Give Out Creek

Toews’s refreshing debut introduces readers to Stella Mosconi, a newspaper reporter who recently left Vancouver to return to her hometown of Nelson, British Columbia, with her husband, Joe, and two young sons. But it was Joe who really wanted to live in the mountain town in a cabin beside the lake. Stella appreciates the natural beauty but misses city life. The small town is shaken up by the murder of one of Stella’s book club friends, Lillian Fenniwick, leading Stella to do her own investigation into the death. The mystery deepens when Nina Huber, Lillian’s housekeeper and a suspect in her murder, is also found dead. Things get more complicated for Stella with the renewed stirring of a high school–era attraction to Ben McKean, now the police officer in charge of the case. Toews builds interest in Stella and other characters as she mingles their personal conflicts with a mystery that will force Stella to face her deepest fear and keep readers guessing to the end. It all bodes well for what looks to be a promising series. Agent: Morty Mint, Mint Literary Agency. (May)