A riveting new Bern Fortin mystery from the author of Confined Space.

Deryn Collier’s debut mystery, Confined Space, was called an “intelligently conceived, suspenseful, and elegantly written story” by The Toronto Star. Now Coroner Bern Fortin is back in a riveting new mystery.

After the abrupt end to his military career Bern has settled into an uneasy peace in his new life in Kootenay Landing—a peace he knows can’t last. Out for a fall hike, he discovers Dr. Juniper Sinclair, the town’s lone doctor, attempting to revive small-time drug dealer Seymour Melnychuk, who has been shot in the forehead. In a seemingly unrelated incident, Gary Dowd abandons his van while crossing the US border. Gary is a local father of two, an accountant, and a steady, predictable guy. He’s also been best friends with Seymour Melnychuk since elementary school.

Bern knows the two disturbing events must be related and works with police constable Maddie Schilling to uncover the hidden ties that connect the two cases. Why was Dr Sinclair already on the scene? Why is there no exit wound on Seymour’s body? Why did Gary Dowd disappear while trying to cross the border? Who truly controls the hills and forests around Kootenay Landing? Amidst the chaos of the case, Bern’s military background comes back to haunt him, forcing him to confront the secrets of his own past that he has long sought to keep buried.

As Bern and Schilling close in on the killer, each is drawn into the case personally and the stakes are higher than anyone can imagine. Everyone has something to hide, and no one in Kootenay Landing seems willing to talk. But Bern Fortin is well aware that no secret can remain buried forever—not even his own.

Deryn Collier has dreamed of writing mystery novels since reading her first Nancy Drew in the second grade. She has written two previous novels: Confined Space, which was nominated for a Best First Novel Award by the Crime Writers of Canada, and Open Secret.

After moving to Montreal as a teenager, Collier instantly fell in love with the city, later graduating from McGill University. These days she lives in a small town in the mountains of British Columbia with her family, and though she has lived there for many years, she still considers Montreal to be home.

Collier enjoys gardening, sewing, and swimming year round in a glacier-fed lake and regularly overshares about these hobbies on Instagram. She writes a newsletter to her readers called The Aunt June Files, where she shares a behind-the-scenes look at her work and research in progress. Visit her website at www.deryncollier.com to subscribe.

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