Maple Mysteries
A directory of mystery novels set across Canada organized by place, series, and author.
Mystery Series Set in Canada
Benny Cooperman
by Howard Engel
The Benny Cooperman series is a collection of mystery novels by Howard Engels, featuring the witty and kind detective Benny…
Canadian Chills
by Arthur Slade
The Canadian Chills middle-grade series combines Arthur Slade’s comic genius with his ability to make your heart freeze…
Cape Breton Mystery
by Renny de Groot
The Cape Breton series by Renny deGroot is a collection o books that follow the adventures of Detective Gordie MacLean and…
Chad Hobbes Historical Crimes
by Seán Haldane
The Chad Hobbes Historical Crime series by Seán Haldane is a collection of detective mysteries set in the Victorian era.…
Charlie Salter
by Eric Wright
The Charlie Salter mystery series by Eric Wright follows Toronto police inspector Charlie Salter through 11 compelling investigations…
Chief Inspector Gamache
by Louise Penny
The series, also known as the Three Pines Mysteries, follows Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec as he…
Collins-Burke Mystery
by Anne Emery
The series follows the adventures of Monty Collins, a defense attorney, and Brennan Burke, a Catholic priest, as they solve…
Constable Molly Smith Mystery
by Vicki Delany
The series follows rookie constable Molly Smith as she navigates the challenges of her new role while solving crimes that…
Detective Aunty Investigates
by Uzma Jalaluddin
The Detective Aunty Investigates series by Uzma Jalaluddin follows Kausar Khan, a charming and tenacious widow, as she investigates…
Dr. Bannerman Vet Mystery
by Philipp Schott
The Dr. Bannerman Vet Mystery series by Philipp Schott is a cozy mystery series that combines the talents of a veterinarian…
Dr. Zol Szabo Medical Mystery
by Ross Pennie
The series follows Dr. Zol Szabo, a trauma surgeon who, after facing personal tragedy and a series of mysterious deaths,…
Edie Kiglatuk
by M. J. McGrath
The Edie Kiglatuk Mysteries series by M.J. McGrath is a collection of four Arctic mysteries that follow the adventures of…
Ellis Portal Mysteries
by Rosemary Aubert
The hero, Ellis Portal is down on his luck, fallen from his role as a respected judge and family man to the poverty-ridden…
Gasper's Cove Mystery
by Barbara Emodi
The Gasper's Cove Mysteries by Barbara Emodi is a cozy mystery series set in a fictional Nova Scotia town. The series…
Glenmere Box Mysteries
by Lisa Adair
A mystery series set in the 1980s small-town of Glenmere, Saskatchewan
Grub-and-Stakers
by Charlotte MacLeod
The Grub-And-Stakers Mystery Series by Alisa Craig, also known as Charlotte MacLeod, is a cozy mystery series set in the…
Haven's Rock
by Kelley Armstrong
Haven's Rock is a series by Kelley Armstrong that follows Detective Casey Butler and Sheriff Eric Dalton as they build…
Highclere Inn & Carriage House Mystery
by Josh Hellyer
A laugh-out-loud mystery series set in the Muskoka Lakes area.
Holly Martin Mystery
by Lou Allin
The Holly Martin Mystery series follows RCMP Corporal Holly Martin as she navigates crime and intrigue on the south coast…
Hygge House Nordic Mystery
by A. L. Jensen
Hygge House Mysteries: where murder meets Scandinavian comfort in a rustic northern Ontario town.
Inspector Coswell Mystery
by Roy Innes
The Inspector Coswell Mystery series by Roy Innes is a collection of intricate police procedural novels that blend the complexities…
John Cardinal and Lise Delorme
by Giles Blunt
The John Cardinal and Lise Delorme series by Giles Blunt consists of six novels, each set in the fictional town of Algonquin…
Kate Henry Mystery
by Alison Gordon
Alison Gordon's Kate Henry Mystery series is a collection of murder mystery novels featuring the character Kate Henry,…
Klondike Mystery
by Vicki Delany
Series set in Dawson City, Yukon, during the Great Klondike Gold Rush of 1898
Lake Pines Mystery
by L.L. Abbott
The Lake Pines Mystery series by L.L. Abbott is a captivating collection of murder mysteries set in a small lakeside town…
Lane Winslow Mystery
by Iona Whishaw
The books are set in 1946 in a charming backwater community in BC that the author lived in as a child. It is a community…
Madoc and Janet Rhys Mystery
by Charlotte MacLeod
The Madoc & Janet Rhys mystery series is a cozy mystery series by Canadian-American novelist Charlotte MacLeod, known…
Nadine Lavoie
by Chevy Stevens
Nadine Lavoie is a psychiatrist who helps others confront their inner demons while grappling with her own traumatic past.
