Shudder Pulp

by Vanessa Westermann

Overview

Leaves are turning red in cottage country, and Charley Scott is putting on an immersive Halloween pulp art installation based on a local lake monster legend. But life imitates art when Laura, a mercenary newcomer with a controversial agenda for the dam, claims she was attacked by a lake monster she accuses Charley of raising.

Hours later, Laura is found dead by dry drowning.

Accident, murder, or a lethal encounter with a mythical beast? Tension mounts as snaking tracks, an animal carcass, and a witch’s ladder are found near the lake, but could there truly be supernatural forces at work?

Charley teams up with chocolatier Matt Thorn to investigate, but it’ll take more than seafoam toffee to bait this trap. To find the truth, Charley will have to risk it all to look the monster in the eye.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781770867741
Publisher:	Cormorant Books
Publication date:	05/03/2025
Series:	Charley Scott Mystery , #2
Pages:	300
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

An avid reader of mysteries, Vanessa Westermann is a former Arthur Ellis Awards judge, holds an M.A. in English Literature and a Bachelor of Education, and has taught creative writing. Cover Art, first of the Charley Scott Mysteries, was published to great acclaim in 2022. At the heart of all of Westermann’s stories are strong female protagonists inspired by the heroines in her own life. She currently lives in Ontario.

What People are Saying About This

Tessa Wegert

“An utterly Canadian murder mystery packed with vivid characters, autumn atmosphere, local lore, and captivating prose. I loved being transported to ‘lakeland’ with clever Charley and her crew. Serpentine and sophisticated, Shudder Pulp delivers on every level and will hook fans of Agatha Christie and Louise Penny alike.”

Mindy Quigley

“In the second outing of the Charley Scott mystery series, Westermann displays a deftness for peeling back the layers of small-town Canadian intrigue that's on par with Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache series. The body drops early on, a curmudgeonly character no one is particularly sorry to see dead. But when the death is revealed to be a case of dry land drowning, a decades-old lake monster hoax suddenly takes on a dangerous life of its own. Throughout, Westermann pulls off an ambitious juggling act, highlighting the beauty and mystery of the vast Canadian landscape while also evoking the claustrophobia of living in a tiny dot of a civilization with unknown, nefarious forces lurking in your midst. The quality of Westermann's writing sets her books apart from most contemporary mysteries — each sentence is a joy to read.”