When murder stalks a family over Christmas, Detective Kala Stonechild trusts her intuition to get results.

“Sneaks up on you with its grit and promise.” — National Post

It’s a week before Christmas when wealthy businessman Tom Underwood disappears into thin air — with more than enough people wanting him dead.

Officer Kala Stonechild, who has left her Northern Ontario detachment to join a specialized Ottawa crime unit, is tasked with returning Underwood home in time for the holidays. Stonechild is a lone wolf who is used to surviving by her wits. Her new boss, Detective Jacques Rouleau, has his hands full controlling her, his team, and an investigation that keeps threatening to go off track.

Old betrayals and complicated family relationships brutally collide when love turns to hate and murder stalks a family.

Finalist for the Crime Writers of Canada Award for Best Novel

A week before Christmas, businessman Tom Underwood disappears with more than enough people wanting him dead. Kala Stonechild, a new member of the specialized Ottawa Police unit, is tasked with bringing him home for the holidays, but a killer has other plans.

Cold Mourning marks the promising beginning of a new series of stories built around complex, yet engaging, characters.What makes this mystery most interesting are the tightly knit details. Chapman never tips her hand as she presents readers with a wide-open field of suspects. For the majority of the novel, the list of potential culprits is lengthy, and the author skillfully deploys twists and decoys to misdirect us, while also dropping tiny clues to help make the final reveal seem perfectly logical.

What's unusual about Cold Mourning is the multiple viewpoints which at times allow the reader to have more information than Stonechild. Chapman handles this style smoothly and it's very effective in moving the story along. She is a skilled writer with nine books already under her belt.

Brenda Chapman has written an interesting and intriguing story in Cold Mourning that keeps the reader guessing throughout.

• NEW PAPERBACK REISSUES: A fresh series design for the acclaimed Stonechild and Rouleau mysteries
• This police procedural series features Brenda Chapman's signature “very clever plotting” (Ann Cleeves) and “suspenseful” (Booklist) twists and turns
• Kala Stonechild is an Indigenous sleuth and her mentor/boss Jacques Rouleau is French-Canadian
• Cold Mourning was a finalist for the 2015 Crime Writers of Canada Award for Best Novel
• Author is well-connected in the crime writing community as a member and past president of the Capital Crime Writers and the Crime Writers of Canada
• Book setting: Ottawa, Ontario
• Author residence: Ottawa

Brenda Chapman is a crime writer who has published over twenty books, including seven in the lauded Stonechild and Rouleau Mystery series. She lives in Ottawa.Cold Mourning maintains its low-key feel just long enough to sneak up on you with its grit and promise.Deeply atmospheric and tightly plotted, Cold Mourning is Chapman's sharpest mystery yet. In Kala Stonechild we meet a damaged, complex and courageous heroine determined to leave her complicated past behind. … Spare, haunting and unflinching, Cold Mourning will make you shiver long after you've put it down. A gripping read from the first line of the first page.
CA