Terrific news! The Many Names of Robert Creewhich Therese Greenwood wrote with her friend, Elder Robert Cree, is getting great recognition, including high praise from Publisher’s Weekly.
On Monday, November 17th, 6 to 9 pm, celebrated actor, Lorne Cardinal, who narrates the audiobook, will lead an onstage Q & A about Elder Robert’s book. The event takes place at The Wood Buffalo Regional Library, Fort McMurray.
FORT McMURRAY HONOURS ELDER FOR NATIONAL BOOK RELEASE
Elder Robert Cree to be recognized at community book launch with special guest Lorne Cardinal
FORT McMURRAY, Alta., November 10, 2025 — The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo and the Wood Buffalo Regional Library are hosting a celebration of respected Elder Robert Cree to mark the national release of his memoir, The Many Names of Robert Cree.
Published by ECW Press and released across Canada, the book is Elder Robert’s first-person account of survival in a brutally racist residential school system designed to erase traditional Indigenous culture, language, and knowledge. It is also the story of an epic life of struggle and healing, as Elder Robert becomes Chief of his First Nation and takes the wisdom of his ancestors and a message of reconciliation to the halls of government and to industry boardrooms.
Publishers Weekly, the leading North American publication for the book industry, has praised the book: “Cree charts his path from a horrific childhood to a fulfilling life in this moving debut. [His] optimism rings true, even as his blunt account of state-sanctioned abuse haunts. The result is an affecting, hard-won testament to the power of perseverance.”
Celebrated actor Lorne Cardinal narrates the audiobook version, available on platforms across North America. Cardinal will be in Fort McMurray to lead an onstage Q&A about Elder Robert’s book.
The event takes place Monday, Nov. 17, 2025, from 6 to 9 p.m. at The Wood Buffalo Regional Library, 1 C.A. Knight Way, MacDonald Island Park, Lower Level, Fort McMurray. The evening also includes drummers, dancers, books sales and autographs. Come for the full event or drop in any time, no ticket necessary.
The event is part of Time To Read, a literacy program sponsored by the city and library, and supported by Suncor.
We’ve got a title for our 7th anthology and more good news about another Merry Widow book and Burlington Litfest, a TIFA panel and Lisa de Nikolits’, Rosemary McCracken and M. H. Callway‘s new Editing Course.
ANTHOLOGY #7
The title of our new anthology is – ta-da! – THE POWER OF 13. Featuring stories by 20+ Mesdames and Messieurs of Mayhem on the themes of luck (good and disastrous), fate, karma, risk and risk taking, gambling and games of chance…all of course, leading to mischief if not murder. Cover to be revealed in 2026.
PUBLICATIONS
Melodie Campbell
MmeMelodie Campbell’s new book in the Merry Widow murder mystery series, The Pharaoh’sCurse Murders, will be released on April 11, 2026.
Lady Lucy Revelstoke and her maid, Elf, are voyaging to Egypt when they encounter two rival teams of archeologists…and murder.
On Sunday, November 2nd, 12:30 pm, Toronto International Festival of Authors, Mme Lisa De Nikolits will be moderating a panel discussion on the power of storytelling with Pulitzer prize finalist, Adam Haslett and four-time Giller nominee, Shani Mootoo. The event takes place at Alumni Hall, Victoria College, University of Toronto, 91 Charles Street West.
“An illuminating talk on the power of storytelling to confront memory, reshape identity, and test the familial bonds that define who we are. In his latest novel, Mothers and Sons, Haslett follows Peter, a solitary immigration lawyer, and his estranged mother as a young asylum case forces them to revisit the traumatic secret that divided them. Mootoo’s innovative work of autofiction, Starry Starry Night, tenderly chronicles young Anju’s coming-of-age in 1960s Trinidad amid family tensions and colonial change.”
Make Your Prose Sing: A First Course in Editing with the Mesdames of Mayhem. On Saturday, November 8th, 1 to 3 p.m., Mmes Lisa De Nikolits, Rosemary McCracken and M. H. Callway will be giving this engaging and practical workshop for emerging writers at Maria Shchuka Branch, Toronto Public Library, 1745 Eglinton Avenue West. On this visit, they’ll deliver the basics of crafting and self-editing novels and stories. According to the library, “This workshop is perfect for aspiring and emerging writers”.
