Sunset and Jericho now has a cover! Harbour’s design team did a bang-up job.
The title comes from two beaches in Vancouver. A pair of murders happen on the same night, a very rich man and a very poor man. Private detective Dave Wakeland has to figure out how the two are connected.
This is the best pure mystery I’ve written and Wakeland’s most personal case. I’ve teased that this might be the final book…but more on that later.
Please pre-order Sunset and Jericho at your local independent bookstore, or through Indiebound, Chapters, Amazon CA, Amazon US, B&N, or Harbour. Thanks!
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My article on James Doohan, who fought in the D-Day invasion before playing Scotty on Star Trek, is up at Montecristo.
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I’ve added a couple new pieces to Mystery Writing Mastery. The sales price is going to stay the same till the end of the year: a course makes a great, environmentally friendly Xmas present…
Speaking of which, if you want a signed copy of Invisible Dead, Cut You Down or Hell and Gone, you can order from me for $25 plus $10 shipping. Just email.
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Congrats to retired journalist Ken MacQueen on his debut novel Hero Haters, and congrats to S.M. Freedman on her newest, Blood Atonement!
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Last Friday I got to see Ian Rankin interviewed by Charlie Demers at the Writers Fest. A great event—Charlie is an engaging interviewer (and author of Noonday Dark) and Rankin’s answers were thoughtful and funny. The state of the police procedural, what the public expects from cops, the nature of evil, and how the Rebus series has evolved in response to these issues…lots to think about.
Very few series got better as they got more popular. The Rebus series didn’t take off until books seven and eight. That’s how long it took to escape the midlist and to figure out how he wanted to write. I find that very heartening.
The latest Rebus, A Heart Full of Headstones, starts with a first-rate hook—Rebus on trial--and spins out a timely and shocking mystery involving corruption and scandal and secrets from the past. I didn’t see the ending coming, which is pretty wonderful. Maybe the most consistently good detective series ever.
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As to Sunset and Jericho being an end point…
There are no guarantees in publishing. Part of me wants to continue forever. Part would find it fitting to cap it at four—an East Vancouver Quartet. And part thinks ten would be ideal, like Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo’s Martin Beck series.
Sunset and Jericho could serve as a proper ending. It’s the Long Goodbye of the series, the case that really gets under Dave's skin. It sums up what I feel about Vancouver in the twenty-first century.
That said, I do have an idea or two kicking around for the next one…
Thanks for reading.
Sunset and Jericho is out April 2023.
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