Summer readings | A tour of Quebec in thrillers

This summer, the investigation is being conducted in Quebec. Here are 12 mystery novels released in the past year that will keep you guessing across the province.

An investigation in Murray Bay

Charlevoix

Fans of thrillers and historical novels will be delighted with this plot set in July 1910, in Murray Bay, a wealthy Anglo-Saxon enclave in the heart of Charlevoix. When a suspicious death is discovered, Inspector Édouard Lavergne is dispatched as reinforcements from Montreal and threatens to disturb the tranquility of vacationers.

The astonishing memory of ice cream

Estrie

The author was inspired by her job as a reporter to shape her new hero, investigative journalist Michel Duquesne. Sent to the scene of a fire where four people died, in a small fictional village evoking Lac-Brome, he discovers the ramifications of a much more sordid affair, at the risk of his life.

prey

Estrie

It is in a small village in the Eastern Townships, near the Maine border, that this unbearable suspense is played out, reminiscent of the novel by the same author. Buzzard. Three teenagers who have gone camping in the forest, in a quiet place near a river, see their getaway transformed into a nightmare when a disturbed individual targets them.

Until the last cry

Northern Quebec

SPVM investigator Victor Lessard and his partner, Jacinthe Taillon, are rather regulars in the metropolis… But they lead us here on a breathless hunt near the Matagami mine, where a hostage taker demands to negotiate with the policeman Montrealer who is forced to collaborate with the RCMP.

The Madness of the Crowds

Estrie

The village of Three Pines may not exist, but the author drew inspiration for her series with Armand Gamache from around Knowlton, where she has lived for years. There is even a guided tour of the region to follow in the footsteps of the investigator whose 17^e title focuses on the violence that stems from hate speech.

The targets

Quebec

Even if this last title by Maud Graham dates back to the summer of 2020, the Quebec policewoman remains essential in the landscape of Quebec thrillers – especially since her 20^e title, one less, is scheduled for next October, with the resurgence of feminicides during the pandemic as a starting point. In The targetsMaud Graham, on the other hand, investigates a murder and disappearance that occurred years ago and has never been solved.

Stigmas

Quebec

Detective Sergeant Francis Pagliaro looks into this fifth investigation into the suicide of an inmate of Donnacona prison, a pharmacist from Quebec who had been convicted of the murder of a woman and her son. The policeman, renowned for his humanism and his penchant for philosophy, then decides to reopen the file.

Éloi Fortier, wreck hunter

Lower St. Lawrence

Maritime investigators are not legion in the genre and here is a very original starting point. Éloi Fortier probes the mysterious waters of the river in search of wrecks and the secrets of their sinking. This is how he finds himself investigating a legendary naval mechanic, following a dangerous underwater trail from Métis-sur-Mer to Rimouski and Matane.

In the shadow of the Holy Mafia

Abitibi-Temiscamingue

This historical thriller transports us to the heart of a clerical drama that threatens to tarnish the reputation of the Church. When a tragedy occurs in a community in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, a lawyer establishes a link with the drowning of a young woman which occurred 25 years earlier in the capital, daring to defy the prohibitions of the time and the all-powerful clergy.

Dangerous driving

Three Rivers

Big Hit Hero The Melodie Cormier case, the Trois-Rivières inspector Jean-Sébastien Héroux investigates in this sixth title a case that reminds him of the disappearance of the young girl, which occurred a few years earlier. Forced in addition to deal with a fugitive who has resurfaced, he takes us to the heart of stories that may be linked.

hell without confession

Montreal

This supernatural thriller takes us on the descent into hell of a young man whose life changes after the discovery of a corpse in his apartment building. He then sees himself plunged into a waking nightmare alongside a neighbor with divine powers and meets a strange duo of investigators. An oppressive atmosphere in the heart of the metropolis.

On the edge of the apocalypse

Montreal

These stories brought together under the sign of the apocalypse are so many opportunities to reconnect with the former SPVM inspector Gonzague Théberge or to discover other characters from the author’s universe, such as the writer Victor Prose. Together, they follow in the footsteps of villainous murderers in the heart of the city.