Cold Mourning — Brenda Chapman

Nominated for the 2015 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel


When murder stalks a family over Christmas, Kala Stonechild trusts her intuition to get results.


It's a week before Christmas when wealthy businessman Tom Underwood disappears into thin air -- with more than enough people wanting him dead.

Officer Kala Stonechild, who has left her Northern Ontario detachment to join a specialized Ottawa crime unit, is tasked with returning Underwood home in time for the holidays. Stonechild, who is from a First Nations reserve, is a lone wolf who is used to surviving by her wits. Her new boss, Detective Jacques Rouleau, has his hands full controlling her, his team, and an investigation that keeps threatening to go off track.

Old betrayals and complicated family relationships brutally collide when love turns to hate and murder stalks a family.