In the sequel to Northern Winters Are Murder, it’s now high summer in Northern Ontario, where everyone is bear bait, even the bears. Gunshots chase Belle Palmer from her quiet forest paths. Then, on her remote lakeside road, the savage and unexplainable murder of an elderly neighbour puts her on guard against two-footed killers. Does the answer lie in the woods? In the alleys of the Nickel Capital? Or in the black rock moonscape of an ecological disaster area Belle’s investigations gradually uncover the sordid details of a sexual abuse scandal in a residential school years before that has left scars on its victim that can never heal. The horrifying truth and its deadly fallout may destroy many more lives before this tragedy reaches its last act.

Lou Allin sings two national anthems, having born in Toronto but raised in Ohio. She recently relocated to Sooke, British Columbia. After obtaining a Ph.D. in English Renaissance literature and discovering that she retained Canadian citizenship, Lou headed north, ending up at Cambrian College in Sudbury, Ontario, where she taught literature, writing and public speaking for twenty-three years. Northern Winters Are Murder, her first Belle Palmer mystery, was released in the fall of 2000. It was followed by Blackflies Are Murder, which was shortlisted for an Arthur Ellis Award in the category of Best Novel. Bush Poodles Are Murder, Murder, Eh, and Memories are Murder concluded the series. While discovering the delights of the outdoors in her new home on Vancouver Island, Lou has created a new west coast mystery series, the first of which, And on the Surface Die, was released in the fall of 2008. It features young RCMP corporal Holly Martin, whose adventures continue in She Felt No Pain.

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