The latest mystery in the series Publishers Weekly calls “highly entertaining” sees Lane trekking through Mexico while the team back in Nelson pursue an open and shut and then open again kidnapping.

It’s a slow August morning in King’s Cove. Lane has a book to read and a lawn that needs mowing. At the Nelson Police Station her husband, Inspector Darling, and his team are tidying their desks during a rare lull. Then Lane receives a call with news that Darling’s brother Bob has gone missing from a mining camp in Mexico and the police station is visited by the frantic mother of a boy kidnapped from his bedroom.

From bustling Mexico City, through the desert and into the mountain range beyond, Darling and Lane’s search for Bob puts them out of the realm of the law and at the mercy of a local bandido. Meanwhile Lane is certain she’s recognized someone from her past she’d rather forget.

Back in the Kootenays, both kidnapper and kid turn up across the lake in Creston and it appears to be case closed—until a body is found mangled in the paddlewheel of a ferry boat. Plans for Ames’s wedding are taking shape, and Terrell’s favourite soon-to-be police officer April has a chance to prove her mettle. The latest Winslow mystery questions the roles of men and women, husbands and wives, and of course a certain police inspector and King’s Cove’s resident sleuth.

Iona Whishaw was born in British Columbia. After living her early years in the Kootenays, she spent her formative years living and learning in Mexico, Nicaragua, and the US. She travelled extensively for pleasure and education before settling in the Vancouver area. Throughout her roles as youth worker, social worker, teacher, and award-winning high school principal, her love of writing remained consistent, and compelled her to obtain her master’s in creative writing from the University of British Columbia. Iona has published short fiction, poetry, poetry translation, and one children’s book, Henry and the Cow Problem. A Killer in King’s Cove was her first adult novel. Her heroine, Lane Winslow, was inspired by Iona’s mother who, like her father before her, was a wartime spy. Visit ionawhishaw.com to find out more.

Iona Whishaw's profile page

Praise for The Cost of a Hostage

"Lane Winslow is out of her comfort zone and endangered abroad in this cracking mystery from Iona Whishaw. The Cost of a Hostage offers familiar pleasures and shocking new twists, as Lane works to understand a disappearance in Mexico while grappling with secrets from her past. A terrific addition to the series." —Elizabeth Renzetti, co-author of Bury the Lead

Praise for the Lane Winslow Mysteries

Winner of the 2021 Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award for A Match Made for Murder (#7)
Finalist for the Left Coast Crime “Lefty” Awards (2019, 2024)
Finalist for the Canadian Crime Writers of Canada Awards (2023, 2024)
Finalist for the Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Award (2022)
Loan Stars Top 10 Pick (2017, 2020, 2022)

"Iona Whishaw’s Lane Winslow series is a real treat. With a quaint cast of characters and the feel of Louise Penny’s Three Pines, the independence and quick wit of Kerry Greenwood’s Phryne Fisher and the intelligence of Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs, this mystery series has it all!" —Murder by the Book, Texas

"Highly entertaining . . . fans and newcomers alike will find lots to love." —Publishers Weekly, STARRED review

"Relentlessly exciting from start to finish." —Kirkus Reviews

"Well plotted and laced with dry wit, Lane's adventures are entirely satisfying summer reading." —Shelf Awareness

"Whishaw goes all out on the historical bits and it’s all great fun." —Globe and Mail

"The setting is fresh and the cast endearing." —CrimeReads

"Brave, bold and brilliant, Lane Winslow is a force to be reckoned with." —Toronto Star

"As always, Whishaw’s characters are the heart of the whodunit—we adored spending time with Lane and her entourage, from the wisecracking Inspector Darling to his quirky but highly skilled crew of constables." —Apple Books

"Reliable bestsellers." —Quill & Quire

"It’s the perfect series for fans of Miss Fisher and Maisie Dobbs." —Zoomer Magazine

"Very charming and delightful. If you like Louise Penny's novels, this is right up your street." —CBC Ontario Morning

“It Begins in Betrayal has a wonderfully complex plot with threads that eventually resolve most satisfactorily.” —Maureen Jennings, author of the Murdoch Mysteries series

“Iona Whishaw’s writing is worthy of taking its place alongside the works of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers. . . deftly crafted and briskly paced.” —Fiona Valpy, author of The Dressmaker’s Gift

"Another fantastic entry in the unique and compelling Lane Winslow series!" —Anna Lee Huber, author of the Lady Darby Mysteries

“An engaging, superbly crafted page turner of a mystery.” —Alan Hlad, international and USA Today bestselling author of The Long Flight Home

“I absolutely love the modern sensibility of these novels, of their feminism, sense of justice, their anti-racism, their progressiveness, which somehow never seems out of place in a tiny BC hamlet in 1948.” —Kerry Clare, author of Mitzi Bytes, Waiting for a Star to Fall, and Asking for a Friend

"What a delight! . . . crafted with such charming finesse that readers will fall in love as I did." —Genevieve Graham, #1 USA Today bestselling author of Bluebird

"Stellar . . . " —Eliza Knight, USA Today bestselling author of Starring Adele Astaire

"Whishaw is a master of the historical mystery." —Sam Wiebe, award-winning author of Sunset and Jericho and Hell and Gone

“Richly conjured and Whishaw’s trademark examination of the mores of the day add depth and enjoyment to another deftly plotted puzzler . . . this series just keeps getting better!” —Catriona McPherson, award-winning author of the Dandy Gilver series

“An intriguing mix of character, plot, time, and place. Highly recommended.” —Ian Hamilton, author of the bestselling Ava Lee novels

"Iona Whishaw has again raised the bar . . . This is seriously good storytelling." —Don Graves, Canadian Mystery Reviews

"A compelling series that combines a cozy setting, spy intrigue storylines, and police procedural elements—not an easy task, but one that Whishaw pulls off." —Reviewing the Evidence

"An enthralling mystery." —Historical Novel Society

"A simply riveting read by a master of the genre." —Wisconsin Bookwatch

"A series that’s guaranteed to please." —Mercer Island Books, Washington

"Full of history, mystery, and a glorious BC setting . . . a wonderful series." —Sleuth of Baker Street, Ontario

"Each book in the series is an impressive combination of mystery, history, and a little bit of romance." —Lethbridge Herald