A Killer Whisky by Susan Caldar

Notes and a Review of A Killer Whiskey (Canadian Historical Mystery Series)

Author: Susan Calder

Date of Release: 12/1/2024
Genre: Historical Fiction World War I

Publisher: BWL Publishing
Buy Links:   Amazon  / Barnes&Noble /  Apple iTunes  / Kobo  / More Sites

Blurb:

The 1918 influenza pandemic strikes Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Great War rages overseas. While her husband fights in Europe, Katharine works in a doctor’s office to support her children and her brother, a wounded veteran. One night their neighbor suddenly takes sick and dies. The attending doctor concludes the man died from influenza, but Katharine suspects someone laced his whisky with a drug that mimics the deadly flu’s symptoms.

Katharine convinces the police to investigate. Worried about her brother’s involvement with a suspect, she delves into his secrets and comes to fear he’s connected to the murder. She grows disturbingly attracted to the investigating detective who returns her affections. He’s convinced her brother or someone else close to her is a killer and risks his career to pursue the crime. Katharine must discover the truth so she can move forward in a world that has changed forever.

 
My Review:

5 Stars ... Author Susan Calder transports the reader back in time to the Canadian homefront during the turbulent times of World War I and the Spanish flu. Her personal knowledge of the time and environs brings a reality to the tale. Her characters are your family, friends, and neighbors and brings you into their lives. What I enjoyed most was after the plot is wrapped up, Calder hints at their futures, but leaves it to the reader to decide which couples have their HEA ending.

Author Bio:

A native of Montreal, Susan Calder worked as an insurance claims examiner before taking up writing at the age of thirty-nine. Susan moved west to Calgary in 1996 with her husband and two sons. She is the author of six novels as well as non-fiction articles, poems, and numerous short stories. Her most recent novel, A Killer Whisky, is her first venture into historical fiction. A Killer Whisky is the twelfth and final book in the BWL Canadian Historical Mystery Series.

Susan has taught fiction writing courses and workshops at the Alexandra Writers Centre Society, spoken on panels, and given presentations on various writing topics. She is a member of Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, and the Writers’ Guild of Alberta. When Susan isn’t writing, she is likely to be traveling, biking, or hiking in the beautiful mountains near Calgary

For more on Susan and her works, find her on the web at: 

Website  | Goodreads | Publishers Author Page |

 

Hooked on Windmaster, A Treacherous Trail, #mfrwhooks

Freezing temperatures, storms of a generation, and inches of snow on Bourbon Street inspire a reprise of bad weather captured in one of my worlds of fantasy. In sympathy with those suffering from winter's rage, a snippit from Ellspeth and Dal on a rainy trail.

Excerpt from Windmaster:

Ellspeth’s world reduced to the shifting gray shadow that was Tairneach. Her eyes hurt from straining to see through the curtain of snow and rain that almost obscured the stallion. She rode with one foot scraping the rocks on the side of the narrow trail while her other hung over a thousand-foot precipice. One misstep and both rider and mount would plummet to the valley floor. The driving rain stung every spot of unprotected skin like a thousand cuts. Icy rivulets ran off her wide-brimmed hat. They sneaked beneath the collar of the lake seal cloak and ran down her neck. Waterlogged, her clothes sucked every ounce of heat from her body. Only where her legs lay against Cadno’s coat did she have vague feeling. Hours of riding in the howling maelstrom of cold and wet had dulled her mind to anything beyond the need to stay in the saddle.

Dal’s bellow penetrated Ellspeth’s consciousness. “This storm isn’t going to stop. Taer can’t take much more of this, and neither can we. There’s shelter not far up the trail.”

Chattering teeth made a reply impossible, so she just nodded. Even that slight movement threw her numbed body off balance. Fighting not to fall into the abyss, Ellspeth dropped the reins onto Cadno’s neck and wrapped nerveless fingers around the saddle horn to let the colt pick his way across a stream of water rushing over the rock-strewn path. The crunch of ice beneath his hooves reminded Ellspeth of the snap of the Sea Falcon’s canvas in a stiff wind. If I can stand on the Falcon’s deck, I can stay in this saddle. She clenched the leather horn tighter with a renewed sense of determination.

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Danger, Fire and Redemption #wewriwa

 

Welcome to Weekend Writing Warriors, the weekly hop for everyone who loves to write ... and read. From Fire and Redemption, Book 2 of the  fantasy series, The Tear Stone Collectors. This week's snippet continues, Help Summoned. To set the scene, sickness has struck the caravan. Karst has been watching Brial, who has been exposed more than anyone else. Not only is she driving a wagon where nursing is going on within it, but she has helped nursed all her kin. And now the SundaySnippet.

Excerpt: 

A kick sent Feldt's mount galloping past one slow-moving wagon after another to wheel beside Brial. The horse walked slowly, keeping pace with the wagon. The words Feldt spoke were unintelligible, but the shake of Brial’s head told of her rejection of whatever her grandfather had said.

The argument carried on for several minutes before Feldt stepped down from the saddle. No sooner had his feet touched the ground than Brial stumbled, falling to her knees. Dragged along, the force of the movement tore her hands from the harness.

“No!” Throat muscles spasmed with the force of the scream. Even though Karst knew he could not reach her in time, he had to try to save her. His body refused demands to race to Brial. He couldn’t move. 

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Available in Ebook or Paperback at Amazon
Additional sites at Books2Read

​I hope you like the snippet. Be sure to read the other Weekend Writing Warriors blogs and the #SnippetSunday authors for more great reads.

~till next time, Helen