A Lethal Lesson

by Iona Whishaw

Overview

Lane Winslow trades crime solving for substitute teaching in the eighth installment of this mystery series that Kirkus Reviews calls “riveting”.

Back home in the Kootenays after her Arizona honeymoon, Lane offers her assistance when neither the outgoing teacher, Rose, nor her replacement, Wendy, show up at the local schoolhouse one blizzardy Monday in December. But when she finds the teachers’ cottage ransacked with Rose unconscious and bleeding, and Wendy missing, Lane delivers Rose to the hospital in Nelson and turns the case over to her exasperated husband, Inspector Darling, and his capable colleagues, Sergeant Ames and Constable Terrell.

Never one to leave a post unmanned, Lane enlists as substitute teacher for the final two weeks before the Christmas holidays, during which time she discovers a threatening note in the teachers’ desk and a revolver in the supply cupboard. But these clues only convolute the case further. Who has been tormenting these women, and where has Wendy gone?

Meanwhile, Darling finds the body of a hit-and-run victim in a snowbank miles outside of Nelson, the residents of King’s Cove are preoccupied by the possibility of a new neighbour, and Sergeant Ames is as confused as ever by the inimitable Tina Van Eyck.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771513531
Publisher:	Heritage Group Distribution
Publication date:	04/27/2021
Series:	Lane Winslow Series , #8
Pages:	392
Sales rank:	194,470
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Iona Whishaw is a former educator and social worker whose mother and grandfather were both spies during their respective wars. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, with her husband. Visit her at ionawhishaw.com.

Editorial Reviews

02/22/2021

One snowy day in December 1947, new teacher Wendy Keeling fails to show up at the one-room schoolhouse in King’s Cove, British Columbia, in Whishaw’s assured eighth Lane Winslow mystery (after 2020’s A Match Made for Murder). Lane, who served as a British intelligence operative during WWII, goes to the cottage that Wendy shares with her predecessor, Rose Scott. There Lane finds Rose lying on the floor with a bloody head wound and the home ransacked. After rushing Rose to the hospital, Lane reports what happened to her police inspector husband, who takes over the case. Meanwhile, Lane does her own investigating into Wendy’s whereabouts and whether her disappearance is connected with the assault on her roommate. Lane must balance her probing with a new role that’s even more daunting than her spy work—serving as the school’s interim teacher. Whishaw nicely captures the rhythms and dynamics of small-town life while maintaining suspense. Maisie Dobbs and Phryne Fisher fans will be pleased. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

A Lethal Lesson (#8)

“Iona Whishaw’s writing is worthy of taking its place alongside the works of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers. This deftly crafted and briskly paced murder mystery vividly evokes the atmosphere of a small community gripped by the sudden disappearance of two schoolteachers in the snows of a Canadian winter.” —Fiona Valpy, bestselling author of The Dressmaker’s Gift

Praise for the Lane Winslow Mysteries

"The ‘find of the year’, Iona Whishaw’s Lane Winslow series is a real treat. Set after WWII, Lane has left England for Canada . . . settling in the small village of King’s Cove. 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

"Relentlessly exciting from start to finish." —Kirkus Reviews

"An engrossing tale of murder, Russian assassins, British spies and local Canadian constabulary" —Shelf Awareness

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

"There’s no question you should read it—it’s excellent." —Toronto Star

“Think a young Katharine Hepburn—beautiful, smart and beyond capable. Winslow is an example of the kind of woman who emerged after the war, a confident female who had worked in factories building tanks and guns, a woman who hadn’t yet been suffocated by the 1950s’-perfect housewife ideal.” —Vancouver Sun

“An intriguing mix of character, plot, time, and place. Highly recommended.” —Ian Hamilton, author of the bestselling Ava Lee novels

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

"Most excellent . . . It’s always a pleasure to return to King’s Cove and be swept away by another Lane Winslow tale." —Kerry Clare, author of Mitzi Bytes

"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 elements—not 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 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

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