In the course of our reorganization we were again reminded of the large number of perfectly readable authors on our used shelves whose books, for one reason or another, are no longer in demand.

I was recommending the Sarah Caudwell ?Hilary Tamar? series to my sister last year when she recommended Deanna Raybourn in return. I assumed it would be in the same genre, but it wasn?t, Raybourn?s ?Lady Julia? series is a historical mystery set in Victorian England. I don?t normally do historical fiction,...

It seems that it has become a tradition that anytime that I am back in Winnipeg, there is always a ?little? project for me to do. This time around, it was a bit bigger than any of us expected, namely the shelving re-organization. It has been noted both by us and...

At first glance, crime fiction and humour seem unlikely partners, and it is true that comedy is something only occasionally striven for by crime authors. Nevertheless, there is a distinct subcategory of comic crime on the bookshelves of Whodunit? What follows is a selective meandering through the genre rather than an...

Our annual Louis Riel Day Sale will be held from Tuesday, February 21st to Sunday, February 26th. All used books, including collectibles, will be 50% off.

Anne Holt is a Norwegian crime writer who has an interesting background, which includes police work, news anchor, law school, a brief spell as Norway?s minister of justice, and a track record of successful books. 1222 (the number refers to meters above sea level) is her eighth book featuring Hanne Wilhelmsen.

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...

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.

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.

Please take note of our extended holiday hours!
Thursday, December 15th to Saturday, December 17th - 9:30am to 6:00pm
Sunday, December 18th - 11:30am to 5:00pm
Monday, December 19th to Friday, December 23rd - 9:30am to 6:00pm
Christmas Eve (Saturday, December 24th) - 9:30am to 4:00pm
New Year's Eve (Saturday, December 31st) - 9:30am to 4:00pm

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.

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. The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton won the Edgar for Best Book of the Year,...

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,...

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...

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...

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,...

Jack is reading SNOWDROPS by A.D. Miller.
Wendy is reading CHELSEA MANSIONS by Barry Maitland.
Sian is reading THE DECEPTION AT LYME by Carrie Bebris.
Michael is reading AMERICAN GODS: THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY EDITION by Neil Gaiman.

On Sunday, November 27th from 2-4pm, we will be hosting an early Christmas Tea to celebrate the publication of C.C. Benison’s new novel, Twelve Drummer’s Drumming. This is the first in a new series, by the author of the popular Her Majesty investigates series. We hope that you will join us...

I’ve only been talking about it for months, but I finally got around to reading Heartless by Gail Carriger. I needed the perfect conditions; it’s not a book to be read on a busy subway when you can’t fully pay attention. At any rate, as expected, I completely loved it and...

We’re big Netflix fans at Whodunit, especially since many of our favourite mystery series are now available for viewing in their entirety. They are constantly adding new titles, but for now think about checking out (and maybe buying the books to go with) the following:
Sherlock (the new BBC series)
Murder She Wrote...

ASIAN CRIME FICTION by Jack
As most of our customers know, I am a great advocate of using crime fiction as a way to expand one’s horizons, both geographically and temporally. At one time crime fiction was pretty much confined to settings in contemporary Europe and North America, with occasional glimpses of...

The book club will reconvene in September. Meetings will be on the last Tuesday of the month. The first meeting is on Tuesday, September 27th at 7p.m. and the title up for discussion is Colin Cotterill's THE CORONER'S LUNCH. Books are available in the store at a 10% discount. Questions are...

We've got the new TP of Stieg Larsson's THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST in new and we just bought a cache of used Agatha Christine TPs in French (might be some good practice for someone trying to improve their comprehension).

Here's what people were loving in August.

Mass Market
1. Coyle, Cleo, Roast Mortem
2. Francis, Dick & Felix, Crossfire
3. Townsend, Kari, Tempest in the Tea Leaves
4. Burke, James Lee, The Glass Rainbow
5. Albert, Susan Witig, The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree

Whodunit will be open regular hours Saturday, September 3rd but closed Sunday, September 4th and Monday, September 5th. We'll reopen at 10am on Tuesday, September 6th.