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2026 Crime Writers of Canada Award Nominees
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Detective Aunty
by Uzma Jalaluddin
After her husband's unexpected death eighteen months ago, Kausar Khan never thought she'd receive another phone call as heartbreaking--until her thirty-something daughter Sana phones to say that she's been arrested for killing the unpopular landlord of her clothing boutique. Determined to help her child, Kausar heads to Toronto for the first time in nearly twenty years. ... Kausar finds that the thriving neighborhood she remembered has changed. The murder of Sana's landlord is only the latest in a wave of local crimes which have gone unsolved. ... With the help of some old friends and her plucky teenage granddaughter, Kausar digs into the investigation to uncover the truth--
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The Hitchhikers
by Chevy Stevens
On the remote Canadian highways in 1976, Tom and Alice set out to heal their fractured marriage. An RV, a new beginning, and the hope of recovery after a devastating tragedy. Then they meet two young hitchhikers, Ocean and Blue-a seemingly innocent couple who aren't who they seem. They are Jenny and Simon. And they have left a trail of blood, destruction, and madness behind them. Now Tom and Alice are trapped-prisoners in a deadly game, with nowhere to turn. But as the tension builds and the lines blur, the question becomes: in whose heart does evil truly lie?
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The Hunger We Pass Down
by Jen Sookfong Lee
From the bestselling author of "Superfan" comes a haunting novel about the demons passed down through five generations of women in a Chinese Canadian family, and what it might take for them to finally break free of the past. Set against the gleaming backdrop of contemporary Vancouver, "The Hunger We Pass Down" is a devastating, horror-tinged novel about how unspoken legacies of violence can shape a family. It follows the relentless spectre of intergenerational trauma as it is handed down from mother to daughter, and asks what it might take to break the cycle--heroism, depravity, or both.
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The Retirement Plan
by Sue Hincenbergs
After thirty years of friendship, Pam dreams of her perfect retirement with Nancy, Shalisa, Marlene, and their husbands--until their husbands pool their funds for an investment that goes terribly wrong. Suddenly, their golden years are looking as dreary as their marriages. But when the women discover their husbands have seven-figure life insurance policies, a new dream forms. And this time, they need a hitman. Meanwhile, their husbands are working on their own secret retirement scheme and when things begin to go sideways, they fear it's backfired. The husbands scramble to stay alive--but soon realize they may not be quick enough to outmaneuver their wives.
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The Tiger and the Cosmonaut
by Eddy Boudel Tan
A noirish page-turner about a mysterious disappearance and a moving portrait of a Chinese Canadian family navigating insecurities, expectations, and simmering anger in their small BC town. Casper Han grew up the dutiful son of immigrants who never felt entirely welcome in their remote corner of British Columbia. Now an adult, living in Vancouver with a boyfriend whose privilege he quietly resents, Casper rarely returns to his hometown, the site of a grief his family doesn’t discuss: the loss of his twin, Sam. Over 20 years have passed since Sam went missing, and a pressing crisis has brought Casper and his siblings back. Their father has vanished, only to be found wandering the vast woods beyond the family home, confused and clutching a pair of scissors, seemingly trapped in the memory of that tragic night.
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The Black Wolf
by Louise Penny
Several weeks ago, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sãuretâe du Quâebec and his team uncovered and stopped a domestic terrorist attack in Montrâeal, arresting the person behind it--a man they called the Black Wolf. But their relief is short-lived. In a sickening turn of events, Gamache has realized that plot, as horrific as it was, was just the beginning--perhaps even a deliberate misdirection. One he fell into. Something deeper and darker, more damaging, is planned. Did he in fact arrest the Black Wolf, or are they still out there? Armand is appalled to think his mistake has allowed their conspiracy to grow, to gather supporters. To spread lies, manufacture enemies, and feed hatred and division. Still recovering from wounds received in stopping the first attack, Armand is confined to the village of Three Pines, leading a covert investigation from there.
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A Kiss of Crimson Ash
by Anuja Varghese
The first book in a new medieval India-inspired fantasy trilogy from a remarkable Canadian talent, "A Kiss of Crimson Ash" teems with rich storytelling, lush worldbuilding, and spice of every variety. Taara, the pious newly crowned Queen of Abhaya, a resource-rich city-state, must marry whether she wishes to or not. Her betrothed is Garjan, Prince of Nandapore, a neighbouring city-state full of secrets and spellcasters. His forbidden love is Bhediya, a courtesan with magic in her blood. And then there is Roland, a thief by trade, attached to nothing and no one, who stumbles into a power-hungry king’s plot to unearth a weapon that has only lived in myth...until now.
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She Waits Where Shadows Gather
by Michelle Tang
Parents should pass down stories, not spirits...Avery and Carlos Tam have built their lives on logic, not legends. Carlos, the host of a hit reality show that exposes paranormal hoaxes, has made a name disproving the supernatural. But when they travel to his ancestral home in the Philippines, darkness clings to every corner. The mirrors are shrouded. The housekeeper won't stay in the house alone. And no one will speak of the tragedies the family has seen. Then a brutal car crash leaves Carlos trapped in his own body--silent, helpless, and utterly vulnerable. As Avery tends to him, the house begins to stir. It watches. It listens. And it speaks--in a voice only Carlos can hear--offering a twisted kind of comfort. And as the lies buried by Carlos and his family begin to surface, Avery must confront the truth: if the past won't rest, their future may never begin. Some inherit memories. Others inherit monsters.
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Treat Them as Buffalo
by Blair Palmer Yoxall
In 1885, Nikosis “Niko” Eriksen spends his days playing buffalo hunter, even though it’s been many years since a member of his tribe has actually seen one of the once-ubiquitous animals. But when beloved Cousin goes missing, things start to fall apart. With law enforcement failing - indeed refusing - to investigate the disappearance, the community members take matters into their own hands, rallying around the leadership of a sawn-off shotgun-slinging rancher named Kate McCannon. The resultant women-led coalition of freedom fighters strikes back against the Mounted Police as they investigate the boys’ disappearance and take their futures into their own hands. But violence continues to haunt Niko, and boys continue to disappear.
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It's Different This Time
by Joss Richard
In this sweeping, second-chance romance, a twist of fate forces two former roommates back into their beloved New York City brownstone where they must confront the events that led to their estrangement--and the unresolved feelings lingering between them. Confronted with the consequences of their choices years before, they must now navigate the minefield of their past the best way they know how: together. Second chances are always a risk, but maybe, if they get it right and are finally honest with each other and with themselves, it could be different this time.
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