Book club brings Benison thriller

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This article was published 12/06/2021 (1918 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Free Press Book Club and McNally Robinson Booksellers are pleased to welcome C.C. Benison on Monday, June 28 at 7 p.m., to read from and discusses his thriller Paul is Dead, published in 2018 by Signature Editions.

This is the eighth thriller by Benison — the pen name of Winnipeg author, journalist and editor Doug Whiteway — whose output includes the Father Christmas and Her Majesty Investigates series of books. His most recent release is The Unpleasantness at the Battle of Thornford, a novella in the Father Christmas series, published in November 2020 by At Bay Press.

Spanning the course of four decades, Paul is Dead follows friends Lydia Eadon, a San Francisco book editor, and Dorian Grant, a B-list actor, as they grapple with the memories of traumatic events that took place at Lydia’s family’s cabin near Gimli in the summer of 1969. Grant picks up a handsome hitchhiker, Paul Godwin, and the two form an intense bond.

When Dorian is invited to Lydia’s cabin, he brings Paul along. Friction ensues and tensions rise between Lydia, Dorian, Paul and their friends, culminating in a grim and gruesome act that haunts Dorian and Lydia for decades.

Forty years later, the death of Lydia’s mother means she must return to the Interlake to deal with Eadon Lodge, the family cottage. Dorian, back in the area with an acting gig, reconvenes with Lydia as they struggle to come to terms with that fateful weekend in August 1969. If the cottage is sold, there are secrets that could be uncovered — or, even worse, dug up.

Throughout the novel, Benison drops breadcrumbs about exactly what happened that weekend, stringing readers along for a thrilling read. Paul is Dead was a finalist for both the Margaret Laurence Award for fiction and the McNally Robinson Book of the Year award at the 2019 Manitoba Book Awards.

Benison will join Free Press literary editor Ben Sigurdson and Chris Hall of McNally Robinson Booksellers on Monday, June 28 at 7 p.m. for the book club’s monthly virtual meeting. The book club is free to join at any time — simply visit the website at wfp.to/bookclub and register your email address to receive updates and information about current and future books and meetings. Replays of all previous meetings are accessible on the Free Press YouTube channel, and copies of Paul is Dead are available at McNally Robinson Booksellers.

Book club members who are Winnipeg Free Press subscribers are also entered to win a monthly prize pack which includes the following month’s book pick and a Free Press tote bag.

For questions for the featured author or about the book club in general, email bookclub@winnipegfreepress.com.