A Killer Whisky by Susan Calder – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Susan Calder will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

The 1918 influenza pandemic strikes Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Great War rages overseas. While her husband fights in Europe, Katharine works in a doctor’s office to support her children and her brother, a wounded veteran. One night their neighbour suddenly takes sick and dies. The attending doctor concludes the man died from influenza, but Katharine suspects someone laced his whisky with a drug that mimics the deadly flu’s symptoms.

Katharine convinces the police to investigate. Worried about her brother’s involvement with a suspect, she delves into his secrets and comes to fear he’s connected to the murder. She grows disturbingly attracted to the investigating detective who returns her affections. He’s convinced her brother or someone else close to her is a killer and risks his career to pursue the crime. Katharine must discover the truth so she can move forward in a world that has changed forever.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Katharine’s fingers slid over the piano keys. Her daughter strummed a toy banjo, and her son banged pots and pans. They drowned out her brother, John, on the alto saxophone. “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” blared through the living room. Katharine turned to the next page of her sheet music. She struck a wrong note then a sour chord. The song stumbled to a merciful end.

She swivelled the piano stool to face John. “I haven’t played that since before the war.” She remembered the merry evening in this room with her husband and their friends. By the following month, all the men who had been there had enlisted. One had since died in the mud of Passchendaele.

“With a little practice, we’ll be playing the dance halls,” John said.

“Really, Uncle John?” Lillian’s eyes lit up.

“Absolutely.” John raised his saxophone. “What’s our next tune?”

“Bedtime for Henry and Lillian,” Katharine said.

“Why?” Henry bolted up from the floor. “We don’t have school tomorrow.”

“Uncle John will teach you.”

John smirked at Henry. “I’m sharpening my ruler for when you misbehave.”

Henry jumped onto the davenport and clapped his wooden spoon “drumsticks.”

“You go change,” Katharine told him. “Lillian and I will clean up.”

He pointed the spoons at his sister. “There’s a Hun. Pow.”

“I’m not a Hun,” Lillian said. “I’m an Ally.”

“A dirty Hun. Pow, pow.”

“An Ally.” Lillian held her banjo to her chest in defence. “Tell him, Mama.”

“We’re all Allies,” Katharine said. “Canadians.”

“Huns. Pow, pow.” Henry aimed a spoon at them both.

Lillian squealed and ducked between the davenport and piano.

“Pow.”

“Stop it, Henry,” Katharine said, firming up her tone. “If you don’t get into your nightshirt now, Lillian and I will walk in while you’re getting dressed.”

About the Author Susan Calder lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She is the author of five novels published by BWL Publishing Inc. A Deadly Fall, Ten Days in Summer, Winter’s Rage and Spring Into Danger are part of her Paula Savard Mystery Series. The books follow the adventures of Paula, a Calgary insurance adjuster who works with the police to solve insurance-related crimes. Susan’s standalone suspense novel, To Catch a Fox takes a troubled Calgary woman to Southern California on a quest to find her missing mother. In December 2024, BWL will release Susan’s first historical novel, A Killer Whisky. The story is set in 1918 Calgary and will be the 12th and final book of the BWL Canadian Historical Mystery Series. Susan has also published non-fiction articles. Her short stories and poems have won contests and appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines. She is a member of Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, and the Writers’ Guild of Alberta.

Buy the book at Amazon.