Authors

Festival Authors

Announcing the authors for Montréal Mystery / Montréal Mystère 2025!

Guest of Honour: Johana Gustawsson

Mikaël Archambault
Samantha M. Bailey
Andrea Bartz
Will Dean
Charlène Desjardins
Lee Matthew Goldberg
Jennifer Hillier
Kate Hilton
Lisa Kusel
Steve Laflamme
Ann Lambert
Shari Lapena

Nina Laurin
Vanessa Lillie
Olesya Lyuzna
Catherine McKenzie
Hannah Mary McKinnon
Clémence Michallon
Martin Michaud
Nita Prose
Elizabeth Renzetti
Hank Phillippi Ryan
Katie Tallo
Wendy Walker

Presenting in English

Johana Gustawsson, Guest of Honour
Born in Marseille, France, and with a degree in Political Science, Johana Gustawsson has worked as a journalist for the French and Spanish press and television. Her critically acclaimed Roy & Castells series, including Block 46, Keeper and Blood Song, is now published in 23 countries. Johana’s gothic historical thriller, The Bleeding, was shortlisted for the CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger in the UK. Yule Island has followed suit, winning several accolades, amongst which the Livre de Poche Best Crime Novel of the Year. A TV adaptation of Yule Island is currently underway. Johana lives on the island of Lidingö, in Sweden, with her three sons.

Photo: Dahlia Katz Photography

Samantha M. Bailey
Samantha M. Bailey is the USA TODAY, Amazon Charts, and #1 international bestselling author of WOMAN ON THE EDGE, WATCH OUT FOR HER, and A FRIEND IN THE DARK. Her novels have sold in twelve countries. She lives in Toronto, where she can usually be found tapping away at her computer or curled up on her couch with a book. Samantha is currently working on her next domestic suspense, HELLO, JULIET, set to publish in spring 2025. Connect with her on Instagram @SBaileyBooks and on her website at SamanthaMBailey.com.

Andrea Bartz
Andrea Bartz is a journalist and the New York Times-bestselling author of Reese’s Book Club pick We Were Never Here, The Spare Room, The Herd, and LA Times bestseller The Lost Night. Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Marie Claire, Vogue, and many other outlets, and she's held editorial positions at Glamour, Psychology Today, and Self, among other publications. Her forthcoming thriller, The Last Ferry Out, will be published in May 2025. Originally from Milwaukee, she studied journalism at Northwestern University and lives in Brooklyn and the Hudson Valley. She runs a newsletter for writers at andibartz.substack.com and is on Instagram at @andibartz.

Will Dean
Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands of the United Kingdom. After studying law at the London School of Economics and working in London, he settled in rural Sweden where he built a wooden house in a vast forest, and it’s from this base that he compulsively reads and writes. His debut novel, Dark Pines, was selected for Zoe Ball’s book club on TV, shortlisted for the National Book Awards and the Guardian’s Not the Booker prize, and was named a Telegraph book of the year. He is also the author of The Last One, First Born, The Last Thing to Burn, which was shortlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, and The Chamber.

Lee Matthew Goldberg
Lee Matthew Goldberg is the Anthony, Lefty, and Prix du Polar nominated author of fourteen novels including THE ANCESTOR and THE MENTOR, and THE GREAT GIMMELMANS along with his five-book DESIRE CARD series. His YA series RUNAWAY TRAIN is currently with actress Raegan Revord from Young Sheldon attached to develop his original written pilot. MILES IN TIME will be released in 2025.

After graduating with an MFA from the New School, he’s been published in multiple languages and his writing has also appeared in CrimeReads and other venues. His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Book Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series and lives in New York City. Follow him at LeeMatthewGoldberg.com

Jennifer Hillier
Jennifer Hillier is the USA Today, Toronto Star, and The Globe and Mail bestselling author of the award-winning Things We Do in the Dark, described as “an intoxicating thrill ride” by the New York Times and “propulsive and chilling” by People magazine. It was an Indigo Top Ten Best Book of the Year, an Amazon Editor’s Spotlight Pick, a Goodreads Choice Award nominee, a Loan Stars pick, and her third consecutive novel to be honored as a LibraryReads pick, which places her in their Hall of Fame. She's also the author of six other novels including the bestsellers Little Secrets and Jar of Hearts, which won the Thriller Award for Best Hardcover Novel. Her books have been published in 23 languages. A Filipino-Canadian born and raised in the Toronto area, she lives in Oakville, Ontario with her family.

