May I recommend
Buying my latest novel, Speak For The Dead
Every now and then I have to make a blatantly self-serving recommendation in this newsletter and this time it’s to buy Speak For The Dead — my latest novel, out THIS TUESDAY, March 14th.
Listen, I really think you’ll like it. It’s a murder mystery, which is fun — Like Knives Out or a really thrilling episode of Bones.
It’s got a crusty, grumpy main character who drinks too much, watches shitty reality TV and cannot form meaningful relationships BUT she is also quite smart and has a passion for JUSTICE. Also, she’s nice to an old man at a funeral, so we know she’s a good person.
It’s also set in a ramshackle building at the edge of a nearly abandoned Royal Canadian Air Force Base which houses highly explosive nitrate film that can literally spontaneously combust if you look at it funny. I was inspired to write this book based on my OWN real life experience of working in a ramshackle building at the edge of a nearly abandoned RCAF Base that housed highly explosive nitrate film… although unlike Dr. Cate Spencer, the only things I discovered were mice, cobwebs and the firm belief that it would make a great setting for MURDER.
I initially had big plans to call the novel Who By Fire and weave in all sorts of Leonard Cohen lyrics from that great, creepy song, but guess what? You have to get permission to use song lyrics and that doesn’t always happen, and even if it does, it costs lots and lots and lots and lots of money. So.
Anyway, Leonard’s song was recently used in the opening credits of a really wonderful, twisty Irish, sister-bonding murder show called Bad Sisters, so watch that to get the vibes for my book. Obviously the producers had a bigger budget for licensing rights than mine, which was “Uh what? Oh no.”
So, please buy SPEAK FOR THE DEAD — it is the second in the Dominion Archives Mystery series but you 100% don’t have to have read THE FOULEST THINGS to pick up Speak… In an undoubtedly career-harming move, I wrote a sequel that has NO returning characters — la la, it will be FINE.
Publisher’s Weekly said this about it:
[A] strong sequel to 2022's The Foulest Things . . . Tector smoothly balances her lead's struggles with alcohol in the wake of her brother's death with developments in this well-crafted mystery. Temperance Brennan fans will be pleased.
Lovely bookstagrammer MJ Beauchamp said these nice things:
Speak for the Dead is its own story and so also works as a stand alone. It follows a new strong yet flawed female protagonist, Cate, a coroner looking into what is first thought to be a suicide at the Dominion Archives. Though struggling with her own issues, Cate’s determined to uncover the truth. Through protests over a real estate development, land ownership and reparations for the Algonquin community, and despite pressure from all sides, she doesn’t back down. Why keep going? To find justice, but maybe also some deeper personal closure.
Amy Tector’s ability to develop such profound and endearing characters is truly refreshing. This second book is well worth picking up!
Contact your local bookstore and ask them to get it for you. THEY WILL BE DELIGHTED or all the old faithfuls of Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indigo, etc carry it.
Also, listen, if you can’t afford/don’t want to buy SPEAK, that’s fine too. You could ask your local library to order it in, which would be lovely and I would appreciate it. Even if you have no interest in doing that, DON’T SWEAT IT — I’m just thrilled your reading this li’l ole newsletter!
I liked this list
The Best Mystery Books of all Time
Obviously, they are missing an important archives-related mystery series, but apart from that, great choices. My friend Christa will be PARTICULARLY pleased about the inclusion of The Moonstone, which is a fantastic one that I read on her recommendation.
This classic mystery was published in 1868 and is considered to be the first detective novel published in the English language. It follows a cast of characters as they try to identify the culprit responsible for the theft of a cursed diamond — and find the priceless gem. NPR calls this twisty tale “a hidden gem of a detective novel.”
A beautiful article on studying the Pole
The Secret Life of the North Pole
This is a poetic description of what it’s like to work at the North Pole, where surprisingly, algae features prominently
Whenever Brian Lanoil and his colleagues embark on an expedition to collect microbes from the ice, they enlist a local trapper or hunter to come along. “You have to have somebody with you who is armed with a rifle, somebody keeping watch for polar bears while you’re working,” says Lanoil, a microbiologist at the University of Alberta.
