The Solitary Friend

Amateur sleuth Joanne Shreve finds herself caught in the middle when her friend Vera Wang, the owner of a discreet escort service, The Right Woman, calls in a favor. Howard Dowhanuik, another long-time friend of Joanne's and the former premier of Saskatchewan, has been a loyal client for years. That is until he started badgering Vera's employees, trying to discourage them from performing their "meaningless" work. Given his recent verbal attacks against any and all opponents on his podcast, Joanne knows his erratic behavior must be part of a larger issue. Can Joanne talk Howard down and make him see sense before he goes too far?

To complicate matters, the release of scandalous photos with threatening demands targets both Howard and Calista Wallace. Having quit the escort service, Calista is now engaged to Noah Wainberg, a close member of Joanne's inner circle, but the past could put their future together in jeopardy. Is this hate mail from a heartbroken ex-client or a disgruntled listener of Howard's podcast? Or worse, could the culprit be someone closer to home? With her loved ones' happiness - and their very lives - at stake, Joanne races to find the source of the mysterious messages before they make good on their menacing ultimatum.

In Gail Bowen's 23rd novel, scandalous photos with threatening demands begin to appear targeting Joanne Shreve's friends. She must race to find the source of the mysterious messages before they make good on their menacing ultimatum.


Gail Bowen's Joanne Kilbourn Shreve mysteries have entertained a generation of readers. She has been acclaimed as the "queen of Canadian crime fiction" (Winnipeg Free Press). An author, playwright, and teacher, she has received numerous writing awards, including a lifetime achievement award from the Crime Writers of Canada. She lives in Regina, SK, with her husband, Ted.


Sales and Market Bullets






• FAN FAVORITE: Dedicated readers have been returning to Joanne Kilbourn Shreve's life for more than 20 books (over 32 years!). In 2018, Gail Bowen was one of the six recipients of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, the prince's highest award for a civilian.



• AWARD-WINNING SERIES: Bowen has won or been nominated for most major crime awards in the country, including the Crime Writers of Canada Award (formerly the Arthur Ellis), and each book in the series is met with enthusiasm by critics and readers. In 2008, Reader's Digest named Bowen Canada's Best Mystery Novelist, and she received the Derrick Murdoch Award from the Crime Writers of Canada in 2009. In 2018, she was recognized with the Crime Writers of Canada's Grand Master Award.



• BESTSELLING SERIES: The Unlocking Season (ECW, 2020), An Image in the Lake (ECW, 2021), What's Past Is Prologue (ECW, 2022), and The Legacy (ECW, 2023) were all national bestsellers. The Solitary Friend will likely be the penultimate book of the series.