Mysteries on North America's Highways

British Columbia, Canada, March 07, 2012 --(PR.com)-- There’s a brave new world in publishing these days, and a B.C. mystery author is hoping that a series of highways will transport her murder plots to readers around the globe. With two recently published e-books to her credit, R.E. (Ruth) Donald is working on a third novel in what she calls the Hunter Rayne highway mystery series. Why e-books? According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, the number of Americans owning a digital reading device jumped from 18% in December 2011 to 29% in January 2012. A rise in e-book sales of 117% in 2011 was reported by the Association of American Publishers, while sales in all print book categories fell.

“It’s the future of publishing, and an exciting one at that,” says Donald. It gives the writer an opportunity to connect directly with the reader, bypassing the gatekeepers of traditional publishing. The overriding concern of literary agents and publishing houses is whether or not a book will make enough money to justify the expense of putting it into print. Agents and publishing houses can’t afford to take many risks with new authors and new ideas, which is why many mystery genre heroes seem so alike: the wise cracking female P.I., the rough around the edges homicide detective, the exceedingly clever defense lawyer, or the ingenuous amateur sleuth. Donald’s "semi-" professional sleuth is a long haul truck driver.

Donald’s main character, Hunter Rayne, is a former RCMP detective, travelling the highways of western North America in a big blue Freightliner. Hunter is a very Canadian protagonist: he’s soft spoken, chivalrous and above all, polite. Another main character, Hunter’s dispatcher Elspeth Watson, on the other hand, is loud, impulsive and swears like a – well – a trucker. After a painful divorce, Hunter has chosen the solitary life of a long haul trucker in order to avoid emotional entanglements and simplify his life, but thanks to Elspeth he keeps getting drawn into murder investigations.

“One of the basic tenets of writing is to ‘write what you know,’” says Donald. “With my twenty years experience in the transportation industry, it was a natural choice for my series’ milieu.” Donald’s late husband, Jim Donald, was at one time well-known in the B.C. trucking community and there are elements of him in the character, Hunter Rayne. “I try to write the kind of mystery novel I like to read, with realistic characters, multiple suspects and an intriguing puzzle to solve.”

The challenge of releasing an e-book without the support of a traditional publisher is bringing it to the attention of readers who will enjoy it. With hundreds of thousands of e-books available on Amazon, and over 4000 “pages” of books in the mystery category alone, it’s hard to get noticed. Fortunately, a number of websites are springing up that feature information on e-books of various genres, complete with reviews from readers. “I don’t expect to get rich,” says Donald, whose paperless novels sell for only $2.99, “but I get great satisfaction when a reader tells me they can hardly wait for my next book.”

The first novel in the Hunter Rayne highway mystery series is Slow Curve on the Coquihalla, set in Washington, B.C. and Alberta, and the second is Ice on the Grapevine, with action moving from California to B.C. Ice on the Grapevine is one of the nominees for the Global EBook Awards for 2012, and Donald hopes to be in Santa Barbara, California for the Awards ceremony in August. She is hard at work on the third novel in the series, set primarily in Whistler, B.C.

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