From luxury liners to Toronto’s underbelly, two of Canada’s finest mystery authors return to the MOTIVE stage to take us on journeys back into the past. With The Silent Film Star Murders, Melodie Campbell’s glamorous and gleeful high-seas mystery, theatrical rivalries, silver screen scandals and one extremely suspicious snake set the stage for murder. Lady Lucy Revelstoke and her quick-witted maid, Elf, return to investigate who’s playing a deadly role aboard the Victoriana. In stormy 1930s Toronto, Murdoch Mysteries creator, Maureen Jennings’ P.I. Charlotte Frayne faces two crimes on opposite ends of the social ladder in March Roars. With wrongful arrests, hidden biases, and tangled personal histories, Charlotte’s pursuit of truth forces her to confront a justice system in crisis. Whether it’s champagne-fueled drama or razor-sharp noir, this event delivers the intrigue, wit, and social history that make classic mysteries feel brand new.
Moderated by Janet Smyth
Lady Lucy Revelstoke reboards her ocean liner for another high society murder mystery on the high seas — with rival film stars, resentful ex-lovers, and renegade snakes!
Embarking on another transatlantic crossing in 1928, merry widow Lady Lucy Revelstoke welcomes new guests aboard the Victoriana, including Renata Harwood, star of the silver screen, and Stella Burke, her bitter protégée-turned-rival. Everyone expects these leading ladies to serve up delicious drama over dinner, but true tragedy strikes when a young woman goes missing.
March roars in, and Charlotte Frayne, P.I. must resolve “a grave miscarriage of justice” to save the lives of two young men.
“A grave injustice.” Those are the words in the letter sent to Charlotte Frayne, P.I., on a cold March morning.
The newspapers have reported on the arrest of two Black teenagers in a burglary, but did the pair actually commit the crime?
Called the “Queen of Comedy" by the
Toronto Sun,
Melodie Campbell was also named the “Canadian literary heir to Donald Westlake” by
Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Winner of 10 awards, including The Derringer (US) and the Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence, she has multiple bestsellers, and was featured in
USA Today.
Maureen Jennings immigrated to Canada from the UK as a teenager. She is the author of the Detective Murdoch Mysteries, which has been adapted to a television series that airs around the world.
Sat, June 28, 2025
A book signing will follow this event
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