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Lane Winslow #9
Framed in Fire
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.
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.
480 pages, Hardcover
First published April 26, 2022
69 people are currently reading
459 people want to read
About the author
Iona Whishaw
16 books427 followersIona Whishaw has been a youth worker, social worker, teacher and an award winning High School Principal, who continued with her writing throughout her working life. Receiving her Masters in Creative writing from UBC, Iona has published short fiction, poetry, poetry translation and one children's book, Henry and the Cow Problem. The Lane Winslow mystery series is her first foray into adult fiction.
Iona was born in Kimberley BC, but grew up in a number of different places, including a small community on Kootenay Lake, as well as Mexico and Central America, and the US because of her father's geological work. She took a degree in history and education from Antioch College, and subsequent degrees in Writing at UBC and pedagogy at Simon Fraser University. Her own writing output took a brief back seat during her teaching career, but she shared her passion for writing by nurturing a love of writing in the students in English, Creative Writing, and Spanish classes. During the course of her career as a Principal in Vancouver she was awarded the Woman of Distinction in Education by the YWCA in 2010 and a Canada's Outstanding Principals award in 2012.
Her hobbies have included dance, painting, reading, and gardening. She currently is a vocalist for a small Balkan dance band in Vancouver, and is patiently waiting for her next opportunity to engage in her current pash, long distance, cross country rambling in England.
She is married, has one son and two grandsons, and lives in Vancouver with her artist husband, Terry Miller.
Iona was born in Kimberley BC, but grew up in a number of different places, including a small community on Kootenay Lake, as well as Mexico and Central America, and the US because of her father's geological work. She took a degree in history and education from Antioch College, and subsequent degrees in Writing at UBC and pedagogy at Simon Fraser University. Her own writing output took a brief back seat during her teaching career, but she shared her passion for writing by nurturing a love of writing in the students in English, Creative Writing, and Spanish classes. During the course of her career as a Principal in Vancouver she was awarded the Woman of Distinction in Education by the YWCA in 2010 and a Canada's Outstanding Principals award in 2012.
Her hobbies have included dance, painting, reading, and gardening. She currently is a vocalist for a small Balkan dance band in Vancouver, and is patiently waiting for her next opportunity to engage in her current pash, long distance, cross country rambling in England.
She is married, has one son and two grandsons, and lives in Vancouver with her artist husband, Terry Miller.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 139 reviews
May 10, 2022
The best one in this series!! A really good mystery, with lots of interlocking parts, and topics of sexism and racism interwoven in without being obtrusive. Especially notable was how the main character, British ex-pat Lane, learns about the land she had moved to and about the people who have lived there for thousands of years.
This was one of the longer books in the series, but everything moved along nicely and cleanly, until the end when certain identical plot points kept being repeated by different characters, slowing things down and muddying the narrative a bit.
But! The character development continues to be great, with Ames, Darling, and Lane being challenged to confront certain assumptions and choose a path towards growth.
This was one of the longer books in the series, but everything moved along nicely and cleanly, until the end when certain identical plot points kept being repeated by different characters, slowing things down and muddying the narrative a bit.
But! The character development continues to be great, with Ames, Darling, and Lane being challenged to confront certain assumptions and choose a path towards growth.
Read
July 29, 2025I always find the Lane Winslow mysteries addictive and they go like wildfire. Whishaw is in her usual rural BC territory here, but adding in a level of engagement with Indigenous peoples and settler history that makes this more than just a pleasant mystery. As ever, everything is connected somehow, and the most apparently disparate cases for the Nelson Police Department turn out to be part of one complex sequence (carrying a fairly intense weight of history on its back). Racism and otherness also form part of the foundation for this story, in part a meditation on human judgmentalism. The second reading (aloud) took much longer, but was even more pleasurable.
May 12, 2022
I gave up on this and returned it. I’ve given this author lots of chances, but finally reading one cliché scene too many made me realize that I’ve only got so many hours in my life, and this wasn’t a rewarding way to spend them.
Read
July 19, 2022At nearly 500 pages this was Ms Whishaw's longest book by about a hundred pages. It was too long. Her previous book (Lethal Lesson) and her others, in the series, were real page turners. This one had me wondering when it was going to end.
Iona takes on different injustices such as treatment of the doukabours, children being exploited, immigrants fitting in and always promoting equality. In this novel she brings to attention the plight of the Sinixt (Lakes People) who were forced/pushed off their traditional land such that the BC Government declared them extinct. They have recently sought treaty rights. Here is a map of their traditional territory >
https://www.maapress.ca/books/sinixt-...