Submit your short stories, novels, etc. to the CWC Awards of Excellence. Submissions close December 15th.
The Derringers have made a change in their submission rules. Authors can submit their short stories and votes for Best Anthology to the Short Mystery Fiction Society as of today, November 1st. Submissions close January 30, 2026.
We’ve got plenty to offer in October, and it’s not just giving thanks to you for staying with us. We’ve got new books—novels, short stories and non-fiction, even some poetry to keep you reading. What’s more, we’ve got a special surprise: Our seventh anthology is in the works.
ANNOUNCING THE MESDAMES AND MESSIEURS OF MAYHEM’S SEVENTH ANTHOLOGY!
Announcing theMesdames and Messieurs of Mayhem’s SEVENTH anthology, mysteriously entitled “Number 7”, with the official title to be announced in November. Our theme for this collection is gambling, games of chance, bold or foolish risks, luck—good or dire—all of which stem from or lead to dark crime, especially murder….
With stories by Mesdames and Messieurs: Catherine Astolfo,Jayne Barnard, Jane Burfield, M. H. Callway, Melodie Campbell, Donna Carrick, Lisa De Nikolits, Cheryl Freedman, Therese Greenwood, Marilyn Kay, Blair Keetch, Rosemary McCracken, Cat Mills, Lynne Murphy, Ed Piwowarczyk, Rosalind Place, Lorna Poplak, Madona Skaff, Caro Soles, Kevin Thornton, Sylvia Warsh and Melissa Yi.
Stand by for our cover reveal. The publication date, September 2026, is in good time for Bouchercon to be held here in Canada, in Calgary, Alta, October 21 to 25th, 2026.
PUBLICATIONS
October is a duo debut for Mme Melissa Yi. Her third Hope Sze Seven Deadly Sins thriller, Killing Me Slothly, is now available.
I signed up for this neurology rotation to learn about Parkinson’s disease.
Instead, I could lose my mind.
A cult invades our emergency department and threatens to end the world today with their mythical leader, Cthulhu.
Fear grips me, even before my first patient says, “I shot someone six times in the head. I didn’t kill him.”
Mme Melissa is also an Aurora award-winning poet and available this month is Cthulhu’s Cheerleader, 12 poems in the world of H.P. Lovecraft, one for every month of the year, featuring 9 pieces of original art by Glengarry artist Sara Leger,
10 poems that inspired the work, written by Shakespeare, A.A. Milne, Dorothy Parker, Langston Hughes, Emily Dickinson, Basho, and more.
Mme Lisa de Nikolits will be launching her noir novel, Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon, at an event sponsored by Inanna Publications. The launch takes place on Wednesday, October 15th, 7 p.m. at the Supermarket Bar,268 Augusta Avenue, Toronto.
Lisa de Nikolits
Ottawa’s Capital Crime Writers have published their anthology, A Capital Mystery, where Ottawa crime writers spin dastardly tales set in our nation’s capital. A Capital Mystery is available for pre-order, will be released on October 14th and features stories by Mmes Madona Skaff and Melissa Yi.
October 28th is the official launch date for The Many Names of Robert Cree: How a First Nations Chief Brought Ancient Wisdom to Big Business and Prosperity to His People, written by Elder Robert Cree with Mme Therese Greenwood and published by ECW Press. The book received a strong review in Publisher’s Weekly:
“Fort McMurray First Nation chief Cree charts his path from a horrific childhood to a fulfilling life in this moving debut.”
“Cree’s optimism rings true (‘I want you to know… the joy of letting go of anger and bitterness’), even as his blunt account of state-sanctioned abuse haunts. The result is an affecting, hard-won testament to the power of perseverance.”
The book and audiobook narrated by celebrated Canadian actor Lorne Cardinal are available on Amazon, Indigo, Audible, and in bookstores and libraries.
