This spring we've made it our mission (even more than usual) to celebrate new releases in the wake of cancelled launch parties, book festivals, and reading series. With 49th Shelf Launchpad, we're holding virtual launch parties here on our platform complete with witty banter and great insight to give you a taste of the books on offer. You can request these books from your local library, get them as e-books or audio books, order them from your local indie bookseller if they're delivering, buy them direct from the publisher or from online retailers.

Today we're launching Closing Time, by Brenda Chapman, which Barbara Fradkin calls "Complex and filled with menace... [this] tale of sex, lies, and betrayal will keep you up at night."

*****

The Elevator Pitch. Tell us about your book in a sentence:

Closing Time is the seventh and last in the Stonechild and Rouleau police procedural series in which Officer Kala Stonechild reluctantly assists with the murder investigation of a high school student while on holiday with her foster niece Dawn in the wilderness north of Sault Ste. Marie.

Describe your ideal reader:

Loves the moody settings in Broadchurch, Shetland and Cardinal. Enjoys coffee with a side of French toast, whipped cream and berries. Dabbles in crossword puzzles and solving mysteries. Likes the beauty of an autumn morning in the woods.

What authors/books is your work in conversation with:

Giles Blunt: Blackfly Season; T.S. Eliot: “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”; Bill Mason: Canoescapes; William Kent Krueger: Iron Lake; Bruce LittleJohn/Wayland Drew: Superior: The Haunted Shore; Louise Penny: Still Life.

What is something interesting you learned about your book/yourself/your subject during the process of creating and publishing your book?

I learned that something upsetting or dramatic in the news can trigger the plotline for a crime fiction novel

An important part of any book launch is the thank you’s. Go ahead, and acknowledge someone whose support has been integral to this project.

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my family and friends who’ve supported me throughout this writing journey, in particular my fellow curlers at the Granite Curling Club of West Ottawa and my curling family across the country.

What are you reading right now or next?

I recently completed reading Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and am immersed in The Testaments, both brilliant and fascinating cautionary tales.

About Closing Time:

Secrets abound at a northern Ontario lodge when a teenage employee is murdered.

It’s late summer and a restless Officer Kala Stonechild has taken her foster niece, Dawn, on a canoe trip at Pine Hollow Lodge in the wilderness north of Sault Ste. Marie. But the getaway turns deadly when a teenage girl goes missing on her way home from an evening shift at the lodge’s restaurant.

After the girl’s body is found between the lodge and the nearby town of Searchmont, Stonechild reluctantly agrees to help with the investigation. She’s teamed with Clark Harrison, an officer she worked with during her last posting in northwestern Ontario. As the investigation heats up, Stonechild’s past threatens the close bonds she’s forged back home. Will she return to her life in Kingston, or will the rekindling of an old relationship lure her away for good?