Michael Blair and his newest mystery The Dells, which was released in December, recently received high praise from Jim Napier of The Sherbrooke Record.

“The Dells is nicely paced, with a fine sense of place and crisp dialogue … In the past few years Michael Blair has matured into one of Canada’s most accomplished crime writers, with a confident hand and a strong voice. The Dells is an insightful and evocative tale, with a tone reminiscent of Harper Lee’s classic, To Kill A Mockingbird; I recommend it highly.”

Wow! Way to go Michael!

And readers won’t have to wait long for Michael’s next mystery. Depth of Field, featuring photographer Tom McCall, will be released in February.

 

“Butts’ approach of combining examinations of the crimes with the subsequent police investigations and trials gives some excellent context to the various robberies and murders without glorifying the crimes themselves. This carefully researched work will appeal to fans of Canadians true crime who have enjoyed such books as Adrian Humphreys’ The Enforcer and Antonio Nicaso’s Rocco Perri: The Story of Canada’s Most Notorious Bootlegger.”

“Spilling with fascinating facts and photos, this book celebrates the bravery of a small group of men who faced terrible discrimination in their battle for freedom.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Alex speaks to the students of Henry Wise Wood High School

The guys ended their Calgary stay with a reading and signing at the Calgary Public Library.

 

 

 

 

 

Andrew prepares for his CTV News at Noon interview by catching some zzzzs on the bus to Edmonton.

After a brief 24 hour stay in Edmonton, it was off to Vancouver where Alex and Andrew appeared on Global TV Morning News. The guys said farewell to Vancouver on May 20th, but not before having a standing room only book signing at Blackberry Books.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Andrew lets Alex take the lead in talking about Kickstart.

 

 

 

 

 

 
Alex signing books

Alex and Andrew then headed East and made stops in New Brunswick, including a signing at Westminster Books, before stoping in Halifax, their final tour stop. They were busy bees in Halifax with interviews on CBC’s Maritime at Noon, where they were the phone-in guests for the hour (click here to listen to the interview, which requires Real Audio), CTV News at 6pm, and Global TV.

While on tour Kickstart  not only received media buzz out west, but also in Montreal on May 17th when the Montreal Gazette ran an interview with Alex. Click here to read the interview. And we received wonderful news on May 16th when Kickstart received 3 out of 4 stars from the prestigious CM Magazine. Here’s a snippet of what reviewer Val Ken Lem had to say about the book.

“In Kickstart, Herman, Matthews, and Feindel, three young members of the ‘Twixter Generation,’ have produced an interesting biographical work that has the potential to encourage and inspire anyone who reads it.”

To read more of this insightful review click here.

And for your enjoyment here are some more pictures from their cross-Canada tour!

To read more about Alex and Andrew’s tour adventures check out their blog and Open Book Toronto where they are this month’s Writers in Residence. And for more pictures from their author tour became a fan of Kickstart on Facebook.

Along the way Alex and Andrew have been receiving a lot of media buzz including interviews on both CBC’s Blue Sky (click here for the link to the audio interview for which you will need Real Player) and The Afternoon Edition in Regina and CTV News at Noon in Edmonton. Kickstart was also featured in an article that ran in both the Regina Leader-Post , The Star Phoenix, and The Edmonton Journal. Kickstart has been receiving a lot of love from the CBC. Not only have the authors been interviewed on the above programs but they were also on CBC’s Radio Noon in Montreal.

Check out part one here.
[audio:kickstart-part1.mp3]

And part two here.
[audio:kickstart-part2.mp3]

The guys are chronicling their adventures, which includes papering Calgary’s telephone poles with Kickstart flyers, on both their blog and on Open Book Toronto where they are this month’s Writers in Residence.

For a complete list of events and to find out when Alex and Andrew will be in your hometown check out their Facebook page, which includes lots of goodies including photos from their book launch and videos of their media appearances.

“In 2006, the French-language original of this smart and funny novella won Montreal screenwriter Denis Theriault the Japan-Canada Literary Award, a lucrative but little-known prize.  Hopefully, Liedewy Hawke’s thoughtful translation into English will bring this perfect little story to greater acclaim.”

And now delight in what they had to say about The Dells by mystery-master, Michael Blair:

“Michael Blair has written a meaty and accomplished novel in The Dells, his fourth mystery and his second in the Joe Shoe Series.”

Do you think being high profile in the media hinders your chance of a fair trial?

“… once readers get past the resemblance of the plot of [Tell Everything] to the infamous Bernado case, they will find a work of fiction that while unsettling, shows the powers of an emerging writer with uncanny skills in crafting dialogue, plot and prose.

Pauline, who lives with her partner, Alex, has a closet full of secrets. Ramona, a friend from her teen years, has been charged with murdering her husband James. When the news reaches Pauline, she realizes that her life is just about to be turned upside down. Police investigators discover that Ramona and James had been sexually abusing young women lured into their home.

Was Pauline one of them? Or were the scripts written by her for make-believe sessions with Ramona and James merely innocent imaginary fun? What will happen to her life and Alex once she is forced to testify in a courtroom? Maybe it is all a bad dream, a slice of her life best forgotten but now revealed in a sensational case where her past life is under the microscope.

Tell Everything is certainly unsettling but one of the tasks of good literature is to disturb, to make the reader think for themselves, to act as a jury member deciding the value of a book. Sally Cooper has achieved all that – and more.”
- Andrew Armitage, The Sun Times, April 19, 2008