Photo: Betsy Hilton

Kate Hilton
KATE HILTON is the co-author (with Elizabeth Renzetti) of Bury the Lead, the bestselling first novel in the Quill & Packet mystery series, as well as the forthcoming Widows and Orphans (2025). She is also the author of the novels The Hole in the Middle, Just Like Family, and Better Luck Next Time. When not writing, Kate maintains an active psychotherapy practice, working with individuals and couples. She has a particular interest in personal reinvention and life transitions. Kate has had prior careers in law, university administration, publishing, and major-gift fundraising. She lives with her family in Toronto.

Lisa Kusel
Lisa Kusel is the author of the psychological thriller, THE WIDOW ON DWYER COURT. Before publishing her first novel in 2002, Lisa Kusel created Microsoft’s first online arts magazine; coordinated recycling for the EPA; and sold Maybelline cosmetics in Russia. Her books include OTHER FISH IN THE SEA (stories), the novel HAT TRICK, and RASH, her wild and crazy memoir about living in Bali. She has an MA in anthropology from Brown University and has been a writing resident at Vermont Studio Center, the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley, and Chateau de Orquevaux. When she’s not volunteering with the local food shelf, meditating or cooking, Kusel can be found wrangling words (as well as her crazy cat, Dave) at her desk overlooking Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vermont. Her next book, a murder mystery set in the foothills of northern California, will be released in 2025.

Photo: Pierre Arsenault

Ann Lambert
Ann’s first novel of the Russell and Leduc mystery series, The Birds That Stay, was published in 2019 and was a finalist for the Concordia Best First Book Prize that same year. Her second book in the series, The Dogs of Winter, was a finalist for the Canadian Crime Writers Award of Excellence, and won an Audiophile award. Her third book in the series, Whale Fall, came out in the fall of 2023. All three books were released as audiobooks narrated by Ann herself. Ann will be releasing a new book featuring a brand new detective in 2025!

Ann has also written over 25 plays for the stage and radio over forty years in the theatre, such as The Wall, Self Offense, and Parallel Lines. Ann is the former head of The Playwriting Program at the National Theatre School of Canada. She is the co-founder of Theatre Ouest End in Montreal, which was launched in the spring of 2019. It is dedicated to producing new work that brings together an intergenerational community of both emerging and experienced theatre artists. Ann is retired from Dawson College in Montreal where she was a teacher of English literature for almost thirty years, and where for the last 13 years, she wrote, directed and produced shows with The Dawson Theatre Collective.

Photo: Tristan Ostler

Shari Lapena
SHARI LAPENA is the #1 internationally bestselling author of eight suspense novels including The Couple Next Door, A Stranger in the House, An Unwanted Guest, Someone We Know, The End of Her, Not a Happy Family, Everyone Here is Lying, and What Have You Done? A former lawyer and English teacher, Shari now writes full time from a farm in Ontario, where she lives with her husband.

Her first thriller, The Couple Next Door, was a runaway global bestseller, selling 4 million copies worldwide. It was WHSmith’s “Book of the Year” in 2016 and the #1 Adult Fiction Title in the UK for 2017. All of Shari’s novels have been New York Times, UK Sunday Times, and Globe and Mail bestsellers. Three of her books have been Richard & Judy Book Club Picks. Her books have sold into forty territories around the world and have been optioned for film and TV.

She doesn’t want you to be able to put her books down.

Nina Laurin
Nina Laurin is the bestselling author of six thrillers, including Girl Last Seen and The Shadow Girls, set to release in April 2025. Born outside of Canada, Nina is multilingual, speaking Russian, French, and English, though she writes her novels in English...for now. With a keen fascination for the darkness hiding behind the everyday, she often explores these themes in her gripping and atmospheric stories. Nina holds a BA in Creative Writing from Concordia University. She lives near Montreal.

