What began as a lighthearted suggestion at a book club meeting during the COVID-19 pandemic blossomed into an acclaimed murder mystery novel for Orillia book lovers<\/p>\n
What started as a creative way to pass the time during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic has become something none of the six women behind it ever expected \u2014 a published, well-reviewed murder mystery novel that continues to raise money for a local women\u2019s shelter.<\/p>\n
The book is called The Red Canoe: A Spider Web Mystery, and it was written collaboratively by six residents of an Orillia condominium overlooking Lake Couchiching: Wendy Morgan, Sandy Eaton, Morag Harvey, Mary McGill, Marilyn Holland, and Yvonne Mitchell.<\/p>\n
The novel follows six women from vastly different backgrounds who all end up living at \u201cNorthview Towers,\u201d a fictional lakeside condo complex not unlike their own. During a Canada Day celebration, a red canoe and a body wash ashore \u2014 and from that moment on, nothing in the lives of the residents is quite what it seems.<\/p>\n
With clever plot twists and subtle clues, the book keeps readers guessing until the final page. And while the book has proven a hit with local readers \u2014 the first printing sold out \u2014 what\u2019s perhaps more remarkable is the way it brought a group of neighbours together, transformed their friendship, and gave back to the community at the same time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just as stressed as everyone else during the pandemic,\u201d said Wendy Morgan, who has lived in Orillia for more than 60 years. \u201cSo one day, before one of our book club meetings, I said, \u2018Wouldn\u2019t it be fun if we wrote a book together?\u2019 I didn\u2019t know then how much that one idea would change all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Five other members of the book club said yes, and they began a slow and steady journey that would last nearly two years. Each woman created her own character and storyline, and each month, they agreed on a theme \u2014 how their character arrived at the condo, how they met the others, and later, how the murder mystery would unravel. They would write independently, share chapters, then gather to read, laugh, revise, and plan what would happen next.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was like weaving a tapestry,\u201d said Morag Harvey. \u201cWe were all writing different strands, but somehow they had to come together in the end and make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
And they did. Despite having six unique writing styles and no formal literary background, the group managed to maintain a consistent, compelling narrative.<\/p>\n
The real challenge, said the women, came during the editing stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cEditing was a beast,\u201d said Sandy Eaton. \u201cEvery meeting after a draft, Wendy and I would sit down and comb through everything, line by line. Our goal was to keep everyone\u2019s personal writing style intact, but also make sure it all fit together seamlessly.\u201d<\/p>\n
It meant agreeing on every little detail:\u00a0what the murdered man looked like, where the canoe washed up, what time events happened, and what colour shirt someone wore at a party.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf one of us said David, the victim, was heavyset and unattractive, then someone else couldn\u2019t describe him as slim and charming,\u201d Morgan explained. \u201cThose things matter. Otherwise, the story falls apart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even when Morgan had to spend a winter away, she and Eaton kept editing over Zoom. One morning, she recalls working on the manuscript in the condo\u2019s common room after aqua-fit, dressed in nothing but a swimsuit cover-up.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople must have walked by thinking, \u2018What is she doing editing a murder mystery in a bathing suit at 9:30 in the morning?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While A Spider Web Mystery is entirely fictional, many of its moments \u2014 and its emotional depth \u2014 come from real experiences.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of us retired here,\u201d said Mitchell. \u201cWe didn\u2019t really know each other before moving in. I met everyone at a Canada Day celebration \u2014 just like in the book.\u201d<\/p>\n
McGill, who moved from Toronto, used her first year in the building to slowly get to know her neighbours. Marilyn Holland admits she \u201cwasn\u2019t a great reader\u201d before joining the book club, but now finds herself immersed in the world of fiction.<\/p>\n
Their past careers, relationships, and personalities inspired many character details. Mitchell named her characters after family members. McGill made hers deliberately unpleasant.<\/p>\n
\u201cI figured there\u2019s always a character in a book you don\u2019t like,\u201d she said. \u201cSo I made her mean \u2014 awful, even. What surprised me was that people who\u2019ve known me for 50 years couldn\u2019t tell which character was mine.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
As the book evolved, the women say it became a mirror of their shared experience \u2014 the parties, the stories, the support they gave each other, especially during the isolation of the pandemic. And the project sparked something deeper.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got to know each other in a way we never would have otherwise,\u201d said Holland. \u201cWe laughed a lot. And we learned a lot about ourselves and each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Designing the cover became another collaboration. Harvey recalls the challenge of getting the exact right colour for the red canoe. They added a spider \u2014 a nod to the subtitle A Spider Web Mystery \u2014 at Eaton\u2019s suggestion.<\/p>\n
Morgan did much of the book\u2019s formatting herself, learning the technical aspects from scratch, with help from Orillia Public Library staffer Morgan Fitzgerald, who is thanked in the acknowledgements.<\/p>\n
And when the book finally launched, it exceeded everyone\u2019s expectations.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur first launch was incredible,\u201d said McGill. \u201cThere was real excitement in the air. People bought books, brought friends, and said the nicest things. We had 20 people on the waiting list before the second printing even arrived.\u201d<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve heard from dozens of readers \u2014 some from the condo, others who discovered it at local shops \u2014 many of whom praised the book\u2019s pacing and surprise ending.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome even said it was better than books by authors they usually read,\u201d Eaton said. \u201cThat floored us.\u201d<\/p>\n
From the beginning, the women knew they wanted to give back. They chose Green Haven Shelter for Women, which supports women and children fleeing abuse, as the beneficiary of the book\u2019s proceeds.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re women, and we wanted to support women,\u201d said Morgan. \u201cGreen Haven does incredible work. It was an easy choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first donation raised $300. A portion of all second-edition sales is also being directed to the organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t write this to make money,\u201d said Harvey. \u201cIt was about friendship, creativity, and helping others.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group recently gathered for a celebratory lunch on June 24, marking the two-year milestone and reflecting on what they\u2019d accomplished.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were so many times I didn\u2019t think we\u2019d finish,\u201d said Morgan. \u201cBut we did. We\u2019re authors now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one expected us to write a book \u2014 and yet here we are,\u201d Holland added. \u201cStill friends, too. That might be the real plot twist.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Red Canoe: A Spider Web Mystery is available for $20 at Mariposa Market, Manticore Books, and the Stephen Leacock Museum, where the authors will hold a signing on Sunday, July 27 at 3 p.m.. You can also purchase directly by emailing\u00a0Morgan at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What began as a lighthearted suggestion at a book club meeting during the COVID-19 pandemic blossomed into an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[223,88,5449],"class_list":{"0":"post-4893","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-the-red-canoe-a-spider-web-mysterywendy-morgansandy-eatonmorag-harveyyvonne-mitchell"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}