Operation Series
by Helen C. Escott
The Operation Series by Helen C. Escott is a bestselling collection of Canadian crime thrillers, combining fast-paced police…
Quill & Packet Mystery
by Elizabeth Renzetti, Kate Hilton
The Quill & Packet Mystery series, authored by Kate Hilton and Elizabeth Renzetti, follows the journey of Cat Conway,…
Randy Craig Mystery
by Janice E. MacDonald
The Randy Craig Mystery Series by Janice MacDonald is a long‑running Canadian academic‑mystery series set primarily in Edmonton,…
Rockton
by Kelley Armstrong
Don’t look for Rockton on any map of the Yukon. This tiny, off-the-grid town doesn’t exist. Neither do the people in it.…
Rosalind Mystery
by Linda Moore
Linda Moore’s Rosalind Mystery series is a small Canadian mystery series set primarily in Nova Scotia, built around Rosalind,…
Sebastian Synard Mysteries
by Kevin Major
The Sebastian Synard Mysteries follow the adventures of a private detective and tour guide, Sebastian Synard, as he navigates…
Senior Sleuth Series
by Maureen Fisher
The Senior Sleuth series by Maureen Fisher follows three women of 'a certain age' who inherit a dude ranch and…
Small-Town Saskatchewan Mystery
by Nelson Brunanski
The Crooked Lake series by Nelson Brunanski is a small-town Saskatchewan mystery series that captures the essence of rural…
Stonechild and Rouleau Mystery
by Brenda Chapman
The series follows the personal and professional lives of Kala Stonechild and Jacques Rouleau as they navigate the complexities…
Temperance Brennan
by Kathy Reichs
The Temperance Brennan series, written by Kathy Reichs, features a forensic anthropologist who investigates crimes in Montreal.…
The Falls Mystery
by J. E. Barnard
The Falls Mysteries series by J.E. Barnard is a crime fiction series that revolves around ex-Mountie Lacey McCrae, who becomes…
The Screech Owls
by Roy MacGregor
The Screech Owls is a celebrated Canadian juvenile and young adult fiction series written by Roy MacGregor. Published by…
The Shores Mystery
by Hilary MacLeod
The Shores Mysteries is a series that immerses readers in the quirky and colorful world of The Shores, a fishing village…
Tom & Liz Austen Mysteries
by Eric Wilson
The Tom & Liz Austen Mysteries series by Eric Wilson is a collection of young adult detective novels that follow the…
Verona Montero
by Kayleigh Suggett
Wisecracking PI Verona Montero takes on outrageous cases with sharp instincts, sharper humour, and a talent for stumbling…
Stand-alone Canadian Mysteries
Alone in the classroom
In a small prairie school in 1929, Connie Flood helps a backward student, Michael Graves, learn how to read. Observing them and darkening their lives is the principal, Parley Burns, whose strange behaviour culminates in an attack so disturbing its repercussions continue to the present day. Connie’s niece, Anne, tells the story. Impelled by curiosity about her dynamic, adventurous aunt and her more conventional mother, she revisits Connie’s past and her mother’s broken childhood. In the process,…
Anywhere but here
by Adele Dueck
Marjorie, facing a lonely summer on her family’s Saskatchewan farm, investigates missing agricultural chemicals with neighbour Craig. Discovering the stolen goods on her property, she fears her father’s involvement, adding suspense to the predictable yet satisfying mystery.
Bean Fate
by James Arnett
A shocking Prohibition-era murder in a dusty Saskatchewan border town inflames the public’s suspicions about links between the politicians and Al Capone and the Chicago Mob. When rookie cop Jack Ross’s investigation gets too close to the truth, he’s pulled off the case. Then he goes rogue.
Death on Darby's Island
by Alice Walsh
Nothing exciting ever happens on Darby's Island, Newfoundland. That is until one summer afternoon in 1975 when a Chevy towing a trailer drives off the ferry. The Great Prospero, Hypnotist and Magician is printed in large red letters across the side. People on the island are thrilled that the renowned Prospero is going to perform at the community hall. However, after the hypnotist suggests his subjects are seagulls, Jake Pickford, with arms flapping, leaves the building and does not return to the…
Deer Island Mystery
by Don Kelly
Jamie’s heritage project on Captain Nehemiah Butler quickly turns into a search for buried treasure, and he and his friends have to draw on their deductive, orientation, and science skills to find it. Tension mounts when an important clue goes missing at school. Will someone else beat them to the treasure? This mystery read for ages 9-12 is set on New Brunswick’s Deer Island.
Disposable Souls
The body of Pastor Sandy Gardner, a TV preacher with a global following, turns up near a Halifax container pier. The mysterious case lands with Cam Neville, a city cop with a dead wife, PTSD, and a haunting past. Can Neville, a former biker and war hero, solve the killing and find himself? In search of the truth, Neville and his partner, a Mi’kmaw Mountie named Blair Christmas, enter a perilous world of strippers, kiddie porn, and corruption that threatens to destroy them. Meanwhile, Neville is…
Dust
by Arthur Slade
Seven-year-old Matthew disappears in Depression-era Saskatchewan, followed by other children. A strange man named Abram Harsich arrives, promising a rainmaking machine, but only Matthew’s brother Robert resists his influence.
False Bodies
by J.R. McCovey
False Bodies follows monster hunter Eddie “The Yeti” Gesner to Newfoundland, to investigate a mass death on an offshore oil rig―which some say is the work of a kraken. A mysterious incident in Eddie’s life has made him obsessed with chasing unfathomable things, but when an antique diary plunges him into a watery world of squid cults, tentacled beasts and corporate greed, Eddie finds even his own fractured reality pushed to the brink, as he’s forced to confront an undersea power beyond human imagining.