The eastern portion (ie around Kootenay Lake) overlaps with the Ktunaxa. Whereas the Sinixt had language affiliation with the Shuswap and Okanagan, Kuntenai is a language isolate (nothing like it elsewhere in the world). In addition the Ktunaxa had three innovations: unusual snowshoes, unique highly valued hunting bow and the sturgeon nosed canoe (also found in the Amir region of Siberia). They are also just one of two nations that were both a mountain/forest people and plains inhabitants. Perhaps Ms Whishaw will include mention of them in a future novel.
What i'm really looking forward to is somehow involving Blaylock Mansion and the owners secret involvement with the war effort, Lane having been a spy herself.
This story fleshed out more of the supporting characters and Lane's husband didn't come across as much of an insensitive lout as in the previous mystery. In that book i thought they were headed for divorce.
I thought the bit with the dentist was unnecessary to the plot. And i was mislead by the car mentioned being sold (Chapter thirty: page 362). The book was a solid 7/10 but given Goodreads five star ratings, i can't round it up to a four (as i rounded down 4.5 stars to 4 for Lethal Lesson, when it was a 9/10) nor lower it to a three. So i'll leave it unrated.
Typed using EasyKeyB
Iona takes on different injustices such as treatment of the doukabours, children being exploited, immigrants fitting in and always promoting equality. In this novel she brings to attention the plight of the Sinixt (Lakes People) who were forced/pushed off their traditional land such that the BC Government declared them extinct. They have recently sought treaty rights. Here is a map of their traditional territory >
https://www.maapress.ca/books/sinixt-...
The eastern portion (ie around Kootenay Lake) overlaps with the Ktunaxa. Whereas the Sinixt had language affiliation with the Shuswap and Okanagan, Kuntenai is a language isolate (nothing like it elsewhere in the world). In addition the Ktunaxa had three innovations: unusual snowshoes, unique highly valued hunting bow and the sturgeon nosed canoe (also found in the Amir region of Siberia). They are also just one of two nations that were both a mountain/forest people and plains inhabitants. Perhaps Ms Whishaw will include mention of them in a future novel.
What i'm really looking forward to is somehow involving Blaylock Mansion and the owners secret involvement with the war effort, Lane having been a spy herself.
This story fleshed out more of the supporting characters and Lane's husband didn't come across as much of an insensitive lout as in the previous mystery. In that book i thought they were headed for divorce.
I thought the bit with the dentist was unnecessary to the plot. And i was mislead by the car mentioned being sold (Chapter thirty: page 362). The book was a solid 7/10 but given Goodreads five star ratings, i can't round it up to a four (as i rounded down 4.5 stars to 4 for Lethal Lesson, when it was a 9/10) nor lower it to a three. So i'll leave it unrated.
Typed using EasyKeyB
May 13, 2022
I really wanted to finish this book, but it is personally too historical for me to hold interest, and I found my mind wandering, and reading and re-reading passages. I tried to press on, but by page 81, decided that quits made more sense. In 1948, Lane (a main character) arrives in New Denver to see her friend Peter, but since he was not around, she wandered to a meadow and met an indigenous man named Tom with a very interesting history of his ancestral lands, which happened to be owned by others, including her friend. I thought it was kind of odd that the book started that way, since the time history starts in 1948, and Peter is NOT her husband, but off the bat in the beginning, she is looking for a MALE friend and ends up talking a lot to a MALE STRANGER who could have been very unfriendly at the least. She also ends up talking to a male storekeeper, whom she knew, but even she felt was odd. The book alludes to the fact that Lane seems attracted to danger, though, as when she had to call her HUSBAND Inspector Darling (the name humor was not lost on me) to let him know that while she was on this big adventure, yakking and basically trespassing, she found a dead body sticking out of shallow grave. And that is where I will stop, because the story line does not go much further than that by page 81. It is not really a spoiler alert, as the back of the book will tell you most of this, except my opinion, and my dim view on such openness in a female for that time period, or even now. If you like lots of history, unbelievable story lines, multiple characters, and/or mystery stories, this may very likely be a book for you to read.
September 29, 2022
The best one yet. B.C. author who has based her books in the Kootenays, around Nelson, B.C.
March 17, 2023
I dragged my feet as long as I could to make the series last. This is Book 9 and the last until Wishaw puts out another. I loved this one best - all the characters coalesce and it's like visiting old friends to catch up on what they are doing and watch Wishaw put them through their paces. A great layering of mystery on mystery - one from the 1920s and one current. I did not see many of the twists and turns. As always, Wishaw includes a lot of history of the Kootenays - this time of the Lakes People (the Sinixt) who populated the areas for thousands of years until they were driven out by settlers, miners, loggers and the like (you know, "progress"). I lovely story with Darling and Lane smack in the middle of it all.
I'll simply have to bide my time until book 10...
