Come for the joint launch of two books published by Regina's Shadowpaw Press, THE LAUNDRYMAN by Saskatoon author Dwayne Brenna, a literary historical murder mystery set in Prince Albert in the late 19th century, and FIREBOY by Regina author Edward Willett, a modern-day middle-grade fantasy adventure.
Enjoy readings by the authors, appetizers--and the Artesian's terrific bar service!
About THE LAUNDRYMAN by Dwayne Brenna:
In the frozen heart of the 1883 Canadian frontier, a single death unveils a darkness that could consume a town―and the men sworn to protect it.
Corporal Belvedere, a Mountie scarred by a brutal past, and Surgeon Virgil Montgomery, a newcomer haunted by his own doubts, are drawn into a murder investigation in the isolated settlement of Prince Albert. As winter’s grip tightens, the killing exposes a web of secrets buried beneath the snow, threatening to unravel the fragile order of the North-West Territories.
In a community steeped in mistrust, Belvedere’s unyielding quest for justice collides with Montgomery’s struggle to uphold his oath to do no harm. Each clue they uncover draws them deeper into a maze of deception, where allies and enemies blur and every step risks a deadly reckoning. As the ice on the Saskatchewan River begins to crack, they must confront a truth that could cost them their lives―or their souls.
A gripping tale of vengeance and redemption, The Laundryman plunges you into a world where justice battles betrayal, and the truth lies buried in a frozen wilderness.
DWAYNE BRENNA is the award-winning author of several books of humour, poetry, and fiction. Coteau Books published his popular series of humorous vignettes entitled Eddie Gustafson’s Guide to Christmas in 2000. His two books of poetry, Stealing Home and Give My Love to Rose, were published by Hagios Press in 2012 and 2015 respectively. Stealing Home, a poetic celebration of the game of baseball, was subsequently shortlisted for several Saskatchewan Book Awards, including the University of Regina Book of the Year Award. His first novel, New Albion, about a laudanum-addicted playwright struggling to survive in London’s East End during the winter of 1850-51, was published by Coteau Books in autumn 2016. New Albion won the 2017 Muslims for Peace and Justice Fiction Award at the Saskatchewan Book Awards. It was also one of three English-language novels shortlisted for the prestigious MM Bennetts Award for historical fiction. His baseball novel Long Way Home was published by Pocol Press in 2022, and his theatre history text Nights That Shook the Stage (McFarland Books) came out in the spring of 2023. His short story collection Theories of Everything was published by Shadowpaw Press iin 2025. His short stories and poems have been published in an array of journals, including Grain, Nine, Spitball, The Antigonish Review, Intima, and The Cold Mountain Review.
About FIREBOY by Edward Willett:
I knew things were getting weird when I saw my best friend's face in the campfire. I didn't realize how weird until the campfire followed me home . . ."
Thirteen-year-old Samantha "Sam" MacReady is nervous about the start of Grade 8, especially science class, which isn't too surprising: last year, her Grade 7 science class mysteriously disappeared on the way to a field trip she missed out on.
But when her best friend, Lorenzo—who no one has seen since he got on the bus with the rest of that class—suddenly appears in a campfire, she moves from nervous to freaked out. She teams up with Meg LeBlanc, the sole student survivor of what all adults refer to as "The Tragedy," to uncover just what went on that day and why Lorenzo is now showing up in her back yard made entirely of flames.
What the two girls find out is far freakier and scarier than they ever imagined. Sam and Meg must use all their grit and intelligence to save the day and free their friends from magical enslavement . . . or fall victim to the very same fate.
EDWARD WILLETT is the award-winning author (under his own name and as E.C. Blake and Lee Arthur Chane) of more than sixty books of science fiction, fantasy, and nonfiction for readers of all ages, including twelve novels for DAW Books. He has been shortlisted multiple times for Saskatchewan Book Awards, and won for his young adult fantasy Spirit Singer (Shadowpaw Press). He won Canada’s top science fiction and fantasy award, the Aurora, for his second novel for DAW, Marseguro, and has been shortlisted several times since, as well, including for his most recent young adult science fiction novel, Star Song (Shadowpaw Press). Ed has also won an Aurora Award for his podcast, The Worldshapers. In addition to being a writer and editor, Ed is a professional actor and singer. He lives in Regina, Saskatchewan with his wife, Margaret Anne Hodges, a professional engineer.
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