Margaret Spencer
Written by Gwendolyn Southin

Middle-class, middle-aged MARGARET SPENSER is at loose ends when she answers a classified ad for part-time secretarial work in a detective agency, and somehow finds herself working the mean streets of 1958 Vancouver, tracking down missing kids and runaway teenagers.

Death in a Family Way is author Gwendolyn Southin's first novel, and the general consensus is that it's a well-paced debut, featuring an appealing character, with a quick sense of wit, and an agreeably down-to-earth feel.

Nope, it's not exactly hard-boiled swinging dick action, but if you liked the TV show Mom, P.I. or Elisabeth Bower's Meg Lacey, you might get a kick out of this one, which seems to share a certain sensibility of down-to-earth common sense, hands-on justice and practical feminism.

UNDER OATH

• "The flow of the book is smooth, the action well paced, and the plot well thought out."
  (Quill and Quire Magazine)
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• "An unusual location and an engaging sleuth reminiscent of more laid-back times."
  (John North, The National Post)

NOVELS

• Death in a Family Way (2000) ..Buy this book