The co-op bookstore for avid readers
Book Cover for: Framed in Fire: A Lane Winslow Mystery, Iona Whishaw

Framed in Fire: A Lane Winslow Mystery

Iona Whishaw

Shortlisted for a 2023 Crime Writers of Canada Award
Nominated for a 2023 Left Coast Crime "Lefty" Award
An April 2022 Loan Stars Top 10

A shallow grave, a missing person, and near-fatal arson keep Lane, Darling, and the Nelson police on high alert in the latest mystery in this Globe and Mail bestselling series.

It's early spring 1948 and Lane arrives in New Denver to find that her friend, Peter Barisoff, is not at home. Instead, in a nearby meadow, she encounters Tom, an Indigenous man in search of his ancestral lands. Lane is intrigued. Unfortunately, once Peter returns home, the day takes a gloomy turn when the trio uncovers human remains next to Peter's garden, and Lane must tell her husband, Inspector Darling, that she's inadvertently stumbled into his professional domain--again.

Back in Nelson, the Vitalis, Lane and Darling's favourite restaurateurs, are victims of arson. Constable Terrell's investigation suggests prejudice as a motive, and the case quickly escalates, as the Vitalis receive increasingly threatening notes of warning. Meanwhile, Sergeant Ames works a robbery while alienating Tina Van Eyck in his personal time, and a swirling rumour sets the entire station on edge and prompts an RCMP investigation into Darling's integrity.

Amid the local bustle series readers have come to love, Framed in Fire is bound up in difficult questions of community and belonging, and the knowledge that trusted neighbours can sometimes be as sinister as a stranger in the dark.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Touchwood Editions
  • Publish Date: Apr 26th, 2022
  • Pages: 496
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 7.40in - 4.90in - 1.60in - 1.05lb
  • EAN: 9781771513807
  • Categories: Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths

About the Author

Whishaw, Iona: - Iona Whishaw is the bestselling author of the Lane Winslow Mysteries. She is the winner of a Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award, was a finalist for a BC and Yukon Book Prize, and has twice been nominated for a Left Coast Crime Award. The heroine of her series, Lane Winslow, was inspired by Iona's mother who, like her father before her, was a wartime spy. Born in the Canadian Kootenays, Iona spent many years in Mexico, Nicaragua, and the US before settling into Vancouver, BC where she now lives with her husband, Terry. Throughout her life she has worked as a youth worker, social worker, teacher, and award-winning high school principal, eventually completing her master's in creative writing from the University of British Columbia.

Praise for this book

Praise for Framed in Fire (#9)


Shortlisted for a Crime Writers of Canada Award


Nominated for a Left Coast Crime "Lefty" Award


An April 2022 Loan Stars Top 10


"Framed in Fire is No. 9 in this series, a point where many authors begin to flag but not Whishaw... Definitely one of Whishaw's best." --Globe and Mail


"This instalment in Iona Whishaw's long-running Lane Winslow series draws readers in with wistful observations about what home means to different people and cultures. 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. Framed in Fire is one heck of a satisfying small-town caper." --Apple Books


"The suspense will keep you reading long past bedtime, and despite the heavy topics explored in the book, the complex and quirky characters lighten the load. This was another delightful read in the Lane Winslow series and my favourite thus far." --Historical Novel Society

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