Vicki Delany - Mystery Novels and Suspense Novels

Among the Departed. Constable Molly Smith #5  

Fifteen years ago a young girl by the name of Moonlight Smith went to her best friend Nicky Nowak’s house for a sleepover. Moonlight joined the family for breakfast the following morning and was then picked up by her mother. Shortly after, Mr. Nowak went for a walk. 

He was never seen again. 

It is now autumn in the mountain town of Trafalgar, British Columbia. Searching for a lost child in the wilderness a police dog discovers human remains. When Sergeant John Winters reopens the investigation into the disappearance of Brian Nowak he finds a shattered family and townsfolk desperate to keep their secrets.  Among the Departed is much more than a mystery novel: it is also a story of love - new and old, long-concealed, life-affirming and fatal.

Among the Departed hits a new high for author Vicki Delany. [M]ystery fiction that uses the genre as a creative tool for story telling that touches the spirit… Don Graves, Hamilton Spectator

The beautiful setting nicely frames this village police procedural, which boasts well-delineated characters and combines police investigation with the life of cops on the beat. Booklist

 Delany (Negative Image, 2010, etc.) invigorates the cozy genre with an unsparing look at love in all its variations, including coming to terms with it the second time around. Kirkus Reviews 

Negative Image. Constable Molly Smith #4

When his wife’s former fiance is found dead of a gunshot to the back of the head, Sergeant John Winters is faced with the most difficult decision of his life: loyalty to his wife or to his job.

“Delany adds fine layers of intricacy and depth to the crimes, investigations, pacing and characters of Negative Image, so that by the end, those virtues have put her well within range of the most sterling of smart, talented crime writers.” London Free Press
 

Winter of Secrets: Constable Molly Smith #3

Christmas in Trafalgar, B.C. The skiing vacation of a group of rowdy students takes a tragic turn, and Smith and Winters discover that sometimes an accident isn’t as it first appears.

  “…a bare-bones style, without literary flash, to achieve artistry as sturdy and restrained as a Shaker chair. Warmth and menace, past and present, are nicely balanced, with a denouement that’s equally plausible and startling. This confident performance is sure to win new fans to the series.” Publishers Weekly Starred Review

More on Winter of Secrets

Valley of the Lost: Constable Molly Smith #2

Vicki Delany created a beautiful, idyllic, Canadian mountain village within the pages of her 2007 mystery, In The Shadow of the Glacier. And then she threw a dead body into the mix. Now this quiet village is once again in trouble in Valley of the Lost, and-as usual-it is up to Constable Molly Smith and Sergeant John Winters to sort out the crime before the villagers turn on each other.  
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 “…builds to a pulse-pounding conclusion.” - Publisher’s Weekly.

 In the Shadow of the Glacier: Constable Molly Smith # 1

Trouble is brewing in the small, bucolic mountain town of Trafalgar, British Columbia. An American who came to Trafalgar as a Vietnam War draft dodger has left land and money to the town but there’s a catch: the money must be used to build a garden to honor draft dodgers. This bequest has torn the close-knit, peaceful town apart. Then the body of a leading opponent is found in an alley, dead from a single blow to the head.
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“Delany writes with a painter’s landscape palette and a storyteller’s deft hand at spinning a good tale.”  - Hamilton (Ontario) Spectator.