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Literary crime fiction has three Canadian aces. And their new books lean hard into the tradition of propulsive urban noir, Canadian-style. Is there any genre Don Gillmor can’t master? Kirkus Reviews calls Cherry Beach (set in a rundown Toronto) “a layered portrait of a changing city… for fans of Tana French and Dennis Lahane.” Debut author Alex Spring (Lower City) makes Hamilton the backdrop for what Terry Fallis describes as “a brilliant high-wire act… with moving relevance to the challenges facing young people today.” And Kevin Hardcastle is always a crowd favourite, returning to Wordfest with Country Road Six, which none other than John Irving highlights as a model of seamless narrations. “These three sisters are among the strongest, most empathetic women characters one can find in literary fiction—since Charlotte and Emily Bronte were writing novels,” says Irving.