The Edgar Award-winning series Murder in a Small Town has received renowned praise for its gripping, addictive, and mysterious plotline. Taking place along Canada’s Sunshine Coast, the collection consists of nine thrilling novels written by L.R. Wright.
The central story surrounds an outsider detective, Karl Alberg, as he becomes police chief in the seemingly quiet coastal town of Sechelt, British Columbia. This all flips upside down as he quickly realizes that Sechelt has dark secrets that must be dug up in order to get to the bottom of the murders washing up on its shore.
Throughout the nine novels within the series, Karl is tasked with handling a vast variety of ominous and alarming incidents, as he’s repeatedly reminded that small towns are often shelter to the biggest secrets.
At home, he braces for the equally arduous task of parenting his teenage daughter, amidst his divorce with her mother.
In September 2024, the award-winning series premiered its TV debut on Global in Canada and Fox in the United States, gaining widespread traction across both countries.
The show’s first season draws from multiple novels within Wright’s series, bringing to life the peculiar, eerie atmosphere of Sechelt and its residents.
Since then, a second season of the TV adaptation has begun its release, with new episodes streaming on Hulu and Disney+ the day after their weekly Fox premiere. There are currently four episodes of the newest season available to stream.
The second season will continue to expand Karl’s jurisdiction, Fox announced ahead of the show’s initial release. The dedicated police chief will be faced with more mysterious cases, including kidnappings, dead bodies, and serial stalking.
With his romance with local librarian Cassandra Lee heating up, will he be able to manage all the murderous mayhem thrown at him?
Accompanying the success of Fox’s Murder in a Small Town, Wright’s original collection of novels has also gained well-deserved renewed attention.
As the adapted show continues to roll out, Murder & Mayhem is excited to give away the first five entries in Wright’s original Murder in a Small Town series to five lucky winners!
About the Books
The Suspect
To Karl Alberg, the coastal town of Sechelt, just north of Vancouver, looks like the perfect place to soothe a psyche that's been battered by big-city police work. Bees buzz among the roses, and the local librarian is attractive, intriguing, and unattached.
Perhaps he has at last come in from the cold. But sunny towns can conceal a lot of secrets—some of them bleak enough to make a man yearn for some nice straightforward urban crime.
Sleep While I Sing
Karl Alberg was a big-city cop, for Pete's sake. He solved crimes involving gangsters, druglords, real hardened criminals. He couldn't possibly be stumped by a murder in the sweet coastal town of Sechelt, British Colombia.
Yet here he is, facing one of the most gruesome and baffling murders of his career.
A Chill Rain in January
It's sunny days for Staff Sergeant Karl Alberg, even as everyone else in Canada is shivering. The magnificent Cassandra Mitchell, who has a disconcerting habit of disappearing from both the town of Sechelt and Alberg's bed, has appeared once again.
And though Alberg is effectively the police chief, the most pressing thing on his desk right now is the spunky old lady who has apparently absconded from her retirement home—most likely in search of a good martini.
Fall from Grace
RCMP Sergeant Karl Alberg is attempting to escape the heat with his girlfriend Cassandra when they discover a body on the beach, fresh from a fatal plunge into the icy, all-too-appealing waves.
As Alberg knows from his days as a big-city cop, heat can make people do strange things—such as the recent act of vandalism at a local petting zoo. But was there something more to this untimely death?
Prized Possessions
In this masterpiece of psychological suspense, the real villain is self-delusion; it inflicts more damage than even the craziest serial-killer.
In the case of Emma O'Brea, the delusions concern her marriage: When her husband Charlie disappears it quickly becomes apparent that Emma was the only person in Canada who didn't recognize how desperate he had been to leave.
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Note: The sweepstakes is open to all legal residents of the 50 United States and Washington, DC who are 18 years of age and older by October 10, 2025.