Get an English degree - you’ll get a job, I promise!
I am deeply biased but I love and am very proud of my degree in English Lit. It taught me to write better, think better and argue better. It has directly served me in my career and in my life. Get an English Lit degree, kids! Spending four years reading books and learning to inject yourself into any horror movie conversation by saying, “actually, Frankenstein is the doctor, not the monster” are valuable activities!
“There’s a real misunderstanding that you can come in and say, ‘I want to read post-colonial texts—that’s the thing I want to study—and I have no interest in studying the work of dead white men,’ ” Menon said. “My answer, in the big first lecture that I give, is, If you want to understand Arundhati Roy, or Salman Rushdie, or Zadie Smith, you have to read Dickens. Because one of the tragedies of the British Empire”—she smiled—“is that all those writers read all those books.”
Book Stuff
Speak for the Dead out March 14th!
It’s a stormy summer day when Ottawa coroner Dr. Cate Spencer is called to the scene of an alleged suicide. Inside a narrow vault in the Dominion Archives’ nitrate film storage facility—kept separate from the rest of the collection due to its dangerous combustibility—officers pressure Cate to rule the death a suicide. When parts of the scene don’t add up and a deliberately set spark threatens her life, Cate suspects that this death might be a murder.
Book Signings!
Saturday, April 1, 1pm to 3pm - Perfect Books, Elgin Street - Ottawa. Come on out, have lunch on Elgin Street and then whiz over and say “hi” to me. It will be a blast.
Saturday, April 22, 1:30pm-3pm - Librarie Michabou, Aylmer. It’s in a shopping center! I’ve never been, but you probably need to pick something up there, so come on over and say “hi!” Most exciting, I’ll be joined at the signing table by Wayne Ng, a fantastic, award-winning author.
*New* Saturday, April 29 — 1pm-3pm - The Spaniel’s Tale Ottawa. It’s in my neighbourhood! It’s Independent Bookseller’s Day! I love it! Come on out!
Literary Festivals
Sunday, April 16th — Quebec City — I’m thrilled to have been invited to the Morrin Centre’s Imagination Writers’ Festival in Quebec City . Come join me on the Plains of Abraham!
*New* Thursday, May 4th, 3:45 pm. — Arnprior, Ontario — Little Branches Rural Roots. I’ve been invited to this wonderful small-libraries conference to be in conversation with fabulous writer and historian, Suzanne Evans.
*New* Sunday, April 30 Time TBD — Online — Newburyport Literary Festival. An amazing lineup of excellent writers, and I’ll be in conversation with one of my fave podcasts, Strong Sense of Place. Huzzah!
Book Recommendations
Super delighted to be featured on this new book recky site, Shepherd. I recommend the five best books about quirky archivists… Did I include a rec for Bear — a funny and weird story about a lady archivist who falls in love with a bear? YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT! You should check out the site - it’s filled with authors recommending very specific types of books to scratch any reading itch.
TikTok
This legit works. Game changer
Song is amazing but dancing is superb
More amazing singing and dancing - these ladies looking good.
Cheeky baby rhino
I could not understand his guy’s book, but I like this interpretation
Ha!
I’ve watched this 600 times
Smart elephant
Crochet Wednesday
I like this lady and her approach to the French vs Brits
Oh boy, I reaalllllly don’t want this guy on our money
This is upsetting
Nap time
I make that exact face on the regular
Drinking from the garden hose
Going to parties
Dog in a pot
I have experienced this maniacal run… and now I miss it!
The little hand
Let’s go into a new week and a Daylight Savings Timed Monday with this kid’s attitude.
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We finished reading Speak for the Dead advance copy, but couldn’t find any errors to report! We enjoyed the complexity in this one and particularly the mingling of the various social communities. Poor Cate! Maybe she’ll become more likeable in the next story.
Congrats on book two!!