New Highway Mystery in Time for National Crime Writing Month

LANGLEY, British Columbia - April 29, 2013 - PRLog -- Crime Writers of Canada has proclaimed May to be National Crime Writing Month, and mystery author R.E. Donald has released a print edition of her new Highway Mystery in time for the occasion. ‘Sea to Sky’, set primarily in Whistler, B.C., is the third novel in the Highway Mysteries series, and finds Donald’s crime-solving trucker, Hunter Rayne, looking forward to a pleasant weekend at the popular ski resort in the company of an attractive female acquaintance. After just one morning on the slopes, however, he is not only embroiled in a murder investigation, he also finds himself the prime suspect.

Hunter Rayne is a former RCMP detective, travelling the highways of western North America in a big blue Freightliner. Hunter is a very Canadian protagonist: he’s soft spoken, chivalrous and above all, polite. Another main character, Hunter’s dispatcher Elspeth Watson on the other hand, is loud, impulsive and swears like a – well – a trucker. After a painful divorce, Hunter has chosen the solitary life of a long haul trucker in order to avoid emotional entanglements and simplify his life, but thanks to his past, he finds himself drawn into murder investigations. Each novel in the series can stand alone, but most readers find the characters so engaging that they want to find out what they’re up to in the next story.

“One of the basic tenets of writing is to ‘write what you know’”, says Donald. “With my twenty years of experience in the transportation industry, it was a natural choice for my series’ milieu.” Donald’s late husband, Jim Donald, was at one time well-known in the Canadian trucking community and there are elements of him in the character, Hunter Rayne. “I try to write the kind of mystery novel I like to read, with realistic characters, multiple suspects and an intriguing puzzle to solve.”

The series got its name because the title of each novel contains the name of a highway. The first novel is ‘Slow Curve on the Coquihalla’, named for the mountainous Coquihalla Highway, recently featured in the Discovery Channel show “Highway Thru Hell”, and set in the Pacific Northwest. The second is ‘Ice on the Grapevine’, with much of the action taking place in Southern California. ‘Ice on the Grapevine’ was a finalist for the 2012 Global EBook Award in mystery fiction, and gained the series fans from all over North America and in Great Britain.

“What really delights me is hearing back from fans around the world. It’s great to know that I already have readers impatiently waiting for the next book in the series.” Donald is at work on the fourth novel in the series, set primarily in the Yukon and Alaska.

The Highway Mysteries are available in both digital and print editions. More information at http://ProudHorsePublishing.com