Dame Polara has spent her life running from her father’s shady job as a PI. Now she must rely on the skills he taught her if she’s to protect herself and the people she care about most.

WHO BY FIRE
by Greg Rhyno
Cormorant Books, February 2024
(via The Rights Factory)

Haunted by a childhood spent picking locks, tailing suspects, and helping her hard-boiled PI father solve cases, Dame Polara has spent most of her adult life running from his shady profession and the memories she associates with it. What Dame wants now is simple — her safe job preserving heritage buildings, adequate care for her father’s mounting health complications, and to raise a family of her own. But life doesn’t seem to be going her way.

After serving her an eviction notice, Dame’s landlord offers her an alternative: she can keep her apartment if she investigates his mysterious wife, whom he suspects of cheating. When the investigation uncovers a serial arsonist burning down the very buildings Dame fights to preserve, she finds herself pulled right back into the seedy underworld of her father’s old profession. Now, she must rely on the skills he taught her if she’s to protect herself and the people she cares about most.

Greg Rhyno is the author of To Me You Seem Giant. This debut novel was nominated for a ReLit Award and an Alberta Book Publishing Award. His writing has appeared in a number of journals including Hobart, Riddle Fence, and Prism International. He completed an MFA at the University of Guelph and lives with his family in Guelph, Ontario.