Vanessa Lillie
Vanessa Lillie is the USA Today bestselling author of Blood Sisters, a new series centered on the stories of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, which was a Target Book Club pick and GMA Book Club Buzz Pick, as well as a best mystery of the year from the Washington Post, Amazon Editor’s and Reader’s Digest. Her other thrillers are Little Voices, For the Best and she’s the creator and coauthor of the # 1 Audible Charts bestseller and International Thriller Writers award nominated, Young Rich Widows, set in Providence, RI where she lives, with the Audible Original sequel Desperate Deadly Widows and print edition were recently released. Originally from Miami, Oklahoma, she is a proud citizen of the Cherokee Nation.

Lillie was a Sisters in Crime board member and wrote a weekly column for the Providence Journal about her experiences during the first year of the pandemic. She hosts an Instagram Live show, ‘Twas the Night Before Book Launch, where she chats with authors the night before their book is out in the world.

Olesya Lyuzna
Olesya Lyuzna is a Toronto-based author with one fatal flaw: she can’t resist a good mystery. Her debut novel, Glitter in the Dark, follows an advice columnist on the hunt for a missing torch singer, all while navigating forbidden feelings for a Ziegfeld showgirl in 1920s New York. Selected for a Pitch Wars mentorship by Layne Fargo and Halley Sutton, Glitter in the Dark is the first in a planned series that reimagines classic noir in the glittering, smoky world of the 1920s through a queer, female-driven lens.

When she’s not writing, you'll find Olesya hosting murder mystery parties, haunting Toronto’s historic movie theatres, and scouring the archives for unsolved crimes. Connect with her on Instagram at @olesyaisonline.

Catherine McKenzie
Catherine McKenzie was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. A graduate of McGill University in history and law, Catherine practiced law for twenty years before leaving to write full time. An avid runner, skier, and tennis player, she’s the author of numerous bestsellers including I’ll Never Tell and The Good Liar. Her works have been translated into multiple languages and I’ll Never Tell and Please Join Us have been optioned for development into television series. Visit her at CatherineMcKenzie.com or follow her on Twitter @CEMcKenzie1 or Instagram @CatherineMcKenzieAuthor.

Hannah Mary McKinnon
Internationally bestselling author Hannah Mary McKinnon was born in the UK, grew up in Switzerland and moved to Canada in 2010. While her debut, TIME AFTER TIME, was a rom com, she transitioned to the dark side thereafter. Her seven suspense novels include NEVER COMING HOME, THE REVENGE LIST, ONLY ONE SURVIVES. Her next novel, to be published in September 2025, is titled A KILLER MOTIVE. Hannah Mary's work has been optioned for the screen. It’s rumored Hannah Mary still has a softer side because she also writes holiday romantic comedies as Holly Cassidy, the second of which is THE CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN. Hannah Mary lives near Toronto with her husband and three sons. Follow her on social media @hannahmarymckinnon, and visit www.HannahMaryMcKinnon.com for more.

Photo: Gabrielle Malewski

Clémence Michallon
CLÉMENCE MICHALLON is the author of The Quiet Tenant, a USA Today and international bestseller and nominee for the Dashiell Hammett Prize. She’s also a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Time Magazine, The Independent, and more. Clémence was born and raised near Paris, has lived in New York since 2014, and became a US citizen in 2022. She can be found on Instagram at clemencemichallon and on X at Clemence_Mcl.

Nita Prose
NITA PROSE is the author of The Mystery Guest and The Maid, which has sold over 2 million copies worldwide and was published in more than forty countries. A #1 New York Times bestseller and a Good Morning America Book Club pick, The Maid won the Ned Kelly Award for International Crime Fiction, the Fingerprint Award for Debut Novel of the Year, the Anthony Award for Best First Novel, and the Barry Award for Best First Mystery, and was an Edgar Award finalist for Best Novel. X and Instagram: @NitaProse

Elizabeth Renzetti
ELIZABETH RENZETTI is a bestselling Canadian author and journalist. She has worked for the Globe and Mail as a reporter, editor, and columnist. In 2020, she won the Landsberg Award for her reporting on gender equality. She is the author of Shrewed: A Wry and Closely Observed Look at the Lives of Women and Girls, Based on a True Story, and What She Said: Conversations about Equality. She lives in Toronto with her family.

