Vanessa's Picks

The Dame Was Trouble is a collection of noir short stories by the best female Canadian crime writers. This anthology subverts the gender stereotypes of classic crime fiction, in which “ladies have historically

The Crate, by debut author Deborah Levison, tells the true story of her family’s discovery of a wooden crate, nailed shut and hidden beneath their cottage. Inside: the butchered remains of a murder

I first visited Sleuth of Baker Street, Toronto’s mystery-specialty bookstore, in 2012, when I was in desperate need of a mystery along the lines of Dorothy L. Sayers. I was impressed by the

A warning before we begin: this won’t be an impartial interview, as I must confess that I myself am an avid reader of the “Thursday Next”, “Nursery Crime Division” and “Shades of Grey”

The stories in 13 Claws, by the Mesdames of Mayhem, range from cosy mysteries to thrillers and are based upon the writers’ love of animals. First and foremost, congratulations on the four Arthur

By: Vanessa Westermann Gary couldn’t stop thinking about the way her skin felt under his hands. How the curve of her shoulder had glowed palely in the dusky room that morning, the faint

By: Vanessa Westermann First published as creative writing for teens in 2002 on http://teenwriting.about.com A bright green wreath hung on the door to the tiny cottage. The wreath was made up of healing

Having taught creative writing, my bookshelf is filled with texts offering advice on developing writing skills. I was therefore delighted to receive the opportunity to read an advanced reading copy of GAIL BOWEN’S

If vampires and the mere mention of blood-play set your heart racing, then Blood Will Out (#3) by Ontario author JILL DOWNIE is the perfect book to take with you for dockside reading.

For IAN RANKIN’s John Rebus, it’s not about status but about the job itself. He’s accepted the demotion to Detective Sergeant, in order to come out of retirement and re-join the Edinburgh police.

Chimney sweepers are associated with good luck and especially so at the start of the new year, so my January pick is ALAN BRADLEY’s latest addition to the Flavia de Luce series, As

Dry wit, London lore and quirky cases. I just finished reading CHRISTOPHER FOWLER’s Bryant & May Off the Rails (#8), and it reminded me how terrific the Peculiar Crime Unit mysteries are. The

For all those of you who left the pages of Dana Stabenow’s Kate Shugak series with frostbite on your fingers and a yen for more, let me take you further into the cold,

I’m one of those annoying people, who have to share the funny moments in a book but forget to fill in the context. Some people humour me with a half-hearted, quizzical smile, which

Tigers in Red Weather by LIZA KLAUSSMANN is an evocative and terrifically plotted debut novel. Set in post-world war II America, Nick and her cousin Helena are hopeful for the future. Helena is

Vengeance (#5) is another strong instalment in BENJAMIN BLACK’s noir crime series set in 1950s Dublin. Davy Clancy hates the sea but finds himself nevertheless coerced into accompanying his father’s business partner, Victor

M.H. Callway very kindly sent me a copy of 13 O’Clock, the second crime anthology by the MESDAMES OF MAYHEM. I normally prefer to pick up a novel, rather than a short story