Are you a crime fiction enthusiast looking to knock items off your holiday shopping list? If so, nine Ottawa mystery authors will be gathering on Tuesday, Nov. 19 for Crime for Christmas, the city’s first-ever mystery book fair!
Apt613 sat down with the authors behind the event to learn more about how the fair came together, what attendees can expect, and Ottawa’s mystery writing scene.
Graphic design by Terry Smith.
“I had a spare hour a few weeks ago and thought we should have a book fair!” says critically acclaimed Ottawa author Peggy Blair, who spearheaded the murder mystery-themed holiday book fair seemingly faster than you can say habeus corpus.
Blair, a former criminal defence lawyer and Crown prosecutor, has garnered an international fanbase and numerous awards since turning to mystery writing in 2010. Her first book, The Beggar’s Opera, won the 2012 Scotiabank Giller Prize Readers’ Choice Award and was shortlisted for the UK’s Debut Dagger Award (in recent years, contenders for the UK prize have included Louise Penney and Allan Bradley).
Blair was met with instant, resounding enthusiasm after reaching out to her readers and other local mystery authors to gauge interest in her idea this past October—with nearly all of the authors contacted agreeing to participate. “It came together pretty quickly,” she notes. “Within 24 hours I had the venue booked, I knew who was going to be there, I think there were only one or two people who declined because they had other commitments.”
Peggy Blair at a book signing. Photo provided by Peggy Blair.
In total, the final line-up includes Blair, Don Butler, Brenda Chapman, Barbara Fradkin, Mike Martin, Amy Tector, John Delacourt, Mary Jane Maffini, and Bob Bickford.
The event’s early enthusiasm speaks to the widespread appeal of the murder mystery genre. “I love the puzzle, I love the well-developed characters, people in their time of crisis, and then there’s suspicion,” explains local author Brenda Chapman. The former teacher and federal public servant describes rushing through required reading during her days as a university student so that she could sit down with a good murder mystery “as a treat.” A prolific author, Brenda has 25 published works under her belt to date, ranging from middle-grade mysteries to medium-boiled adult mysteries.
Brenda Chapman at a book signing. Photo provided by Brenda Chapman.
“The mystery genre is one of the top sellers in the world—there is a big appetite out there, a big audience for mysteries,” says author Don Butler, who will also be taking part in the fair. Butler took the pen on writing fiction in 2016 following retirement from a lengthy career with the Ottawa Citizen, where he covered politics and worked as an executive editor. He credits the appeal of murder mysteries to the collective sense of fairness and justice that characterize many bestsellers, in addition to their obvious entertainment value.
While the popularity of crime fiction may have helped spark support for the fair, the event’s impressive traction also speaks to the close-knit nature of Ottawa’s mystery writers and readers.
As a self-described “late bloomer” to the Ottawa mystery scene, Butler lauds Ottawa’s mystery network in particular for its collaborative and supportive spirit—something that makes support behind Crime for Christmas so special.
“There’s never been an event quite like this [in Ottawa], where so many local mystery writers get together and offer their books to the public,” he notes. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to get a lot of good books, support local authors, and make a dent in your Christmas list.”
While joint book signings are not an infrequent occurrence in the local mystery author community–Butler teamed up with fellow fair participant Chapman for just such an event earlier this year–an event of this scale is unprecedented in the nation’s capital.
“We all feel like, if we can help someone else, maybe they can help us, and we can all work together,” the former journalist explains.
Don Butler at a book signing. Photo provided by Don Butler.
Blair, Chapman, and Butler look forward to the fair as a chance to expand their close-knit network and showcase their work while connecting with readers in a more intimate, fun-filled setting.
Blair also points out the importance of this new spin on traditional book marketing, such as bookstore signings, behind the festivities and fun. Innovation is becoming increasingly vital for local authors looking to publish Canadian stories in an increasingly digital landscape.
Blair explains that with the decline of print sales, big-name publishers now seem solely focused on mainstream best-sellers set in major American cities and she observed this first-hand. Despite her many literary accolades, her third book, Hungry Ghosts, was turned down by her former publisher, Penguin Books, in the belief that its Canadian Indigenous characters and setting would not sell.
Providing evidence to the contrary, Blair’s blog receives posts upon posts from readers praising the Canadian settings of her stories.
John Delacourt at a book signing. Provided by John Delacourt.
Like Blair, Butler and Chapman continue to embrace local settings in their writing.
“When I speak in bookstores and tell people ‘This is a murder mystery set in Ottawa,’ their eyes often light up,” Butler explains.
If you find similarly lighting up at the thought of an Ottawa-based scandal involving the LRT, check out Blair’s most recent thriller, Shadow Play; or, get lost in Butler’s 2024 novel, Normal Conquest, which features a seasoned star reporter and new young gun of the fictional (but Citizen-like) Advocate, who join forces to tackle a cold case; or, delve into Chapman’s celebrated Ottawa-based Stonechild and Rouleau police procedural series, which has been shortlisted for several awards in Canada; or, look into any number of the additional gripping, prize-winning works that will be on sale this Tuesday at the fair.
Crime for Christmas is free for all to attend and will run from 4-8 pm on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at the Barrhaven Legion, 3500 Fallowfield Rd. It will feature a cash bar as well as murder mystery-themed décor and cookies. The event will also be accessible, with ample parking.
This post was originally published on here
