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The Corpse with the Steely Gaze

Cathy Ace
Works of:
Publisher(s): Four Tails Publishing Ltd.

“Who would want to hurt him? He was one of the good guys. Did a lot of work with charities. Supported his friends and colleagues. Loved his wife and kids.”

Jayson Flyntt melted millions of hearts whenever he gazed directly into the camera as the star of a long-running American soap opera; now he’s in Vancouver’s “Hollywood North” to make a science fiction movie he believes will revive his waning fortunes. When his body is discovered in puzzling circumstances at a filming location on Cait Morgan’s university campus, it’s believed he’s been the victim of a tragic accident. But Cait’s instincts tell her that not everything is quite as it seems – and not just because of the illusions being conjured around her by the production’s crew.

When Cait grabs the unique opportunity to peer behind the silver screen, she discovers that some people within the dead actor’s closest circle not only have their own – sometimes disconcerting – agendas but might even benefit by the star’s death. And when she and her retired-cop husband, Bud, focus more sharply on the dead man’s past, some unexpected local connections develop. Stumped by inexplicable clues, Cait whittles down too many suspects to…none. So she has to take some uncharacteristic steps, because she’s determined to reveal the full picture.

Making our usually confident Welsh Canadian criminal psychologist feel like a fish out of water on her home turf, this sixteenth Cait Morgan Mystery tests her with an investigation that challenges the techniques she’s leaned upon in the past, and even leads her to question some of her most deeply held beliefs.

 

Other Awards

2015 Winner of the Bony Blithe Award for Best Canadian Light Mystery for Cait Morgan Mystery No. 4, The Corpse with the Platinum Hair

2017 Shortlisted for Arthur Ellis Award (now renamed the Crime Writers of Canada’s Awards of Excellence) for Best Short Story for Steve’s Story in The Whole She-Bang 3 (Sisters in Crime); shortlisted for Bony Blithe Award for Best Canadian Light Mystery for Cait Morgan Mystery No. 7, The Corpse with the Garnet Face

2018 Shortlisted for the Bony Blithe Award for Best Canadian Light Mystery for The WISE Enquiries Agency Mystery No. 4, The Case of the Unsuitable Suitor

2019 Winner IPPY Bronze Medal (e-book, regional fiction); Finalist in Suspense & Thriller category, International Book Awards for The Wrong Boy.

2021 Shortlisted Crime Fiction Lover Best Indie Book for The Corpse with the Iron Will (Cait Morgan Mystery 10)

2022 Shortlisted Crime Writers of Canada’s Awards of Excellence Howard Engel Award for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada for The Corpse with the Iron Will (Cait Morgan Mystery 10)

2022 Shortlisted Crime Fiction Lover Best Indie Book for The Corpse with the Turquoise Toes (Cait Morgan Mystery 12)

2024 Winner Crime Fiction Lover Best Indie Book (Editors’ Choice) for The Corpse with the Pearly Smile (Cait Morgan Mystery 14)

2025 Shortlisted CrimeFest Last Laugh Award for The Case of the Secretive Secretary (WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries 10)

2025 Shortlisted Crime Writers of Canada Whodunit Award for Best Traditional Mystery for The Corpse with the Pearly Smile (Cait Morgan Mystery 14)

Sub-genres

Other books by Cathy Ace

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