The spy that knew too much

Criminal actions

While the mystery genre has embraced women authors, there are more stories and perspectives that remain untold

High spirits

Acclaimed mountaineering author Bernadette McDonald shares a hunger for adventure with her latest subject, Polish climber Voytek Kurtyka

Access denied?

Literary festivals are finally starting to respond to the needs of the hearing impared

Loan Stars

Each month, Canadian library staff vote for their favourite

Artistic licence

When negotiating the details of your book, don’t forget: your publisher is the boss

Deals

Highlights from Quill & Quire’s daily online reports

Fairness and justice for all

Another Story bookshop owner Sheila Koffman championed the disenfranchised and changed lives along the way

A real page-turner

An update of a forgotten dictionary of Canadianisms both educates and surprises

Searching for Sylvia plath

The American author offers a way to see beauty in tragic circumstances, writes

Line changes

Professional hockey has some serious issues to be addressed – and a few players willing to tell their stories

Fear factors

Blockbuster domestic thrillers written by women may be a recent phenomenon, but the reasons for the books’ continued popularity have roots in a violent past

PROFILES

From established bestsellers to new voices, here are six women mystery writers to add to your reading list

Mysteries Editor Allison Hirst

ALLISON HIRST is Dundurn’s resident woman of mystery.

Down and Dirty

Montreal’s Ricochet Books aims to bring back forgotten titles from the postwar heyday of Canadian pulp fiction

Inner spaces

Camilla Grudova and Cynthia Flood deliver collections that map their characters’ interior universes

The soundtrack of your life

Greg Rhyno and Geoff Berner offer novels in which music provides continuity and meaning in characters’ lives

Both sides

New biographies of Joni Mitchell and Gordon Lightfoot

Keep it to your Selfie

Two novels interrogate stereotypes about millennials

World cuisine

Jan Wong and Naben Ruthnum deliver books about exploring global culinary heritages

Mean streets

Montreal solidifies its reputation as the epicentre for Canadian noir in a strong new anthology

If a tree cries, does anybody hear?

A sweet picture book explores the Halifax Explosion from the point of view of an empathetic sapling

Most valuable illustrators

Canada’s Jon Klassen and Sydney Smith prove they are at the top of their game

National film books

Filmmakers turn authors in adapting their Oscar-nominated short films into zany picture books for children

Do you want to know a secret?

Fallibility and forgiveness are explored in two middle-grade family-drama novels

Weaving borders

Designer Ingrid Paulson puts her paper-crafting skills to good use for a book investigating historical social inequalities