I'll simply have to bide my time until book 10...
February 11, 2023
While I truly love reading this series and turning myself over to these characters, Framed in Fire felt entirely too long and too drawn out for me. This comes in at just under 500 pages so perhaps sits outside of the "chunkster" definition, but I read this as part of my 2023 Reading Chunksters challenge. Oddly, the book I read that had over 1,000 pages didn't feel as long as this one did.
It will never discourage me from continuing with this series however. I adore it, and I'm anxiously awaiting #10 in the series, To Track a Traitor.
It will never discourage me from continuing with this series however. I adore it, and I'm anxiously awaiting #10 in the series, To Track a Traitor.
August 28, 2022
Another in the terrific Lane Winslow series. This one takes on colonialism and racism toward First Nations and their forgotten history and culture.
July 1, 2022
Although this book shows over 400 pages, they are physically small pages*, and it took me only yesterday for 5 or 6 hours and another hour or two this morning to finish it. I should have slowed down
What I like about Iona Whishaw's books is the fullness of detail about the characters, about their time periods, about community politics, about the history and vintage 1950s of this part of Canada.
The interplay among the characters bears witness to the author's careful observation of social interactions whether neighbor to neighbor, or townie to Indigenous former resident of the area.
Lane Winslow and Frederick Darling are adorables, very serious, very taken with each other as mature lovers, and honest with each other in the way partners ought to be but often aren't. Their sense of duty AND affection to the townfolk and surrounding folks is charming and not unbelieveable. Their neighbors and the people they work with (often one and the same) make this series very cozy.
This particular episode focuses on the Indigenous population that used to inhabit King's Cove and surrounds, and evokes the sadness of those chased out, the meanness of some in-comers, and the interplay between the recent past and the present
*I'd be very happy to have larger pages and a book that can lie flat on your lap or dining table
What I like about Iona Whishaw's books is the fullness of detail about the characters, about their time periods, about community politics, about the history and vintage 1950s of this part of Canada.
The interplay among the characters bears witness to the author's careful observation of social interactions whether neighbor to neighbor, or townie to Indigenous former resident of the area.
Lane Winslow and Frederick Darling are adorables, very serious, very taken with each other as mature lovers, and honest with each other in the way partners ought to be but often aren't. Their sense of duty AND affection to the townfolk and surrounding folks is charming and not unbelieveable. Their neighbors and the people they work with (often one and the same) make this series very cozy.
This particular episode focuses on the Indigenous population that used to inhabit King's Cove and surrounds, and evokes the sadness of those chased out, the meanness of some in-comers, and the interplay between the recent past and the present
*I'd be very happy to have larger pages and a book that can lie flat on your lap or dining table
August 29, 2022
Another gem by Whishaw! She packs into the latest Lane Winslow book the plight of the indigenous peoples of Canada, two long-missing men and one skeleton, two arson fires, anti-immigrant sentiment in post-War Canada, a happy ending for two different couples, and several ladies who have lost their minds. Through it all, Lane's intelligence, kindness, and fairness help a number of people, including her husband, who for a time is under investigation for police corruption. The only thing that remains is to wait for Whishaw's next novel.
May 29, 2022
I enjoyed this book so much which is probably why I gave it a five. Good characters, Lane, Inspector Darling, Sgt O'Brian, Terrell, and many townspeople of Kings Cove. Whishaw's mysteries have so many levels and intriguing parts that may or may not come together the way you think. And I like the gentle caring way the crimes are dealt with and solved. The indigenous characters were presented with great compassion and respect. Well done Ms Whishaw!
December 30, 2024
This might be the best in the series so far. I greatly enjoy this series and how smart and not annoying Lane Winslow is. The stories jump back and forth through time which can be confusing for a time but always wrap up nicely. I appreciated the effort made to address racism in small town Canada during this time.
May 29, 2025
4.5 I loved how the cold case intersected with a current crime. The Indigenous story was also a really cool addition. I didn’t like how Terrell told Ames the whole story in the denouement- I was disappointed we had an end-scene instead of the history of the Lakes People but had to go through several pages of plot summary. 🤔
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 7, 2023
I have never read anything by this author but I enjoyed this book. The history of the Indigenous people in the Kootenays was interesting to me and I was glad to be reminded how B.C. was 100 years ago.
March 20, 2024
Framed in Fire
What a great story!
Ms Whishaw has brought forward how the white people destroyed a way of life that existed first and foremost by bringing forward the Aboriginal story.
A story that cannot be told and retold often enough.
What a great story!
Ms Whishaw has brought forward how the white people destroyed a way of life that existed first and foremost by bringing forward the Aboriginal story.
A story that cannot be told and retold often enough.
