Crime Writers of Canada's Podcast

Joanna Vander Vlugt is an author and illustrator. As a teenager, she drew charcoal portraits and wrote mysteries. Now, she uses Copic markers to illustrate motorcycles and scooters. The Unravelling , her debut novel, and Dealer’s Child were Canadian Book Club Awards finalists. The  third novel in the Jade & Sage Thyme series, Spy Girls, will be released in March 2024. Joanna draws upon her 13...

Carolyne Topdjian is a writer, essayist, and novelist with stories published in PRISM International , Dreamers Magazine , and Firewords Quarterly . Her creative endeavors gravitate toward fusions of gothic mystery, noir suspense, and surrealist fantasy. As an Armenian of the diaspora and Lebanese-Canadian who’s been displaced by war, Topdjian often explores themes of belonging and human existence...

Tony Ollivier is known for his gripping high-concept thrillers. He is the author of the David Knight Series, which has garnered multiple awards including, the winner of Best Thriller in 2022 by Canadian Book Club Awards and Bronze Metal in The Suspense, Thriller & Espionage category of the 2023 Reader’s Favorite Awards. The first book in the series, “The Amsterdam Deception”, was followed in A...

Joel Nedecky is a teacher and writer from Winnipeg. His short stories have appeared with Punk Noir, Urban Pigs Press and Guilty Crime Story Magazine. His novel, The Broken Detective, was nominated for an Award of Excellence for Best Unpublished Manuscript sponsored by ECW press and will be released 2025.  We’ve interviewed Joel before and chatted about his upcoming novel. You can watch the intervi...

Ardelle Holden, along with her husband Patrick, raised two children while adventuring in aviation, mining exploration, and the wild rice lakes of Northern Manitoba. She’s worked as a medical office assistant, a videographer of family albums, and a seamstress for well-coordinated square dancers.   Now, she summers on Vancouver Island and winters in Mexico.   This ideal tranquility, somehow inspires...

David W. Barber is a journalist and musician and the author of more than a dozen books of music (including Accidentals on Purpose; Bach, Beethoven and the Boys; When the Fat Lady Sings; and Getting a Handel on Messiah) and literature (including Quotable Sherlock, Quotable Alice and Atonement and other stories). Formerly a writer and entertainment editor of The Kingston Whig-Standard, editor of Bro...

M.M. (Marjorie) DeLuca spent her childhood in Durham City, England. After studying at the University of London, Goldsmiths College, she moved to Winnipeg, Canada, where she worked as a teacher, then a freelance writer. She studied Advanced Creative Writing with Pulitzer Prizewinner Dr. Carol Shields and is the author of four other gripping suspense novels as well as a Young Adult sci-fi trilogy, a...

Alie and Hejsa Christensen are a mother-daughter writing duo based in Ontario, Canada. They discovered their affinity for working together when they were in-house writers for a film production company. They have now made the leap from silver screen to printed page. Stealing John Hancock , is their first novel. Learn more about Alie and Hejsa Christensen at hachristensen.com Learn more about Crime...

Vicki Delany is an international bestselling author of nine mystery series, including the Year-Round Christmas Mysteries. She is member of Crime Writers of Canada and was onceserved as our board chair. She is a frequent panelist at mystery conferences such as Bouchercon and Malice Domestic in the United States and Bloody Words National Mystery Conference and When Words Collide in Canada.  Learn mo...

Hannah Mary Mckinnon was born in the UK grew up in Switzerland, and moved to Canada in 2010. Her first novel, TIME AFTER TIME, a light-hearted romantic read, was published in 2016, after which she moved to the dark side. Her internationally bestselling thrillers include: NEVER COMING HOME  and THE REVENGE LIST. She’s recently returned to her romantic comedy roots with THE CHRISTMAS WAGER , written...

Mike Martin was born in St. John’s, NL on the east coast of Canada and now lives and works in Ottawa, Ontario. He is a long-time freelance writer and his articles and essays have appeared in newspapers, magazines and online across Canada as well as in the United States and New Zealand. He is the author of the award-winning Sgt. Windflower Mystery series set in beautiful Grand Bank. There are now 1...

A former journalist and magazine editor, Judy Penz Sheluk is the bestselling author of two mystery series: The Glass Dolphin Mysteries and Marketville Mysteries, both of which have been published in multiple languages. With a passion for understanding the ins and outs of all aspects of publishing, Judy is also the founder and owner of Superior Shores Press. She has recently published 2 non-fiction...

Alice Bienia is a Canadian Crime Writer and author of the Jorja Knight mystery series. She’s been nominated three times for a Awards of Excelence, and recently her book, Knight In The Museum, was chosen as the province wide winner of this year’s Alberta Author Project contest.  With a Bachelor of Science degree in geology, Alice spent her early career conducting field exploration programs in remot...

Winona Kent is an award-winning author who was born in London, England and grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan, where she completed her BA in English at the University of Regina. After moving to Vancouver, she graduated from UBC with an MFA in Creative Writing. More recently, she received her diploma in Writing for Screen and TV from Vancouver Film School. Winona’s debut novel, Skywatcher , was a fina...

The Derrick Murdoch Award is a special achievement award for contributions to the crime genre. It is awarded at the discretion of the Board Chair of Crime Writers of Canada.  Jack Batten, after a brief and unhappy career as a lawyer, has been a very happy freelance writer for many years. The author of thirty-five books, Batten wrote the weekly Whodunnit column in the Toronto Star for twenty-four y...

Crime fighter by day. Fiction writer by night.   Natasha Blandford works as a fraud investigator at a financial institution. Natasha is passionate about creating awareness around social issues through fictional stories. Her cunning and fearless characters take readers on thrilling journeys rooted in truth. She resides in Nova Scotia where she has built a life of dream exploration with her husband,...

With a background in investigative journalism, David Rabinovitch unearthed trial transcripts and classified documents to reveal the secrets of the Mob’s involvement with jukeboxes and the largest money laundering scheme in history. An EMMY, Peabody, and Gemini Award-winning film maker, he has filmed on five continents and screened his work for a committee of Congress. Jukebox Empire: The Mob and t...

JASS AUJLA is a Canadian South-Asian author of suspense-thriller fiction.  Studying creative writing as an undergraduate at the University of Toronto, she later earned a Certificate in Creative Writing from the School of Continuing Studies@ UofT. She's passionate about creativity and personal growth, and is one of CWC’s Ontario Southwest/North/GTA rep.  When Jass isn't working on one of...

Katherine Walker has a background in music, fine arts, design, and naval warfare.  She's a Chaplain in the Canadian Armed Forces. She once specialized in advanced areas of naval operations and now focuses on theology. Her first novel, All is Well was nominated by Crime Writers of Canada in 2022 for Best Crime First Novel and since then, she has joined the board and is a Director at Large. The...

Charlotte Morganti joins the show to discuss the publication of her first novel, The End Game, which is the first in the D.S. Gabrieli Mysteries series. Charlotte is a retired lawyer and active member of the Canada West chapter of Sisters in Crime and Crime Writers of Canada. She is widely known for her witty, funny, and occasionally dark short stories, including the Persimmon Worthing Mysteries....

It's always a pleasure to chat with Jonathan Whitelaw . We discuss his creative process and the joys and pitfalls of writing cozy mysteries with senior characters.    Jonathan Whitelaw is an award-winning writer, journalist, and broadcaster. After working on the frontline of Scottish politics, he moved into journalism, covering everything from sports to music to radioactive waste – and everyt...