John Staughton, Senior Reviewer

An ominous thriller in the mysterious wilds of British Columbia, To Right a Wrong by Yuwa Hedrick-Wong is a multilayered whodunit with compelling investigators and an enticing number of twists. When the death of her ambitious friend Kim is classified as a suicide, Shaunna Duncan delves into solving what she rightfully believes was a murder. Supported by an eclectic crime-solving team, she unpacks the truth of Kim’s dangerous side hustles and the deadly webs in which he’d become entangled. Hedrick-Wong delivers a relatable set of characters in this strong opening to the Salt Spring Island Murder Mystery series, which crackles […]

A self-therapy guide for anyone seeking relief from emotional pain and unaddressed trauma, Master Emotional Healing: 8-Week Guided Mindfulness Journal to Change Behaviour Patterns and Negative Emotions for Beginners by Paulina Siwiera is an invaluable work of self-help for increasing self-awareness, reducing stress, and strengthening emotional regulation. Exploring the long-term impact of negative emotions and experiences, along with key approaches and cognitive tools to manage the resultant anxiety, this book covers a vast array of psychological issues that are not often covered in the field. “Trauma” has recently become a nebulous, blanket term in discussions of mental health, but Siwiera […]

A thrilling and mysterious tale of second chances, Into the Mist by Sharon Mikeworth is a genre-bending dive into time-traveling romance and the thin veil between dreams and waking. Recently jilted Cheyenne finds herself homeless, jobless, single, and squatting in an abandoned Victorian mansion while she attempts to get her life back on track. Enthralled by the incredibly vivid dreams she’s been having about the eerie antiquarian house, Cheyenne also develops a sleepwalking habit, and a liminal affair with a man from 1895, whose life is at a similar crossroads more than a century earlier. An intensely original mix of […]