November 28, 2022
Saw Iona Whishaw at PoCo library talking about Framed in Fire on Nov 9
July 1, 2023
I am learning so much west coast history and not just the stuff from school books...a history 10s of 1000s of years old.
March 18, 2024
An enjoyable historical mystery. 3/5 stars.
May 21, 2022
#9 in Iona Whishaw's Lane Winslow series. Lane becomes involved in (another) dangerous situaiton as do her husband and some of the police department at the same time that accusations of corruption arise supposedly involving the Italian family who came to Canada after WWII and opened an Italian restaurant in King's Cove and the police chief who is Lane's husband. At the same time Lane meets a young Indian who has come to their area searching for his missing older brother. There are threads throughout the story related to the prejudice against the Italians who many had fought against during the war and the damaging actions against the Indigenous Lakes People who had lived in the area for thousands of years but who 'disappeared' when settlers, miners, loggers, farmers, and others moved into their areas. I have really enjoyed this series from the outset, especially the mix of story and history.
April 9, 2023
The series continues to delve more into social and moral issues while creating a community and mystery. Looking forward to #10!
May 29, 2025
I am enjoying this series. Characters develop in each book.
May 17, 2022
I really like the location of this series and the range of characters created. In this book I really liked the balance between Darling, Lane, Ames and Terrell, I hope there are more books to come in this series.
May 5, 2022
Her best book yet. Loved it.
May 4, 2022
I believe this is her best book so far! She interwove native history, Anti-immigration feeling after WWII and a good murder mystery to boot!
September 20, 2025
Framed in Fire by Iona Whishaw is set in King’s Cove in the Kootenays in beautiful British Columbia, Canada after WWII. Lane Winslow just married Inspector Darling who unexpectedly work together to solve the mystery of a murder from the 20’s. We meet lovely townsfolk (and, of course some salty ones). There is Tom from the Lakes people who once lived along the river until a dam flooded their land, Mr Barisoff who immigrated from Russia, the Vitalis who share their Italian cuisine with the town and the Terrells - he a shameful womanizer and she a daughter longing for her runaway father who surprises her in the end. Want to know the ending?
This novel highlights racism and sexism. History of BC if not of Canada as well as of the ways of Indigenous people was beautifully integrated into the story which kept me turning pages. Glad to have stumbled on this novel here in Goodreads and will definitely explore her other works. Recommend.
This novel highlights racism and sexism. History of BC if not of Canada as well as of the ways of Indigenous people was beautifully integrated into the story which kept me turning pages. Glad to have stumbled on this novel here in Goodreads and will definitely explore her other works. Recommend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 30, 2023
I found this book to be more convoluted than others in the series. The characters and themes she tackles are great, but near the end there is basically a chapter walking the reader through and explaining what happened and how they're connected. There are 3 separate mystery storylines within this book that don't connect until too late. I think trying to tackle racism and sinixt relations in Canada, prejudice against the italians, and a woman unravelling the mystery of her father all in one... was too much jumping around. Wishaw often has flashbacks and time jumps in her books but usually they build together easily, i didn't find that to be the case this time. That being said, the new characters that are introduced are great, particularly Simpson and his family are done really well. I think she could have saved the trouble with the vitali's for the next book! Hopefully she wasn't trying to connect a parallel between first nation struggles and italian in Canada. Overall, a good read but i found my interest drifting with each new seemingly unrelated substory flashback.
November 29, 2022
The newest instalment of the Lane Winslow mysteries is definitely my favourite. The way that Iona Wishaw weaves together multiple mysteries and storylines, completing the puzzle at the end is always so impressive, and in this book she’s outdone herself! I always love the historical accuracy within the series as well, this particular book we learned about the Lakes people that were indigenous to this area of the Kootenays.
August 27, 2022
I’m a late-comer to mysteries but saw this book in a library display and was drawn by the cover and the post-war, interior BC setting. There was lots I liked about it including the characters and plot. I read a lot of award winning fiction so good writing is essential to my enjoyment of a novel. The writing here wasn’t great but was good enough to keep me hanging on. My main issue with the book, and why I rated 3 stars, is the length. Too much detail and very long conversations made the story drag on. Even after you find out the answers to “whodunnit”, the book still goes on and on. But it did get me interested in reading more mysteries!
April 2, 2023
An Indigenous Indian man visiting the land of his ancestors; an Italian couple whose house has been vandalized by an arson fire; a Black police officer—none of whom are welcome in the King’s Cove area. And, of course, Inspector Frederick Darling and his curious and competent wife, Lane Winslow.
An immensely readable mystery series.
Published by Touchwood Editions, 2022
An immensely readable mystery series.
Published by Touchwood Editions, 2022
Displaying 1 - 30 of 139 reviews