Amber Cowie is a graduate of the University of Victoria and was short-listed for the 2017 Whistler Book Award. She is a mother of two, wife of one, and a debut novelist who enjoys skiing, running, and creating stories that make her browser search history highly suspicious. Amber lives in the mountains in a small West Coast town, but you can find her online at www.ambercowie.com.
Julie Chan is Dead (2025) Liann Zhang "Edgy, vicious, and impossible to put down, Julie Chan is Dead is a genre-elevating thriller about the temptations and terrors of influencer culture. With unforgettable scene craft and a stunningly rendered narrative voice, Liann Zhang has debuted to the top of my reading list."
Guide to Murder (2024) (Antique Hunters, book 1) C L Miller "C.L. Miller delivers a fun, fascinating, and satisfying read in a giddy and compelling take on an old manor mystery featuring a reluctant detective - and her dazzling elderly aunt - struggling to find herself while tracking a killer. The Antique Hunters Guide to Murder combines charm and depth with two fantastic female leads who will deeply delight fans of Sue Grafton and Agatha Christie."
Gull Island (2023) Anna Porter "Set in a terrifyingly remote cottage, Gull Island is buoyed by skilled pacing, tense plotting, and a haunting conclusion about the inescapable power and presence of family bonds and betrayals. A transportive and creepy contemplation of the insidious nature of memory and place."
The Woods are Waiting (2023) Katherine Greene "In this enthralling debut, Katherine Greene delivers a richly layered rural gothic thriller about a small southern town paralyzed by unsolved murders and its own macabre myths. Like the wind blowing through the hickory trees, The Woods Are Waiting ripples with both tenderness and tension. A must-read for fans of Emily Carpenter and Cherie Priest."
The Darkness in the Light (2022) Daniel Kalla "Kalla is unparalleled in his ability to create compelling characters that embody societal trauma and medical complexities. The Darkness in the Light explores rural northern health care, the unrelenting pressure of depression, and pharmaceutical treatments with great care. Both heartbreaking and brave, this is a boldly written story that fans will love and new readers will devour."
No More Words (2021) (No More, book 1) Kerry Lonsdale "No More Words burns and smolders with the tension of a lit cigarette. Kerry Lonsdale has created a page-turning story of family secrets and assumed truths that forces readers to ask what they would do if the buried past came calling at their door. Nothing and no one can stay hidden forever."
After Alice Fell (2021) Kim Taylor Blakemore "Taut, tense, and terrifying, After Alice Fell is a harrowing novel that will make skin crawl and hearts break. Blakemore’s latest is a sophisticated, meticulously woven historical suspense of loyalty, loss, and deception. With a nod to Shirley Jackson’s claustrophobic settings and intricately drawn characters, Blakemore has created a haunting thriller that will pierce the security of her readers."
Do No Harm (2021) Christina McDonald "Nobody writes motherhood like Christina McDonald. Her third novel, Do No Harm, is a riveting thriller which braids the complexities of modern parenting with the pressures of finding a moral centre in a devastating opioid crisis. Heartrending, heart-pounding and fearless to the last word."
A Frenzy of Sparks (2020) Kristin Fields "Kristin Fields evokes the rich historical landscape of Queens in the mid-1960s, then bravely sweeps away the mists of nostalgia to reveal the fragile, unforgettable core of her characters and her story. Both quietly powerful and agonizingly beautiful, A Frenzy of Sparks enchants readers into holding an unquestioning belief in a beautiful facade before stripping it away to allow the unvarnished truth to appear. Devastating, haunting, and poignant, this is one book you will not forget."
Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters (2020) Emily Carpenter "Stories don’t stop because we turn our backs on them but only an author as gifted and elegant as Emily Carpenter is able to call them back from the shadows. In the wistfully insightful Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters, Carpenter returns to her rich Southern Gothic roots to deliver a tour de force that is both a return to and a reckoning for her beloved Burying the Honeysuckle Girls. Beautiful, mesmerizing, and saturated with suspense."
The Last to Know (2020) Jo Furniss "I love Jo Furniss. I have devoured every one of her books, and The Last to Know is her best yet. This time around, Furniss uses her elegantly devastating command of language to draw readers into a misty English village where residents are haunted both by ghostly legends and the very real reckonings owed to them by their own pasts. At turns heartbreaking and harrowing, [this book] evokes the stylish turns and insightful characterizations of modern masters of suspense Ruth Ware and Shari Lapena."
Purgatory Bay (2020) (Bleak Harbor, book 2) Bryan Gruley "With the enigmatic skill of a guide returning to a place both mysterious and dangerous, Bryan Gruley invites readers back to the world he created in Bleak Harbor. Purgatory Bay is a complex, persecuting and captivating tale. Once again, Gruley creates a fascinatingly twisted family saga that braids the weight of guilt with the torment of grief and the glimmer of hope."
The Poison Garden (2019) A J Banner "With The Poison Garden, A. J. Banner adds another fantastic book to her evocative, captivating collection of books…creating a world where nature is both the salvation and the threat. Once again, she places her characters in unsettling settings and even more ominous relationships to tell a riveting suspense story with an unforgettable ending."
The Patient (2019) Steena Holmes "Steena Holmes has created something eerily new and tantalizing using her characteristically captivating style and sharply honed craft. The Patient is a macabre fairy tale where fantasy is distorted by the unforgiving looking glass of reality. This thriller invites readers into a world of mystery, murder and love that will hook them until the very last page."
Drowning with Others (2019) Linda Keir "Linda Keir’s artful telling of a private school upturned by a decades-old scandal is a seductive suspense story snaking around a polemic warning. The lies we tell don’t just define us. They become us. Gripping, poetic, and haunting: this book will keep you turning pages when you should be turning out the light."
No One's Home (2019) D M Pulley "A door creaks open. A footstep thumps on an empty floor above. A light turns on in a room left dark. In every silent room and black corner of No One’s Home, D. M. Pulley weaves threads of hypnotic suspense with the sad strands of a family lost to one another. With an elegantly restrained hand that stops mercifully shy of showcasing the unbearable, Pulley has created a contemporary intelligent thriller that can stand with the canon of the legendary Shirley Jackson."
Where the Story Starts (2019) Imogen Clark "Once again…Imogen Clark urges readers to turn the pages as the delightfully pleasant façade of her characters’ lives begins to crack when the mysteries of the past come to call. Both soothing and riveting, Where The Story Starts asks: What if your greatest secret is the one you don’t even know exists?"
Confidential (2019) Ellie Monago "Three women. One therapist. And a whole lot of lies. Ellie Monago’s sophomore novel is a structurally complex suspense story that challenges readers to try and put it down. Page after page, chapter after chapter, Monago weaves a web of delicious and entertaining deception. Each twisted thread leads to a sticky, gripping ending that makes one question the true meaning of loyalty and love."
