Award-winning author Dwayne Brenna’s latest is a gripping literary mystery novel featuring North West Mounted Policemen solving a murder in Prince Albert in the winter of 1883-84

Shadowpaw Press in Regina, Saskatchewan, is happy to announce the release of The Laundryman by award-winning Saskatoon author Dwayne Brenna, a gripping literary mystery set in the fledgling community of Prince Albert in the brutal winter of 1883-84, as two North West Mounted Policemen attempt to solve the murder of a Chinese laundryman and in the process unearth a web of deceit and naked greed. 

The Laundryman launches in Saskatoon at McNally Robinson Booksellers at 7 p.m. on March 5; in Regina at The Artesian at 7:30 p.m. on March 12; and in Prince Albert at Cuelenaere Library at 7 p.m. on March 16.

“I’m beyond excited to unleash Belvedere and Montgomery, two Mounties as mismatched as winter and lemonade, upon the reading public,” says Brenna. “Although Shadowpaw is on the cover, there are no cats in the book—only dogs and policemen and suspects in a brutal murder. Hopefully, sometime in the future, I’ll find a way to include a dastardly cat in a work of fiction.”

“I’m thrilled to be able to publish this gripping historical murder mystery,” says Edward Willett, publisher of Shadowpaw Press. “Shadowpaw Press is very much a Saskatchewan publisher, and it’s always a delight to be able to share a story set in the province—or what would become the province. Even if it doesn’t include a cat.”

The book is available in trade paperback, ebook, and audiobook, narrated by Brenna (who is a professional actor as well as a writer).

More about The Laundryman

In the frozen heart of the 1883 Canadian frontier, a single death unveils a darkness that could consume a town—and the men sworn to protect it.

Corporal Belvedere, a Mountie scarred by a brutal past, and Surgeon Virgil Montgomery, a newcomer haunted by his own doubts, are drawn into a murder investigation in the isolated settlement of Prince Albert. As winter’s grip tightens, the killing exposes a web of secrets buried beneath the snow, threatening to unravel the fragile order of the North-West Territories.

In a community steeped in mistrust, Belvedere’s unyielding quest for justice collides with Montgomery’s struggle to uphold his oath to do no harm. Each clue they uncover draws them deeper into a maze of deception, where allies and enemies blur and every step risks a deadly reckoning. As the ice on the North Saskatchewan River begins to crack, they must confront a truth that could cost them their lives—or their souls.

A gripping tale of vengeance and redemption, The Laundryman plunges you into a world where justice battles betrayal, and the truth lies buried in a frozen wilderness.

Praise for The Laundryman

“A fast-paced, always arresting historical mystery, Dwayne Brenna’s The Laundryman pits two Mounties as mismatched as Holmes and Watson against an array of murder suspects in pre-provincial Prince Albert during a numbingly cold winter, with a bit of love, a hint of sex, a lot of suspense―and even a dog.”―Dave Margoshes, author of A Simple Carpenter

“Dwayne Brenna’s The Laundryman is a hard one to put down, a classic murder mystery that is nothing like any whodunit I’ve ever read. His setting (late 19th century, Northern Saskatchewan), his characters (cops, good women, greedy bastards, Indigenous hunters, and hardscrabble farmers), and his plot are painstakingly woven together. If, like me, you begin to miss Brennna’s authentic world, the only remedy is to read The Laundryman one more time.”―David Carpenter, author of The Education of Angie Merasty

“In The Laundryman, a young surgeon, Virgil Montgomery, fleeing his own past, finds himself involved in stressful adventures with the North West Mounted Police, his life often complicated by his investigating partner, the morose and crusty Corporal Belvedere, who too often doses himself with laudanum because of an old war wound. In the fall of 1883, the two men are dispatched to Prince Albert to investigate a murder. Dwayne Brenna knows his characters well, their strengths and weaknesses, and creates a compelling narrative as they struggle to solve a series of crimes in the turbulent North West. This is a novel touched by the spirit of an engrossing era, and it’s a pleasure to read.”―Robert Currie, author of Living with the Hawk

More about the author

Dwayne Brenna is the award-winning author of several books of humour, poetry, and fiction. Coteau Books published his popular series of humorous vignettes entitled Eddie Gustafson’s Guide to Christmas in 2000. His two books of poetry, Stealing Homeand Give My Love to Rose, were published by Hagios Press in 2012 and 2015 respectively. Stealing Home, a poetic celebration of the game of baseball, was subsequently shortlisted for several Saskatchewan Book Awards, including the University of Regina Book of the Year Award. His first novel, New Albion, about a laudanum-addicted playwright struggling to survive in London’s East End during the winter of 1850-51, was published by Coteau Books in autumn 2016. New Albion won the 2017 Muslims for Peace and Justice Fiction Award at the Saskatchewan Book Awards. It was also one of three English-language novels shortlisted for the prestigious MM Bennetts Award for historical fiction. His baseball novel Long Way Homewas published by Pocol Press in 2022, and his theatre history text Nights That Shook the Stage (McFarland Books) came out in the spring of 2023. His short stories and poems have been published in an array of journals, including Grain, Nine, Spitball, The Antigonish Review, Intima, and The Cold Mountain Review.

About Shadowpaw Press

Shadowpaw Press, located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, was founded in 2018 by award-winning author Edward Willett.Shadowpaw Press is a member of Literary Press Group (Canada) and the Association of Canadian Publishers andpublishes an eclectic selection of books by both new and established authors, including adult fiction, young adult fiction, children’s books, nonfiction, and anthologies.