A Lethal Lesson

A Lane Winslow Mystery, Book 8

By: Iona Whishaw

Narrated by: Marilla Wex

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.

©2021 Iona Whishaw (P)2022 TouchWood Editions

Critic reviews

An Indigo Top 10 Best Mystery of 2021

A Globe and Mail bestseller

#1 Bestselling New Release in Canada

“There are days when nothing suits a reader like a good old-fashioned classic cozy with a puzzle plot, a country setting and some nice slight characters. When that urge strikes, Iona Whishaw’s delightful B.C. series featuring Lane Winslow and, now, husband, Inspector Darling of the King’s Cove constabulary, are just the ticket … A really good book in a terrific series.”—Globe and Mail

“I absolutely love the modern sensibility of these novels, of their feminism, sense of justice, their anti-racism, their progressiveness, which somehow never seems out of place in a tiny BC hamlet in 1948 … But it’s never preachy or pedantic, and Whishaw continues to use her murder mysteries to explore the limitations on women’s lives and freedom that were contemporary to the period, and which are not yet so far away in the rear view mirror.”—Kerry Clare, author of Mitzi Bytes and Waiting for a Star to Fall

“Whishaw nicely captures the rhythms and dynamics of small-town life while maintaining suspense. Maisie Dobbs and Phryne Fisher fans will be pleased.”—Publishers Weekly

Love the Lane Winslow mysteries

Iona Whishaw’s Lane Winslow mysteries are set in postwar British Columbia, Canada. They are the perfect cozy mystery stories to curl up with and settle in for the perfect read. The international aspects add to the intrigue.

Love this series so much

Characters are so well drawn. And it’s sweet. No gory violence or sex. Write more, please.

Another Great Book in This Series

I am a huge fan of author Iona Whishaw's Lane Winslow series. Set in rural British Columbia in the years immediately following WWII, the intrepid Miss Winslow is a former British spy who among other feats parachuted behind enemy lines to bring communications to the French Resistance.

Recently married to Inspector Frederick Darling of the Nelson police, Lane has found herself in the middle of many of his cases. This story has several mysteries including an injured teacher in her ransacked cottage, a second teacher missing, a child left alone in a cold house, and a dead victim of a hit and run. How all of these various elements come together in a brilliant resolution is incredibly satisfying!

Excellent narration by Marilla Wex makes this a truly terrific audiobook.