX, preferably in all three formats. Entries should be sent to award@bonyblithe.ca with “BB submission” in the email subject line. Include your name, phone number, and email address as well as the book title and publisher (self or publisher name), in your email. We will contact you to let you know we’ve received your submission.
You may submit as many books as you like as long as they follow the above eligibility criteria. There is a $10 fee per submitted title. The fee should be e-transferred to info@bonyblithe.ca.
The deadline for submissions is December 31, 2026.
The shortlist will be released on April 16, 2027. The award will be presented at the 2027 Bony Blithe Mini-con on Friday, May 14, 2027.
The Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award is sponsored by the Toronto Chapter of Sisters in Crime and author Jan Field. The prize is $1000 plus the jolly plaque shown above.
For more info, contact us at info@bonyblithe.ca.