Last Lullaby
by Alice Walsh
When Claire and Bram's only child dies suddenly, it at first appears to be a case of crib death. But when the real cause of death indicates homicide and Claire is arrested as the number-one suspect, her friend, lawyer Lauren LaVallee, promises she'll do everything she can to prove Claire's innocence. As Lauren combs Paddy's Arm for suspects, amid department politics and small-town talk, leads abound. Why are professors Frances and Annabelle being so secretive about their adopted daughter? What's…
Last of the Independents
by Sam Weibe
Twenty-nine-year-old Michael Drayton runs a private investigation agency in Vancouver that specializes in missing persons. Only, as Mike has discovered, some missing people stay with you. Still haunted by the unsolved disappearance of a young girl, Mike is hired to find the vanished son of a local junk merchant. However, he quickly discovers that the case has been damaged by a crooked private eye and dismissed by a disinterested justice system. Worse, the only viable lead involves a drug-addicted…
Lower City
by Alex Spring
In 2025, Hamilton, Ontario is plagued by abductions orchestrated by criminals seeking to form a “perfect family.” Danny Clarke, a young steelworker, witnesses the first abduction and, alongside his cousins, races to stop the kidnappers and save the city.
Pirate Rock
The story follows two teenage boys who are unexpectedly drawn into a web of espionage and moral dilemmas. They find themselves working for a man who treats them with fairness and trust, yet they soon discover that he is involved in Communist spying, creating a conflict between their personal loyalty to him and their duty to protect the security of their countries.
Strange Things Done
by Elle Wild
As winter closes in and the roads snow over in Dawson City, Yukon, newly arrived journalist Jo Silver investigates the dubious suicide of a local politician and quickly discovers that not everything in the sleepy tourist town is what it seems. Before long, law enforcement begins treating the death as a possible murder and Jo is the prime suspect.
The Crane
by Monica Kidd
It’s 1968 and James Anderson’s twin brother Dave has just been killed in the Vietnam war. Knowing his turn is next, James turns his back on his family’s military legacy, evading the draft and travelling to Newfoundland to fulfill a promise his brother made to a fellow soldier. Unwittingly swept into an intergenerational family secret while on assignment for a St. John’s newspaper, James finds something in Newfoundland that could just save his life.
The Dead Letter
In 2001, a Canadian police constable murders his girlfriend in a fit of jealous rage. When he realizes what he's done, he manages to construct an elaborate cover-up. Only one person knows the truth. Now, more than a decade later, Anne Brown is running her late uncle's detective agency after spending several years as his assistant. One day, the postman delivers a long-lost letter addressed to her uncle from a woman named Carolyn Jollimore. She says she has evidence about a murder and begs for help.…
The Hunt
Ben Matthews is less than thrilled when he is posted to Canada from Washington, but he doesn’t have time to sit in his disappointment. His diplomatic credentials are still fresh when he is drawn into an urgent assignment: locating an American VIP who vanished on a Yukon hunting trip. Seeking help from the local Mounties, he finds himself paired with Lee Sawchuk; an RCMP sergeant, she is at ease in the challenging terrain of the Yukon environment. Battling nature and their considerable differences,…
The Mystic and the Missing Girl
Drew Benson has a secret. She gets visions, something she hasn’t tapped into since she was a teenager, when her late aunt, a TV psychic known as Hannah Mystic, became the scapegoat in the unsolved disappearance of a local teenager. Twenty years later, Drew is happy to ignore her gift, focusing instead on keeping the metaphysical shop she inherited from Hannah afloat, wrangling her sole, astrology-obsessed employee, and dodging local rake Foster Banks in her picturesque lakeside hometown. But when…
The Reluctant Detective
A young widow, orphan and mother, Wilhelmina Anne Brown is just beginning to find some stability in her new home in Prince Edward Island when she is forced to deal with the death of her beloved uncle, Bill Darby. Darby, a Charlottetown private investigator, leaves Anne and her fourteen-year-old daughter a small savings account and his business, where Anne has worked as office manager for six years. What follows is Anne's struggle to protect her family, find justice for her clients, and forge a new…
Traitor's Game
It is the summer of 1940 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a city that has become a bustling strategic port for the war raging in Europe. In a wealthy South End neighbourhood, the daughter of a local Royal Navy commander has just been found murdered. Her father—who just happens to be the number-one suspect—and mother are missing. To complicate matters for Halifax Police Detective Mick Blackwell, the Royal Navy has claimed jurisdiction over his investigation. On the other side of the Atlantic, British Prime…
You Were Never Here
Cat hasn’t been to Montgomery Falls, the town her family founded, since she was twelve years old. Since the summer she discovered she could do things that no normal twelve-year-old could do. Since she had her first kiss with Riley Fraser. Since she destroyed their friendship. Now, five years later, she’s back and Riley has disappeared. For the last three months no one has heard from or seen Riley. And while there are all sorts of conspiracy theories about where he went, neither the police nor his…