The Cost of a Hostage: A Lane Winslow Mystery

(Paperback)

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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.

Reviews

Praise for the Lane Winslow Mysteries

A Match Made for Murder (#7) is winner of the 2021 Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award

"The find of the year, Iona Whishaws Lane Winslow series is a real treat. Set after WWII, Lane has left England for Canada . . . settling in the small village of Kings Cove. With a quaint cast of characters and the feel of Louise Pennys Three Pines, the independence and quick wit of Kerry Greenwoods Phryne Fisher and the intelligence of Jacqueline Winspears 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

"Whishaw deftly intertwines plot and psychology, giving readers insight not only into Lane's crime-solving strategies, but the perspectives and lives of her neighbors. The series also follows Lane's inner journey, from complicated family history to postwar trauma to the beginning of new love. Well plotted and laced with dry wit, Lane's adventures are entirely satisfying summer reading." Shelf Awareness

"Iona Whishaw is a writer to watch." Globe and Mail

"Theres no question you should read itits excellent." Toronto Star

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

"What a delight! Lane and Darling are the most adorable couple Ive met in a long time, and Whishaws clever insights into their post-WWII lives are crafted with such charming finesse that readers will fall in love as I did." Genevieve Graham, #1 USA Today bestselling author of Bluebird

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

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

Iona Whishaws 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 Dressmakers Gift

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

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. . . But its never preachy or pedantic, and Whishaw continues to use her murder mysteries to explore the limitations on womens lives and freedom that were contemporary to the period, and which are not yet so far away in the rear view mirror. Kerry Clare, author of Mitzi Bytes and Waiting for a Star to Fall

"Complex, suspenseful, and deeply felt, this is a smart series for the ages." Francine Mathews, author of the Nantucket Mysteries

"Exquisitely written, psychologically deft." Linda Svendsen, author of Sussex Drive

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

"In the vein of Louise Penny . . . a compelling series that combines a cozy setting, spy intrigue storylines, and police procedural elementsnot an easy task, but one that Whishaw pulls off." Reviewing the Evidence

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

"An enthralling mystery." Historical Novel Society

"This series . . . continues to get better and better." Reviewing the Evidence

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

"A series thats guaranteed to please." Mercer Island Books, Washington

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

"Reliable bestsellers." Quill & Quire

Author Bio

Iona Whishaw is a former educator and social worker whose mother and grandfather were both spies during their respective wars. She is the award-winning author of the Globe and Mail bestselling Lane Winslow Mystery series. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, with her husband. Learn more at ionawhishaw.com.