Kevin Major

Mystery once again finds Sebastian Synard--this time beyond the shores of Newfoundland, in Saint-Pierre, a small French island off the coast of North America. Wrapped up in an international investigation, Sebastian is tested personally and professionally as his search for answers takes him overseas and beyond. In the sixth installment of the Sebastian Synard mystery series, Sebastian finds himself beyond the borders of his home in Newfoundland, where history blends with modern-day intrigue. Travelling with his partner Mae, Sebastian arrives in Saint-Pierre where his son, Nick, is spending a semester. However, his visit to this charming yet peculiar overseas territory of France quickly takes a turn. In the two weeks since Nick has arrived in Saint-Pierre, he has become enamoured with more than the French language, but his budding relationship with his amiable classmate, Zach, is shattered when Zach disappears without warning. When Zach's body is found washed up on a deserted shoreline, Sebastian finds himself entwined in the mystery, caught between the competing aims of the local Gendarmerie, the RCMP, and the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. His search for answers leads him to Martinique, another overseas territory of la France, where his relationships are tested to the extreme. Just what will it take for the trio of police units to come around to Sebastian's perspective? What will it take to bring Mae back into his life? Nothing less than a violent assault on our PI, together with the threat of the very knife that was used against the innocent young gay man whose body washed up on the shoreline rocks of the island of Saint-Pierre.

The fifth book in the Sebastian Synard mystery series takes our intrepid tour guide/private detective on a jaunt across Newfoundland and into Labrador, in pursuit of those towers of intrigue-lighthouses he final stop on Synard's lighthouse tour is the one at L'Anse Amour, Labrador, the highest in all Atlantic Canada. It's a long climb into the lantern room, and a long fall from its catwalk to the ground below. Dead is photographer Amanda Thomson. Who is the scoundrel that nudged her past the railing? The RCMP in Forteau are pointing to one of the tour groups, but Sebastian and his partner Mae have other ideas. They retrace the excursions of Amanda and her vagabond boyfriend back to a section of northern Newfoundland called the French Shore. Could the recent bizarre vandalism at its historic sites hold a clue? What is it about the French Shore that leads them back to murder at L'Anse Amour?

Award recognition for Two for the Tablelands: ***THE HOWARD ENGEL AWARD FOR BEST CRIME NOVEL SET IN CANADA 2021 - SHORTLIST*** ***ATLANTIC BOOKS TODAY STAFF PICK 2021 - SHORTLIST*** Award Recognition for Three for Trinity: ***THE HOWARD ENGEL AWARD FOR BEST CRIME NOVEL SET IN CANADA 2022 - SHORTLIST*** Murder in a quilt shop on scenic Fogo Island leads sardonic private eye Sebastian Synard from his quest for some R&R to a different kind of excursion altogether. Four for Fogo Island finds Sebastian Synard on a May 24th weekend getaway with his new significant other, Mae. (As he says, "what a difference a Mae makes.") When Sebastian and Mae arrive at a fabric shop, they discover the owner in a back room, lying in a pool of blood, having been stabbed with a pair of antique quilting scissors. This propels the couple along a sequence of occasionally bizarre investigative paths to track down the killer. Sebastian has more than murder to deal with. A family get-together involving his son and ex-wife (and her partner, Frederick, a police officer) goes awry as Frederick inserts himself into the investigation. Mae on occasion outsmarts Sebastian on the investigative trails, but our private eye is rarely without his trademark sense of humour.

***THE HOWARD ENGEL AWARD FOR BEST CRIME NOVEL SET IN CANADA - SHORTLIST*** When Sebastian goes undercover in the theatre to find a killer, things get... dramatic. In Three for Trinity, the third book in the Sebastian Synard Mystery series, offbeat humour meets suspense as a nefarious crime unfolds. Trying to run a tour business in COVID times is tough, especially when you're home- schooling a teenager. But with the creation of the Atlantic bubble, Sebastian can offer a tour of the scenic, historic Bonavista peninsula to a small group. On the last night of the tour, an actor collapses at a socially distanced theatre performance. Sebastian rushes to help, but Lyle Mercer has been poisoned. When Sebastian goes undercover as an actor to try to discover the killer, he's taking a risk in more ways than one. Will it upend his romantic relationship with police inspector Ailsa Bowmore?

***THE HOWARD ENGEL AWARD FOR BEST CRIME NOVEL SET IN CANADA - SHORTLIST*** Sebastian Synard is back. It's the off-season, and the Newfoundland tour guide introduced in One for the Rock has crossed the island with his spirited teenage son for a weekend exploring the wonders of Gros Morne National Park. But on a hike across the spectacular rockscape of The Tablelands, they discover the half-buried body of a murder victim. Life as a tour guide had its twists and turns, but now Sebastian--with his offhand, Scotch-enriched nature--is crossing a more dangerous landscape, on a path that will leave him face-to-face with a killer.