Therese Greenwood
Mme Lorna Poplak’s new book, On the Lam (Dundurn Press) about successful – and not so successful- prison breaks, launches on Tuesday, October 21st at 7 p.m.at Mezes Event Space, 456 Danforth Avenue, Toronto. Please RSVP by October 10th. It is available for pre-order.
Fascinating stories of the age-old tug-of-war between prisons desperate to keep inmates inside and the escapees pursuing freedom. Along with probing the origins, structure, and failings of a collection of historic and contemporary correctional institutions, On the Lam brings into sharp focus the attempts of masterminds, tricksters, villains, and innocents to claw their way to freedom — sometimes successful, sometimes abortive, often deadly.
Riversong, Mme Rosemary McCracken’s 5th Pat Tierney mystery, is now available in paperback, hardcover and as an e-book on Amazon, Kobo and Barnes & Noble. Those who pre-ordered eBooks will have received them on Sept. 30th.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
It’s a busy month for Mme M.H. Callway,who will be reading (virtually) on Wednesday, October 8th, 7 p.m. EDT at the Short Mystery Fiction Society Watercooler. Open to all members of SMFS. She will be reading from her new publication, “The Lost Diner”, which appeared in Issue 47 of Pulp Literature Magazine.
On Wednesday, October 22nd at 7 p.m., she will be in person, reading at Queer Noir at the Bar, at the Black Eagle, 1st Floor, Back Room, 457 Church Street, Toronto.
And on Tuesday, October 28th at 6:30 p.m., she will be readingat Drunk Fiction, hosted by author Emily Weedon, at The Caledonian Pub, 856 College Street,Toronto.
M.H. Callway
Mme Lorna Poplak will be hosting Des Ryan’s Brews and Clues on Thursday, October 9th, 6:30 pm at the Stout Irish Pub, 221 Carleton Street,Toronto.
On Sunday, October 19th at 2-3 p.m.Mme Melodie Campbell will be at the Burlington Public Library with Vicki Delaney, Maureen Jennings and Hannah Mary McKinnon, 2331 New Street,Burlington, to talk about the appeal of crime fiction, what it’s like to be part of the crime-writing community, and what goes into imagining and researching murder and mayhem before putting it on paper to shock and delight readers.
For members of Crime Writers of Canada: you don’t want to miss Mme Melissa’s webinar on how to get the medicine right in your murder! As a special bonus, Melissa is giving a beginner’s intro to forensic pathology.
Dr. Melissa Yi could slice your throat and sew it back up again. Legally, because she’s an emergency doctor. She is the author of the Hope Sze medical crime series and the winner of the Derringer Award for Best Crime Story for her short story, “My Two Legs”. Her work spans many genres: crime, speculative fiction, romance, fantasy and even poetry!
Summer is fading, dear Readers, but this fall offers new books, short stories and, of course, Word on the Street.
CONGRATULATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS
Mme Rosemary McCracken’s Riversong, the newest instalment in the Pat Tierney Mystery Series, is here! The print edition is available now on Amazon, and the Kindle edition can be pre-ordered there as well and will be released Sept. 30. Riversong is published by Carrick Publishing. https://www.amazon.ca/Riversong-Rosemary-McCracken/dp/1772422231/ref=sr_1_1
Rosemary McCracken
MURDER GRABS THE HEADLINES AND PAT TIERNEY IS ON THE CASE!
Financial advisor Pat Tierney’s new client appears to live a charmed life. Monika Lentz is beautiful, wealthy, and enjoying a successful career as the star columnist at the Toronto World newspaper. When she confides that she is pregnant, Pat’s heart goes out to her, knowing that raising a child alone can be challenging. Soon after her meeting with Pat, Monika fails to make her newspaper column’s deadline. She is later found strangled in her bed.
Matt Ryder, a Toronto World police reporter, is devastated by the news of Monika’s murder. He and Pat set out to learn who took this vibrant woman’s life—and why.
Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon is a noir, darkly comedic caper set in current time but written as a 1950’s hard-boiled suspense thriller. The central plot is a series of age-old cons playing out in real time. The reader isn’t sure who to trust. Is our stylish heroine an unreliable narrator? One thing’s for sure, she’s got a backbone of steel. What about her sister? Is she a killer with a fondness for nose candy? And you don’t want to mess with the mob boss antagonist, Vincenzo Esposito, a gangster, whose love for a murder photographer finds its way into his business dealings. Greed drives the stakes higher and higher, complicated by sibling rivalry, doomed love affairs and unresolved parental cruelty.
The Capital Crimes team are bringing out A Capital Mystery, an anthology of crime stories set in our nation’s capital, Ottawa. The book features stories by two Mmes: “Pressure Point” by Mme Madona Skaff and “Cold Shoulder” by Mme Melissa Yi.
Madona Skaff
Melissa Yi
A Capital Mystery celebrates the magic, complexity and, above all, the mystery of Ottawa. Published by Ottawa Press and Publishing and edited by Mike Martin, the anthology will be available on October 15th at local bookstores across the city. The anthology is sponsored by Crime Writers of Canada and Capital Crime Writers.
Mme Melissa Yi has a story in the September / October issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. “The Sailing of the Serpent Goddess” features Melissa’s character, Merry Bennett, from Melissa’s updated version of Pride and Prejudice.
Melissa Yi
Mme Madona Skaff’s speculative fiction story, “Silence is Platinum”, was published in Outside In: Can Live With It. This anthology celebrates over 30 years of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and features 171 stories related to all 171 episodes of the show. Madona’s story is inspired by the episode, “The Muse”.
Mme Lorna Poplak was published in the Toronto Star on August 23rd. Her article explored whether Yonge Street or Queen Street is the quintessential Toronto strip!
Word on the Street’s 36th Annual Festival is on at the David Pecault Square, Toronto, September 27th and 28th.
Join Mme Melodie Campbell, featured panelist, on Saturday, September 27th at 5:00 PM for The Grounding Power of Escapist Fiction.
Melodie Campbell
ANNOUNCEMENTS
This February, Lorne Tepperman, Crime Writers of Canada’s Ontario rep, launched a newsletter for members where we share writing advice, book reviews and naturally, our book promotions! Many of the Mmes have been regular contributors for a while now including:Mmes Melodie Campbell, M. H. Callway, Rosemary McCracken, Lynne Murphy, Madona Skaff and Melissa Yi. If you’re a CWC member, be sure to sign up!
Record hot temperatures outside, Readers. The intrepid Mesdames are beating the heat with terrific events.
Read on!
FINGERS CROSSED FOR AWARDS AT KILLER NASHVILLE
Congrats to Mme Marilyn Kay, whose unpublished manuscript is up fora Killer Nashville ClaymoreAward for Best Investigator Manuscript.
Sylvia Maultash Warsh
Congrats also to MmesSylvia Maultash Warsh and Melissa Yi. Sylvia‘s book, The Orphan, and Melissa‘s The Red Rock Killer are in contention for Killer Nashville’s Readers’ Choice Award. Voting ends on August 18th.
Melissa Yi
EVENTS
On Sunday, August 17th, Mme Melissa Yi will be at Readers Take Cornwall held at the Best Western Hotel, 1515 Vincent Massey Drive, Cornwall, Ontario, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event is now SOLD OUT!! Melissa will be presenting her latest novels in the Glengarry Guards hockey/figure skating romances!
Melissa Yi
Mme Lisa de Nikolits joins legendary crime writer, Giles Blunt, on Tuesday, August 26th at DRUNK FICTION. Lisa will be reading from her upcoming noir crime novel, Mad Dog and the Sea Dragon. She joins Giles, who has just launched his historical literary novel, Bad Juliet.
DRUNK FICTION is a continuing series of readings by acclaimed authors held monthly at the wonderful Caledonian Pub.
Lorna Poplak
The Don Jail
On Monday, August 25, at 7:00 p.m. at TPL’s Pape/Danforth Branch, 701 Pape Ave., Mme Lorna Poplak presents her book, The Don: The Story of Toronto’s Infamous Jail, which investigates the origins and evolution of the Don Jail in Toronto from its inception in the mid-1800s to the present day.
This presentation includes information on what brought the author to write about the Don Jail, the narrative arc of the book, the characters that appear on its pages, an examination of some thorny issues, and what the author hopes people take away from the book.
