Dangerous Games: Canadian crime fiction featuring women sleuths

The deadly games people play are on full display in fifteen short stories in the third anthology from Sisters in Crime—Canada West.

Old friends feature in several, such as “On The Internet Nobody Knows You’re a Dog,” where a musician turns PI to track down a stalker. “Death at the Boulangerie” forces a woman to rethink her life … and whether or not a baking contest can reveal the truth about her brother’s death. “The Electrician” discovers it’s more deadly to try to leave lifelong friends than to keep working for them.

Family ties feature in several stories, such as “Tontine Dream,” where a pregnant woman wonders just how far she might go to secure her baby’s future. “Dead Duck” illustrates the dangers of fraternal rivalry when toxic roots form deep in childhood. A teenager deals with death on the golf course as well as her parents’ floundering marriage in “Dead in the Drop Zone,” and a newspaper librarian doesn’t know whether or not her husband’s flirtation with a coworker is real until both of them disappear in “Playing With Fire.”

On a more lighthearted note, in “Do Not Pass Go” two women resort to more than one kind of leverage to prevent being renovicted from their home. And “One-Upmanship Wreck” shows how far tensions can escalate between neighbours before someone wants a final solution. And among the “Gifted Girls” at summer camp, a scholarship kid who is also the daughter of a cop notices a thing or two about the death of an unpopular instructor.

It’s a “Lucky Day” when a winning lottery ticket is found … or is it? In “The Seal’s Deadly Game,” an animal’s playfulness might prevent a death or cause one. “A Genteel Game” could reveal the next CEO at a corporate retreat if a murderer isn’t unmasked first. In “Fixed,” European football mixes with a one-night stand to enmesh a journalist, and in “King LARP,” a live-action role playing event at B&B turns deadly.

People play dangerous games. Enjoy their variety from the safety of your favourite reading nook!

Authors in this volume:

KL Abrahamson

Kim Bannerman

JE Barnard

Pam Barnsley

Sandra Benson

Catherine Bianco

Mirjam Dikken

PJ Donison

Marcelle Dubé

Winona Kent

Charlotte Morganti

CJ Papoutsis

Linda Sanche

Joanna Vander Vlugt

Susan Jane Wright