From memoirist Terese Marie Mailhot to the renowned Margaret Atwood, Canadian authors have made significant contributions to the literary landscape around the world. And though the country is filled with inspiration for writers of all genres, there’s something about the Great White North that makes it especially well-suited for mysteries and thrillers. With a complex and rich history, plenty of small towns, remote areas, snowstorms, and expansive wildlife and nature, Canada’s setting is perfect for twisty, atmospheric stories. Here are just a few of the gifted Canadian authors writing must-listen mysteries and thrillers right now.
Louise Penny
Louise Penny worked for years as a journalist for the CBC before turning her talents to novel writing. Her skills for covering true stories shine in her creation of characters and crimes that feel incredibly real. Her first published novel became a hit and featured a protagonist inspired by her husband. It won the 2007 Anthony Award for Best First Novel, and Penny hasn’t looked back since.
Mystery fans around the world have fallen in love with every aspect of this series, from Chief Inspector Armand Gamache himself to the setting of Three Pines to all the residents of the small village. While the series released its 20th book in 2025, it all started with Still Life, where a local murder required the sleuthing chops of Gamache and his Surete du Quebec colleagues. Audiobook listeners are in great hands with Adam Sims, who has narrated a ton of thrillers, including some of James Patterson and Steve Cavanagh’s work.
Linwood Barclay
With four series and more than a dozen stand-alone thrillers to his name, internationally bestselling author Linwood Barclay offers plenty of entertaining thrill rides for mystery fans of all stripes. Crafted with action, engaging hooks, and plenty of twists, it’s no wonder the former Toronto Star journalist’s work has been adapted for film and television, and won multiple Arthur Ellis awards.
Linwood’s 2022 Take Your Breath Away, narrated by a full cast, highlights his ability to build tension, craft twisty mysteries, and keep fans guessing. Six years after Andrew Mason was suspected in his wife Brie’s disappearance, he changed his name and moved. Now there are reports that someone matching Brie’s description has shown up at her previous home before once again disappearing.
Jennifer Hillier
Filipino-Canadian bestselling author Jennifer Hillier has won multiple ITW Thriller Awards. Her suspense-obsessed fan base is always awaiting her next twisty book, as her dark stories are known to keep listeners on their toes.
Narrated by actress Carla Vega and awarded ITW’s 2023 Best Audiobook Award, Things We Do in the Dark starts with a surprising hook. Paris Peralta’s biggest concern over her husband’s death—which may have been by murder or suicide—isn’t that she’ll be accused, but rather that it might reveal her past.
Ausma Zehanat Khan
Born in England and raised in Toronto, Ausma Zehanat Khan used her knowledge and experience as a human rights lawyer and editor-in-chief of Muslim Girl to inspire her future novels. Her debut mystery kicked off a great procedural series and received the Barry Award and the Arthur Ellis Award.
Fans of lesser-known history, murder mysteries, and excellent sleuth pairings are in for a treat with The Unquiet Dead, which begins with a police unit focused on community policing, created by the Canadian federal government. Esa Khattak is a second-generation Muslim Canadian running the force who requests Rachel Getty, a cop’s daughter with a sinking career, be assigned to his unit. Stage and screen actor Peter Ganim delivers top-notch narration throughout the five-book series.
Shari Lapena
Shari Lapena, a former lawyer and English teacher, found her forte and had an international bestselling hit with her first thriller (which was not her first published novel). This worked out for both Lapena, who now writes full time at her Ontario farm, and her fans, who get a new twisty mystery each year.
Lapena crafts a deliciously devious domestic thriller with Not a Happy Family that’s sure to satisfy fans of the everyone-is-a-suspect trope. Audie Award winner Ellen Archer narrates the story of the Merton family. The parents are found dead after a contentious Easter dinner, and the three adult children are among the suspects.
Kelley Armstrong
With more than 12 series across the fantasy and crime genres—including a hit police procedural that inspired a spinoff, a time-travelling historical mystery saga, and recent stand-alones in romance and horror—New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong has an extensive backlist to keep a wide range of genre fans entertained.
