by Lou Allin
“Feel at home?” Stella asked, giving Holly’s arm a squeeze. “You have returned for a purpose, you know, not just to catch up on old times and fool around with your cousins or to have some of my stseeltun baked on a cedar plank.” Along with the trademark salmon, Stella had promised a magnificent feast of traditional dishes, including duck, venison and sea asparagus.
“I haven’t learned anything else about Mom’s disappearance,” Holly said. “Terry Hart won’t be back until next week. He might have the information on that flight to the interior. It’s taking so long.”
“Hasty as usual, little deer. Watch for predators before you move. The journey has just begun.”
As they looked up, a doe broke from a thicket, crossed the street and bounded off. With a grin spreading over her apple-doll face, Stella nudged her. “You’re on your way.”
Lou Allin was born in Toronto but raised in Ohio. Armed with a Ph.D. in English Renaissance literature, Lou headed north, ending up teaching at Cambrian College in Sudbury, Ontario.
Her first Belle Palmer mystery, Northern Winters Are Murder, was published in 2000, followed by Blackflies Are Murder, Bush Poodles Are Murder, Murder Eh? and Memories Are Murder. Blackflies Are Murder was shortlisted for an Arthur Ellis Award.
Lou has moved from the bush to the beach: the village of Sooke on Vancouver Island, the inspiration for the Holly Martin mysteries, the first of which was And on the Surface Die.
Her website is www.louallin.com