Hank Phillippi Ryan
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN is the USA Today bestselling author of 15 psychological thrillers, winning the most prestigious awards in the genre: five Agathas, five Anthonys, and the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. She is also on-air investigative reporter for Boston’s WHDH-TV, with 37 EMMYs and dozens more journalism honors. National book critics call her "a superb and gifted storyteller." Her current novel is the page-turning standalone ONE WRONG WORD, a twisty story of gaslighting, manipulation, and murder.

Hank is the co-host and founder of THE BACK ROOM, host of CRIME TIME on A Mighty Blaze, and co-host of FIRST CHAPTER FUN. She lives in Boston, with her husband, a criminal defense and civil rights attorney.

Katie Tallo
Katie Tallo has been an award-winning screenwriter and director for more than three decades. After winning an international contest for unpublished fiction, she began writing novels, including Dark August and Poison Lilies. She has a daughter and lives with her husband in Ottawa, Ontario.

Wendy Walker
Wendy Walker is the author of psychological suspense novels including All Is Not Forgotten, Don’t Look for Me, What Remains and the Audible Originals American Girl and Mad Love. Her latest novel, Blade, will be published in early 2026. Her novels have been translated into twenty-three foreign languages, topped bestseller lists both nationally and abroad, and have been optioned for television and film. Wendy holds degrees from Brown University and Georgetown Law School. She has worked as a family law attorney, investment banker, and spent several years training for competitive figure skating.

Presenting in French

Mikäel Archambault
A graduate in comedy writing from École nationale de l’humour (2010) and in literary studies at Université du Québec à Montréal (2014), Mikaël Archambault is a novelist, television screenwriter and writer for numerous comedians. His nine novels stand out by their complex characters and their plot full of twists and turns, as well as by the humorous touch which accompanies all his writing. His series Les enquêtes de Gaétan Tanguay takes place in the world of professional sport. A television adaptation is currently in the works.

Charlène Desjardins
Born in Saint-Colomban, Charlène Desjardins is a graduate of the National Police School of Québec. Her profession allows her to bring a lot of realism to her writing. As police officer, she likes to imagine investigations that are surprising and full of mystery. Her first novel, Fraction was published in 2021, and her second novel, entitled La seconde maison, came out in 2024.

Steve Laflamme
Steve Laflamme teaches literature (crime and mystery novels, among others) at the Cégep de Sainte-Foy, in Quebec City. His first novel, Le Chercheur d’âme (Éd. de l’Homme, thriller) was praised by critics and readers, both in Quebec and in Europe, whilst being nominated among the finalists for the Salon du livre du Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean Prize, in 2017. In 2018, Laflamme won the Damase-Potvin Award in the Professional category for a short story called “Quatre fois, quatre saisons”. Other than his thriller series pitting detective Xavier Martel (Le Chercheur d’âme, Sous un ciel d’abîme and Sans la peau), Laflamme also published two more thrillers, Cam, policière sans limite and Marcel, le gardien des secrets, which are spin-offs from his “Forbidden Tales” (Éditions Corbeau).

Since 2023, his new thriller series involving police detective Guillaume Volta and literature professor Frédérique Santinelli is published by Les Éditions Libre Expression (Les agneaux de l’Aube and Vingt-trois jours de haine). The third novel from the Santinelli & Volta series is set to be released in the spring of 2025.

Photo: Gabrielle Malewski

Photo: Julia Marois

Martin Michaud
Having practiced as a business lawyer before devoting himself to writing, Martin is a bestselling writer recognized by critics as the master of the québécois thriller. His novels have earned him a wide readership in Quebec, English Canada, the United States, Germany and French-speaking Europe, as well as numerous awards. He wrote three seasons of the TV series Victor Lessard, which won first prize at the Banff World Media Festival and reached more than six million views on Club Illico. The distribution rights for the series were acquired by ZDF Studios.