In the Yukon, there’s a secret town where all the residents are hiding from something. Since they don’t know what each other's secrets are (hint: it’s a mix of hiding from criminals and criminals hiding from the law), there is clearly going to be trouble. In this case, that trouble comes in the form of a murder. Thérèse Plummer expertly brings the characters and Yukon setting to life, as would be expected from a narrator with multiple Earphone and Audie Awards.
Sheena Kamal
Born in the Caribbean and raised in Canada, Sheena Kamal is an author, screenwriter, and essayist whose activism and community leadership during her time at the University of Toronto were awarded with a TD Canada Trust scholarship. Her debut thriller took home three awards: the 2018 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize, a Macavity Award for Best First Novel, and a Strand Magazine Critics Award.
The Lost Ones jumpstarts an exciting trilogy that introduces Nora Watts, a young woman working as a receptionist for a PI firm, who finds her past catching up to her. The couple who adopted Nora’s baby have come to tell her the now-teenager has disappeared, and the police won’t help. With the gift of being a human lie detector, Nora sets out across Canada to find the missing girl. The audiobook is narrated by the exceptional—and heavily awarded—Bahni Turpin, who has lent her voice to critically acclaimed works like The Hate U Give and The Underground Railroad.
Nita Prose
Canadian book editor Nita Prose’s debut mystery was an international hit that received numerous awards, from the Anthony Award for Best First Novel to the Ned Kelly Award for International Crime Fiction. Now, Prose has amassed fans around the globe for her engaging, heartwarming Molly the Maid series.
Molly Gray is working at a high-end hotel as a maid when things take a deadly turn: she finds a guest dead in his room, and she soon becomes a suspect. So begins the career of an amateur sleuth and standout heroine listeners can’t get enough of. Six Feet Under actress Lauren Ambrose brings Prose’s tone and Molly’s personality perfectly to life.
Ashley Audrain
After a career in public relations, including working as the publicity director of Penguin Books Canada, Ashley Audrain set her sights on publishing her own novel. Her debut was a bestseller and won Best First Crime Novel at the Crime Writers of Canada Awards.
Exploring the darker side of parenthood and generational trauma, The Push is an emotional suspense novel that opens with new mother Blythe Connor watching a perfect family from afar. From there, things begin to rapidly spiral. You’ve certainly heard of many of the novels that actress Marin Ireland has narrated, including Remarkably Bright Creatures, a résumé that makes her pitch-perfect performance here entirely unsurprising.
Ken Cuperus
Canadian TV producer and writer Ken Cuperus has taken his narrative skills to audio storytelling, penning popular Audible Original murder mysteries with excellent full-cast narrations helmed by some of the country’s biggest talents.
The first season of Mistletoe Murders is broken into deliciously bite-sized episodes perfect for fans of murder mysteries and amateur sleuths. Oh, and this small-town detective also happens to run a Christmas-themed store. Excellent voice work and stellar production quality add to the fun. You’ll be delighted to listen in as Canadian American actress Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother), Canadian actor Raymond Ablack (Ginny & Georgia), and Canadian actress Anna Cathcart (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before) perform this festive, cozy mystery.
Amy McCulloch
Becoming the youngest Canadian woman to climb Mt. Manaslu in Nepal in 2019 makes Amy McCulloch a perfect fit for writing adventure-based mysteries and thrillers, especially her internationally bestselling adult debut.
Breathless is set on the mountain Manaslu, where journalist Cecily Wong has to make it to the top of the mountain in order to get an interview she needs to make her career. The problem? Lots, from her not being a climber to the fact that people start dying the further they go up the mountain. Actress Katie Leung—who narrated Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil and appears in the fourth season of Bridgerton—expertly translates the novel’s suspense from page to audio.
Jamie Canavés is a Book Riot Contributing Editor who is always up for chatting about books and any form of entertainment.
