Two separate crimes, two tragic outcomes.

Jacques Rouleau has moved to Kingston to look after his father and take up the position of head of the town’s Criminal Investigations Division. One hot week in late September, university student Leah Sampson is murdered in her apartment. In another corner of the city, Della Munroe is raped by her husband. At first the crimes appear unrelated, but as Sergeant Rouleau and his new team of officers dig into the women’s pasts, they discover unsettling coincidences. When Kala Stonechild, one of Rouleau’s former officers from Ottawa, suddenly appears in Kingston, Rouleau enlists her to help.

Stonechild isn’t sure if she wants to stay in Kingston, but agrees to help Rouleau in the short term. While she struggles with trying to decide if she can make a life in this new town, a ghost from her past starts to haunt her.

As the detectives delve deeper into the cases, it seems more questions pop up than answers. Who murdered Leah Sampson? And why does Della Monroe’s name keep showing up in the murder investigation? Both women were hiding secrets that have unleashed a string of violence. Stonechild and Rouleau race to discover the truth before the violence rips more families apart.

Brenda Chapman grew up in Terrace Bay, Ontario, near the border of Minnesota. She has a BA in English from Lakehead University and a B.Ed from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Brenda taught reading and language arts to children and adults for nearly fifteen years before entering the federal government to work as a writer/editor. She is currently working as a senior communications advisor in Ottawa, Ontario. Chapman began her fiction career with children’s fiction. Running Scared (Napoleon, 2004) was her first YA novel featuring Jennifer Bannon. She then went on to pen three more in the series. Hiding in Hawk’s Creek (2006) was shortlisted for the 2007 Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children. Where Trouble Leads, set in the Georgian Bay wilderness, was published in 2007. Trail of Secrets (2009) was the final instalment in the series. In Winter’s Grip is her first mystery for adults.

Brenda Chapman's profile page

This novel is well-paced and well-plotted…the book also smartly sets up some subplots that will no doubt carry the series forward.

Edmonton Journal

Chapman provides a fine balance between the minutiae of police work and the characters' complex personal lives. It's a story that is highly readable from beginning to end. I'm looking forward to Stonechild's next adventure.

Sanjosemercurynews.com

In Butterfly Kills, Brenda Chapman has written a gripping and disturbing sequel to Cold Mourning.

Glebereport.com

This novel is beautifully written, the plot is expertly crafted, and the characters are complex and well drawn.

Mysteriousbibliophile.blogspot.ca

By the final chapter, Chapman has established the grounds for further entries in the series. Readers of crime fiction, especially Canadian ones who find local settings and concerns often hard to find in their favourite genre should be pleased to hear it.

Reviewingtheevidence.com

What makes this mystery most interesting are the tightly knit details. Chapman never tips her hand as she presents readers with a wide-open field of suspects. For the majority of the novel, the list of potential culprits is lengthy, and the author skillfully deploys twists and decoys to misdirect us, while also dropping tiny clues to help make the final reveal seem perfectly logical.

Quill & Quire

Butterfly Kills is another Stonechild and Rouleau mystery by Brenda Chapman whose impressive abilities in crafting memorable characters embedded in a complex mystery/suspense tale of unexpected twists and surprising turns results in a compellingly entertaining read from beginning to end.

Reviewersbookwatch.com

A wonderfully knitted suspense filled with secrets, life, crime, and working hard to solve cases.

Futures Mystery Magazine

Altogether, Butterfly Kills is a very satisfying novel

Kingston Whig-Standard