A Deadly Little List

by Kay Stewart

The body of Joe Bertolucci, security guard for a wealthy and controversial land developer, is found in a deserted cabin on Salt Spring Island. A note and evidence found at the crime scene suggest suicide, but to Constable Danutia Dranchuk things just don't add up. As Dranchuk struggles to convince her RCMP Sergeant to keep the case open, she begins an investigation that will lead her deep into the corruption in the community.

Audible Audio

First published February 15, 2006

About the author

It’s a long way from the dry, flat plains of West Texas to Vancouver Island, Canada, setting for the first two Danutia Dranchuk mysteries, A Deadly Little List and Sitting Lady Sutra .

It's even farther to the limestone hills of England's Peak District, setting of the most recent in the series, [Unholy Rites], co-written with my English-born husband, Chris Bullock (not the same as the Goodreads author Chris Bullock!).

Chance, luck, and a little planning took me from Lubbock, Texas (home of Buddy Holly and the Texas Tech Red Raiders) to its northern cousin, Calgary, Alberta. A three-year layover for graduate studies at the University of Oregon kindled my passion for the Pacific Northwest, which wasn’t fulfilled until I left my teaching position at the University of Alberta to write full time.

The first Danutia Dranchuk mystery, A Deadly Little List , had its genesis when Chris and I decided to collaborate on a writing project that would be fun—not a notable quality of the academic writing we’d done together. Salt Spring Island, only a short ferry ride away from our summer retreat, proved to be a perfect setting. The landscape of Vancouver Island, with its infinite variety and Mediterranean climate, bewitches me as much as it does my Prairie-born main character.

My protagonist is braver about facing physical danger than I could hope to be, but we share a passion for justice. Her job leads her to focus on her duty within the criminal justice system. I like the scope crime fiction gives me to explore questions of social inequality and social justice.

As well as writing mysteries, I have published short stories and co-authored two textbooks widely used in Canadian colleges and universities, Essay Writing for Canadian Students and Forms of Writing . Personal essays appear in two collections of women’s writing I co-edited with Caterina Edwards, Eating Apples and Wrestling with the Angel.

I have two grown children, three granddaughters, and no pets. I have served as National Vice President and President of Crime Writers of Canada, and as co-chair of the 2011 Bloody Words Mystery Conference. I am also a member of Sisters in Crime and the Federation of B. C. Writers. I gave up gardening for organizing (anything except my desk). As I stare out my window at the ever-changing waters of the Gorge Waterway in Victoria, British Columbia, I wonder where Danutia’s adventures will take us next.

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Salt Spring Island is one of the Gulf Islands in British Columbia. It is a beautiful island surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and filled with forests, farms and lakes. Artisans thrive there. Bed and breakfast abound. It is a delightful setting for a mystery!



In this bucolic setting developers are waiting to seize an opportunity. Environmentalists will do what they can to stop them. And in the midst of this is the annual Salt Spring Island theatre festival. There are mysterious deaths and suspects galore. Constable Danutia Dranchuk and newspaper critic Arthur Fairweather are both suspicious and on the trail of the murderer. Which one will solve the mystery? Or will they join forces to solve it together?

I love reading mystery novels set in the region where I live. Kay Stewart and Chris Bullock have done a wonderful job of bringing Salt Spring Island to life and writing a great tale! Highly recommend this delightful mystery novel.

[Dan · Rating 1 out of 5]

you can try it but it's flat, very very flat. Climax, what climax.

[Cindy Nielsen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Moves awfully slow. I couldn't finish it.