Open Secret - Deryn Collier - Cover Reveal

Well, you might be wondering where the title and author is on the cover shot on the left. In fact this is just one piece of the cover of Open Secret by Deryn Collier.

Collier's first book, Confined Space, introduced us to ex–Canadian Forces commander Bern Fortin who cut short his military career to take a job as a coroner in a small town in British Columbia.

The second Bern Fortin novel, Open Secret, doesn't release until April 8, 2014, but here's a sneak peek and a chance to add this one to your TBR list! (It's on mine!)

From Simon and Schuster Canada:

"Deryn Collier’s debut mystery, Confined Space, was called an “intelligently conceived, suspenseful, and elegantly written story” by The Toronto Star. Now Coroner Bern Fortin is back in a riveting new mystery.

After the abrupt end to his military career Bern has settled into an uneasy peace in his new life in Kootenay Landing—a peace he knows can’t last. Out for a fall hike, he discovers Dr. Juniper Sinclair, the town’s lone doctor, attempting to revive small-time drug dealer Seymour Melnychuk, who has been shot in the forehead. In a seemingly unrelated incident, Gary Dowd abandons his van while crossing the US border. Gary is a local father of two, an accountant, and a steady, predictable guy. He’s also been best friends with Seymour Melnychuk since elementary school.

 Bern knows the two disturbing events must be related and works with police constable Maddie Schilling to uncover the hidden ties that connect the two cases. Why was Dr Sinclair already on the scene? Why is there no exit wound on Seymour’s body? Why did Gary Dowd disappear while trying to cross the border? Who truly controls the hills and forests around Kootenay Landing? Amidst the chaos of the case, Bern’s military background comes back to haunt him, forcing him to confront the secrets of his own past that he has long sought to keep buried.

As Bern and Schilling close in on the killer, each is drawn into the case personally and the stakes are higher than anyone can imagine. Everyone has something to hide, and no one in Kootenay Landing seems willing to talk. But Bern Fortin is well aware that no secret can remain buried forever—not even his own."


Photograph © Laura Wilby

"Deryn Collier grew up in Ottawa and Montreal and is a graduate of McGill University. After a very short career as a federal bureaucrat she ran away to the mountains of BC where she has been ever since. She has worked in a log yard, a brewery, as a doctor recruiter and a communications consultant.

Deryn’s first novel, Confined Space was shortlisted for an Arthur Ellis Award for best unpublished first crime novel by the Crime Writers of Canada. It was published in Canada by Simon & Schuster in 2012.
Deryn lives in Nelson, BC with her family and blogs about crime fiction and life in the mountains."

You can find Deryn Collier on Facebook and on Twitter.

We won't keep it a secret.....you can discover the rest of the cover at Mysteries and More as well as The House of Crime and Mystery.