Will Ferguson is a three-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour. His novels include his debut, HappinessTM, which sold in 23 languages; 419, which won the Giller Prize; and The Finder, winner of the 2021 Arthur Ellis Award for Crime Fiction. With his brother, Ian, he is the co-author of the mega-bestseller, How to Be a Canadian, as well as the cozy mystery series I Only Read Murder, Mystery in the Title, and now Killer on the First Page.
“No cottage weekend should be without a smart and witty cozy mystery. And the Ferguson brothers deliver that perfectly.” –The Globe and Mail
The famous are descending on the town of Happy Rock. This time, the stars are not of the screen but of the page. The Happy Rock bookstore, I Only Read Murder, is hosting not only an author festival but a murder mystery festival, with six of the biggest names in crime fiction.
New bookstore majority co-owner and former TV star Miranda Abbott loves nothing more than the idea of hosting literary luminaries. Little does she realize the authors are bringing their egos, their professional jealousies, and their personal grudges along with their books. And they all want the first look at a mysterious posthumous manuscript that has been delivered to the bookstore. This festival of rivals goes from bad to worse when one of the authors turns up dead in a locked room with no windows. And this death is just the beginning—no one knows which author will be next.
Miranda is on the case, along with Edgar, her almost–ex-husband; Andrew, her one-person entourage; Ned, the patient police chief; and the good people of Happy Rock. Together, they’ll stop at nothing to solve three murders, in three locked rooms, and three impossible crimes.
Miranda Abbott returns! A movie-of-the-week has come to film in Happy Rock and Miranda is the star, at least until her male lead turns up dead.
From the bestselling authors of I Only Read Murder, a side-splitting mystery of epic movie-of-the-week proportions, featuring the unstoppable Miranda Abbott.
Miranda Abbott will once again be a star. After a very long dry spell that followed her network hit series Pastor Fran Investigates, Hollywood has come calling and they want Miranda back. This time to be the female lead in an oddly expensive movie of the week, filming right here in Happy Rock! Miranda signs on the dotted line, but her trusty assistant Andrew, a whiz with apps and clouds, thinks this all seems a bit fishy. When Miranda’s co-star makes a grand entrance by crashing through the atrium window at The Duchess Hotel and being very much dead, things go from bad to worse. The great citizens of Happy Rock, including Police Chief Ned Buckley, grumpy bookstore owner and soon to be ex-husband Edgar Abbott, Bea of Bea’s B&B, and the malodorous Owen McCune return to help solve the case in this second Miranda Abbott mystery.
A once-beloved television sleuth finds herself far from Hollywood and witness to a murder during a small-town theatre production—and is convinced it’s up to her to solve the case.
Miranda Abbott, once known for the crime-solving, karate-chopping church pastor she played on network television, has hit hard times. Turned down for a role on a cable reality show, Miranda is facing ruin when a mysterious postcard arrives, summoning her to Happy Rock, a small town in the Pacific Northwest. But when she gets there, nothing is what she expected.
In dire straits, she signs up for an amateur production at the Happy Rock Little Theatre, competing against the local real estate agent for the lead role. On opening night, one of the actors is murdered, live, in front of the audience. But out of 100 witnesses, no one actually saw what happened. Now everyone is under a cloud of suspicion, including the sardonic town doctor, the local high-school drama teacher, an oil-stained car mechanic, an elderly gentleman who may or may not have been in the CIA—and Miranda herself. Clearly, the only way to solve this mystery is for Miranda to summon her skills as television’s Pastor Fran and draw on the help of her new sidekick, Susan, a shy bookstore clerk who seems to know everyone’s secrets. Because the show must go on!
Starring Terry Fallis, Will Ferguson, Emily Austin & Natalie Sue
In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), the Tsuut’ina, the Iyarhe Nakoda Nations, the Otipemisiwak Métis Government of the Métis Nation within Alberta District 6, and all people who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta.
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