**CANADA BOOK AWARD WINNER** **NEXT GENERATION INDIE BOOK AWARDS FINALIST, HISTORICAL FICTION** **BEST ATLANTIC-PUBLISHED BOOK AWARD FINALIST** In the small hours of October 14, 1942, a German U-boat sank the passenger ferry SS Caribou in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Of the 237 people on board, 136 perished, including 49 civilians. In Land Beyond the Sea, bestselling author Kevin Major reimagines the events of that fateful night from the perspectives of both those aboard the doomed vessel and the German U-boat commander who gave the order. With his characteristically sharp, evocative prose style, Major delivers an epic work of historical fiction, detailing a life-and-death conflict in the icy waters of the North Atlantic. Land Beyond the Sea is a powerful and empathetic testament to the acts of destruction and the acts of heroism carried out in the name of home.

Sebastian Synard doesn't want any more trouble than he already has. He's scuttled his teaching career, he's starting his own touring business, his relationship with his ex-wife is deteriorating, and his son is struggling with the transition. All Sebastian really wants is some peace and a good glass of Scotch. But when he leads a group of tourists along a cliff-side path that winds above St. John's Harbour, one of the entourage ends up dead, his head smashed on the rocks below. An accident? Or is there a heartless murderer in Sebastian's tour group? When a local police investigator enlists him to help flush out the perpetrator, the mystery deepens, and Sebastian finds himself on the edge. In One for the Rock, best-selling author Kevin Major offers a crime novel that reaches an intense crescendo and gives us our first glimpse at his unlikely hero, Sebastian Synard.

A novel of remarkable historical breadth, Found Far and Wide follows Sam Kennedy through the tragedy of the Great Newfoundland Sealing Disaster of 1914, the horrors of The First World War, and the dangers of rum-running in Prohibition-era New York. And as Sam journeys through the turbulent first half of the twentieth century, carrying the ghosts of those he s lost, he clings to his love for a woman he s only ever seen in a photograph. Here, one of Newfoundland s most celebrated authors offers a story of the irresistible historical forces that define our lives and the compelling private power that beckons us home."

Hold Fast is the widely acclaimed story of a young boy's struggle to survive in a new environment and his fight against those who stand as threats to his pride in himself and his way of life. Michael turned fourteen in May. By June, both his parents are dead, victims of a car crash. And for Michael, who has lived all his life in a small Newfoundland outport community, this means being suddenly uprooted and sent to live with relatives in St. Albert, a city hundreds of miles away. Hold Fast is the story of Michael's struggle to survive in his new world. In vivid, honest prose, it depicts his fight against those who threaten him - the loud-mouthed Kentson who makes fun of the way he talks at school, and his uncle who tries to rule life at home with an iron hand. It is also the story of the friendship that develops between Michael and Curtis, his cousin, and of his new uncertain feelings for Brenda. The book was written, Kevin Major says, “out of love for a way of life and a people. It is an appeal for us Newfoundlanders to be like certain of the species of seaweed that inhabit our shores, which, when faced with the threat of being destroyed by forces they cannot control, evolve an appendage to hold them to the rocks, a holdfast.”

"Craig has become a Pied Piper, inspiring students in hundreds of schools across the United States and Canada to join his crusade." -- New York TimesHere is the dramatic and moving story of one child's transformation from a normal, middle-class kid from the suburbs to an activist, fighting against child labor on the world stage of international human rights. Making headlines around the globe, Graig Keilburger and his organization, Free the Children, which he founded at the age of twelve, have brought unprecedented attention to the worldwide abuse of children's rights. Free the Children is a passionate and astounding story and a moving testament to the power that children and young adults have to change the world, as witnessed through the achievements of one remarkable young man.

What's in a name--and is it worth killing for? In the seventh installment of the Sebastien Synard mystery series, Sebastian is faced with his most offbeat adventure yet. Hired as a tour guide by an odd association intent on restoring historical toponyms in Newfoundland and Labrador, our private detective is faced with an eccentric cast of characters at the first conference of KNOT (Keep Our Newfoundland Toponyms). While Sebastian is meant to lead a group tour to some of the communities that the group is working to re-name, he must pivot when one of the speakers ends up dead. When murder is suspected, Sebastian once again teams up with his partner Mae to uncover the twisting relationships and questionable intentions behind this peculiar and passionate group.

The House of Wooden Santas is an award winning holiday classic following the struggles of nine-year old Jesse and his mother, as financial difficulties force them to move from the city to a small town. Jesse is not subtle in expressing his frustration toward the move, their financial struggles, and having to make new friends, so in an effort to combat his downtrodden mood, Jesse's mother begins carving him a wooden Santa for each day in December until Christmas. The Santas represent the various struggles and emotions Jesse must overcome, and also represent the lingering financial hope of the small family as the carvings are their only means of income. When Jesse and his mother are faced with the threat of eviction, Jesse and his new friend try to use the magic of the Santas and Christmas to help find a solution. The House of Wooden Santas is a picture book - the pictures are photos (by Ned Pratt) of Imelda George's wood carved Santas. The story that accompanies the pictures is a detailed, third-person narrative, and has more text than average picture books.