Illegally Dead

"Only in Western Canada"
Author wrote what she knew in mystery novel

To the standard writerly advice "write what you know," Joan Donaldson-Yarmey could add "write where you've been." That's what she's done and the result is Illegally Dead, a fast paced and totally captivating whodunit that could only be set in Western Canada.

Though she currently lives on Vancouver Island, Donaldson-Yarmey has lived in rural areas and small towns throughout Alberta and British Columbia, and, as the author of seven travel books celebrating Western Canada, she knows whereof she writes.

Her protagonist Elizabeth Oliver is also a travel writer...

Elizabeth is exploring Alberta's Crowsnest Highway for a travel article when her travels take her down a road where, moments earlier, parts of what is undeniably a human skeleton have been fished out of an unused septic tank.

As she researches her magazine piece, Elizabeth is inexorably drawn into a web of stories of lost loves, lost fathers, and small town politics. But by the time a second body is found she thinks she has found the thread that leads to the centre of the web. Or has she? ...

Travel and mystery turned out to be such a good mix that a sequel for Illegally Dead is already in the works. Like its predecessor, it will be set in rural Western Canada, an area that Elizabeth and Donaldson-Yarmey want to tell the world about.

You would think dead bodies would be something easy to avoid. Illegally Dead follows travel writer Elizabeth Oliver who is hot on the trails of a new article when she by happenstance finds a skeleton in a septic tank. Bad habits die hard as she soon finds herself once more doing more research on the subject than she ought to be doing. Illegally Dead follows her amateur detective-esque ways as she cracks the case in this riveting mystery.

.... Illegally Dead is an interesting debut with highlights of Alberta's past that illustrate how vital our history is, and how a fascinating story can be woven into the real texture of a location — producing suspense and murder along Alberta's Crowsnest Highway..

Sometimes it's hard to know the potential inside your own backyard. An Albertan born and raised, I was thrilled to read about the adventures of a travel writer along the Crowsnest Highway that stretches across southern Alberta. Many of us dismiss the richness of our own Canadian history in favor of what we view to be bloodier or richer history on other continents, Joan Donaldson-Yarmey's first book is a fabulous reminder of the richness of culture and talent that exists here and now.

A fast-paced mystery, supported by a colourful insight into local history — Illegally Dead boasts a fabulous array of dynamic characters. Initially we are introduced to Elizabeth Oliver, much like her creator, Oliver is a travel writer born in Edmonton — she has committed to writing an article about the intricacies of the Crowsnest area. While heading to her dedicated home base in Fort Macleod she stumbles across the grisly discovery of human remains inside a rural septic tank. The property belongs to Peggy Wilson, mother of Shirley McNealy — owner of the Bed and Breakfast Elizabeth is staying at. The secrets come pouring out of the rustic woodwork as all the town's skeletons are inevitably dragged out of their respective closets. From Peggy's missing husband, to her new lover's motives, even an estranged man who returns home at the wrong time in search of his real father — the story grows to encompass all of Fort Macleod. Despite her best attempts to keep to her travel agenda, the charismatic families whose lives are heavily intertwined by proximity, gossip, and now — murder inevitably draw Elizabeth in.

As the story grows we are treated to a plethora of magnetic personalities - from the gossipy clerks behind the counter at the grocery store to the members of Elizabeth's family who call to check in with her when the news hits the front pages of Alberta-wide newspapers. Sumach Press has as their mandate to publish dynamic, feminist writing with a critical perspective; this mystery does not disappoint. It was a pleasure to read a Canadian novel about Canadian women living and working in the dynamics of the present day, rather than seeing them reduced to sidekicks or add-ons in other mystery novels. Elizabeth Oliver, who will appear in an additional two novels Donaldson-Yarmey, is in the process of writing. The second mystery will take place around the Edmonton area, and the third moves to Whistler, British Columbia.

Born in Vancouver and raised in Edmonton, Illegally Dead is Donaldson-Yarmey's first novel that combines the richness of southern Alberta's history and heritage with a fast-paced, intriguing murder mystery. Donaldson-Yarmey is currently working on her second Elizabeth Oliver novel that will take place in and around capital city Edmonton. The trilogy will wrap up the third novel in Whistler, British Columbia. What a fabulous start, I can't wait to read more.