This is a drop-in program. No registration required.
PUBLICATIONS
Pulp Literature Issue 47 is now available for purchase through the Magazines-Pulp Literature bookstore. Mme M. H. Callway‘s story, “The Lost Diner”, appears in this volume.
You might think public health is boring, but it’s anything but! At Disease Control, I was a real-life detective hunting down the sources of disease outbreaks and dangerous chemical exposures.
For several years, I also helped to ensure safe food handling for VIP visits to Ontario. I mean, what could be more embarrassing to Canada than giving food poisoning to the Royal Family or the Pope or the Aga Khan at a banquet in their honour? And, as the police officers on security told us, one of the most effective ways to knock out an army is to give the soldiers gastro-enteritis.
The visiting Royals always met and thanked operations and security staff personally – truly a class act. That’s how I met the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip – and have a framed photograph with them to show my grandchildren!
Huge congratulations are in order: Mmes Sylvia Warsh and Melissa Yi’s YA novels, The Orphan and The Red Rock Killer made it to the list of the Judges Best Picks for the Silver Falchion awards.
Here is how they describe the Judges Best Picks category:
“These selections highlight manuscripts that our judges wished could have made the Finalists lists, but with limited finalist slots, intricate cuts must always be made. Despite the sheer number of entries this year, our dedicated judges went above and beyond once again. On their initiative, they submitted a list of titles they felt deserved extra recognition: manuscripts they felt should be on everyone’s reading list.”
The summer months of July and August are a time for looking back on the first 6 months of 2025 and also looking forward to more stories and books, bigger ideas and more ways to share with you, dear Readers.
Mme M. H. Callway’s story, “The Last Diner”, will be published on July 15th in Issue 47 of Pulp Literature Magazine. Stand by for the cover reveal and the links to purchase.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mme Rosemary McCracken will be appearing at Bookapalooza 2025 in Minden, Ontario, on Saturday, July 12th. She’ll be at her book table at the Minden Community Centre, 55 Parkside Street, Minden, Ont., from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Admission is FREE. Hope to see you there!
Mme Marilyn Kay’s manuscript, Love Thy Neighbor, is a finalist for Killer Nashville’s 2025 Claymore Award for Best first 50 pages of an unpublished manuscript, play, or screenplay in the Best Investigator (includes procedural, serious P.I., detective, and noir) category.
MOTIVE Update
Mme Melodie Campbell and Maureen Jennings discussed Murder, Mystery and Mistaken Identities.
Mme Lisa De Nikolits was moderator for Tea, Cake and Murder with authors Hannah Mary McKinnon and Eliza Reid.
The CWC book booth ran the entire conference thanks to the dedicated work of Mmes Rosemary McCracken, Lorna Poplak and Madona Skaff and more CWC members. Rosemary also took part in the CWC readings on Sunday June 30th.
Rosemary McCracken
Lorna Poplak
Madona Skaff
DON’T MISS
Our July Mid-month Mayhem will feature surprising secrets shared by Mme M. H. Callway.
Mme Jane Burfield met two of the world’s most infamous tyrants!
Mme Jane Burfield
People often ask, “Where do you get your ideas for your stories?”I get eager to write when two seemingly unrelated experiences, thoughts or ideas inexplicably to rub up against each other, especially if they’re humorous…or murderous. I often use my personal experiences in my stories.
In 1973, when I was 16, I had two experiences that exploded my mind and shyness. I was part of a ten day international YMCA conference in Uganda – and we were required to have dinner with notorious dictator, Idi Amin. (Learn the full details in our documentary, The Mesdames of Mayhem.) And in that same year, I had to dance in front of Imelda Marcos. Oh, and she did wear lovely shoes.
I had to perform the bamboo dance in front of her in the Philippines. If I hadn’t taken ballet for nine years as a very young child, I might have had two woefully bruised ankles and been hobbled for life. I might have developed a hesitancy to seek out new adventures. And that would have been terrible because adventure and risk lead to personal growth in life – and to a good crime story!
Mesdames of Mayhem 