News Bulletins News Archives

Used Book Update
We're making some changes to the way our used books are shelved and as a result we're putting a temporary halt on any further used book buying. We'll be happy to look at your used books again when the transition is complete. read more

December Bestsellers
Looks like there was a lot of great reading done over the holidays. Got a gift card and not sure how to spend it? Here's what your fellow readers bought in December. Hardcovers 1. P.D. James, Death Comes to Pemberley Trade Papers 1. Shirley Mackay, Hue and Cry Mass Markets 1. M.C. Beaton, Death of a Chimney Sweep read more

Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Last night for the first time I took advantage of the occasional preview passes that the store receives. It was to see a movie that I had been looking forward to for some time: Sherlock Holmes : A Game of Shadows. read more

Bumsted Books of the Year - Jack's Picks
In the past, one book has for me usually distanced itself from the pack as the ?book of the year,? but this time around I am unable to single out one title. Instead three books jostle in my mind as outstanding. One is Ian Rankin?s latest, The Impossible Dead. As we all know, Rankin retired John Rebus a few years back. Rebus was ready for retirement. He was drinking too much and had become far too cynical. In his place has come Malcolm Ross, a policeman in a unit that investigates the wrongdoing of other cops, commonly known as ?The Complaints.? Ross drinks Appletizer and has less angst than Rebus, but his cases are as complex and political as his predecessor?s. read more

Bumsted Books of the Year - Wendy's Picks
My book of the year for 2011 is C.C. Benison?s, Twelve Drummers Drumming. This is the start of a new series for the author of the ?Her Majesty Investigates series?. The main character, Rev. Tom Christmas, aka. Father Christmas, is the new rector of Thornford Regis, a small English town. However, although the town seems idyllic and a far cry from the inner city where Tom Christmas had previously worked, all, as we might guess, is not as it seems. It is the classic English mystery with a modern setting. Miss Marple might be surprised at the way the townscape and public behaviour have changed but she would not be surprised at the secrets and the evil that lurks within. read more

Bumsted Books of the Year - Sian's Picks
After insisting to the family that they must write about mysteries and that they must write about books published in 2011, I?m going to cheat a little bit. You know what they say, she who writes the newsletter gets to write about whatever she wants to write about. read more

Bumsted Books of the Year - Michael's Pick
I must admit that once again there were not a lot of new mysteries in my catalogue this year. As a result, once again my favourite book of the year is from off the beaten path.... read more

Newsletter - Asian Crime Fiction, Part II by Jack
In our last newsletter I wrote of the opportunities to learn something of a less well-known part of the world ? Asia ? by reading crime fiction set there. I examined books set in China, Tibet, and Laos. In this installment I will look at work located in North Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, Outer Mongolia, and Japan. With the exception of Japan, most of this writing has been executed by westerners, usually people who have a long acquaintance with the country in one capacity or another. read more

Newsletter - Historical Mysteries, New and Rediscovered by Wendy
I was surprised to learn recently that historical crime fiction hardly existed before the 1970s and only really took off in the 1980s and 90s. We have just started to stock a new series by Shirley McKay set at the university in St. Andrews, Scotland in the sixteenth century. The main character is Hew Cullan, a young lawyer. The first two titles, Hue and Cry and Fate and Fortune, are available in the small trade paper size ($14.95). The third title Time and Tide is due to be available in Canada in April 2012. read more

Staff Picks and Reviews Reviews Archives

Recommended by Jack: Mamur Zapt
As I recently watched with growing fascination the televised events in Cairo, I was reminded that I knew quite a lot about the earlier history of Egypt of a century ago, thanks to the wonderful crime... read more

Review: The Poison Door by Steve Malley
We had a customer in the store last week looking for some paperbacks to keep him going on the flight to New Zealand. The chat was how New Zealand was supposed to be like British Columbia... read more

Wednesday Review: Pronto and Riding the Rap by Elmore Leonard
Elmore Leonard has long been considered one of the greatest of the American mystery writers. However, he is not really a writer of series. With a few exceptions, his characters do not reappear, and if they do, it is... read more

Mini Review: A Glimpse of Evil by Victoria Laurie
Many of you know that I'm a big fan of Victoria Laurie, particularly of her 'Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye' series. Needless to say, I was thrilled when home for the last long weekend that the new... read more

Review: The Kingdom Beyond The Waves - Stephen Hunt
One of the first books which I wrote about for this newsletter was the genre-defying Court of Air, Hunts' first offering in his Jackelian series. The Kingdom Beyond the Waves, which sees the return of several... read more

Review: The Moneypenny Diaries: Final Fling by Kate Westbrook
I think that we can all agree that the mark of a really good book is an ending that really stays with you. But what makes a really special book is an ending that you can... read more

Review: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Being fairly new to the murder-mystery genre, I wasn't expecting much from Stieg Larsson's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". By the last page, I was dying to read the next in the trilogy and saddened... read more