How to query a Canadian crime novel
I’m now at the point of the writer’s journey where I look back at what I’ve made, and think: it’s time to get serious. But querying agents is such a bizarre feeling. Throughout my whole writing process, I’ve been completely immersed in my story, and I’m speeding through the narrative and having an epic creative adventure and then the minute I need to do some kind of pitch, or story blurb, or something – my brain locks up.
And I get really nervous about how I pitch the idea.
I’m very consciously aware of why this happens because I spent my career in advertising and PR, so I have won and lost many pitches over the years. And it’s alot easier pitching a brand deal than it is my own creative work, so I start questioning which part of the story is more important until I’m utterly confused.
Character versus plot
Do I focus on the detective’s journey where she has left Edinburgh to pursue a big career change but finds nothing about failure and regret? Do I talk about the haunting and liminal setting which is unique to the story? Or do I bring up the political and societal issues operating in the narrative? What about the multiple suspects, the true crime podcast, her best friend, or the obnoxious work colleague threatening her job?
I have sent out about eight or nine queries, and was recently short-listed for the Killer Twist Pitch Prize, which I hadn’t even heard about until I randomly saw it on threads. This was pretty exciting, but when I re-posted it on my instagram (which is normally private, but I made it public for this pitch) a lot of my friends and even people I didn’t know started to comment on the announcement. I guess this was too much enthusiasm, because the five or six comments that appeared upset the organizer and since they are the one picking the winner – I will assume this has erased the opportunity for me.
I can only add this to my already confusing experience in publishing because there was advice circulated about ‘playing hard to get’ as agents were peeking at the shortlist and reaching out. But, Canadians are not really the type to play coy because opportunities just simply don’t come our way that often. We are not privileged enough to pick and choose because we literally have nothing to choose from. So long as the person isn’t a total asshole, they are probably fine.
A too big novel
When it comes to my novel, I have woven multiple layers of story-within-a-story so that the reader is getting a Michelin star 10-course meal with intricate elements dotted everywhere. There is a romance, a shitty boyfriend, a best friend, a bad-ass mother, a mentor, and a toxic work colleague. My detective is put through hell: she gets attacked outside of a hotel, is kicked off her case for making a bad arrest, and sent across the country to push papers around only to help solve a massive serial murderer.
The novel is also a commentary on police inaction and a toxic culture which reflects the harms of policing in Canada, and I don’t glorify the detective-as-hero. There is a reporter with her nose in everyone’s business, and a staff sergeant who doesn’t take anyone’s shit. There’s legal weed, a ranch house, and luxury cars. It’s got everything.
My detective lands in Ontario at the same time her former partner at Police Scotland is there to compete in the World Police and Fire Games. Her useless boyfriend is now thousands of miles away while a man she once slept with is now buying her cocktails and offering for her to stay the night. Meanwhile, she’s made fast friends with the detectives at the local precinct who are on the hunt for a serial killer who keeps disposing women’s bodies on a secluded farm.
Too big for a pitch
How the hell do I boil all this down into a single pitch? Because that’s what the agent world wants: a couple of sentences in an email. This book isn’t a simple high concept “this-meets-that” – it’s like a Lord of the Rings epic universe coming across the finish line at over 70,000 words.
Because beyond the plot, I am also re-imagining what the police procedural can be. I’m doing a twist on the whole detective-as-hero concept to take the elements of crime writing from the golden age to the anti-racist age. Name me a white author who is doing that.
Black authors like Chester Himes have been writing about systemic racism in policing since the 1950s. And the victim’s perspective is always the central element of the novel. But as far as I can tell, white authors are not examining the same system from within, and no one seems to working to dismantle beliefs of white excellence, or prejudices of anti-blackness, or anti-Indigneous sentiments within fiction. Except me. That is what I am doing.
Querying is a task
All of this is to say that querying this type of novel is a task and this part of the writing journey isn’t for the weak. Sometimes you get lucky, and sometimes you don’t. I’ve been shortlisted and praised, while simultaneously hand-slapped and cautioned. And the reality is, the agent who believes in this novel will also have to believe in me. If they find me, trust me, they will be the one.
The pitch
Here is what my pitch is so far. If you like this book concept, comment below!
BEYOND THE THICKETS AND TREES brings the grit of Tartan Noir to the eerie landscapes of Canadian Gothic, tackling crime, corruption, and the resurgence of white nationalism. After years in homicide with Police Scotland, Detective Megan Spencer returns to her childhood home in Canada, hoping for a fresh start. Instead, she finds a city unraveling—her first case is the brutal murder of a local barista, whose café is burned to the ground. As Spencer digs deeper, she collides with a violent white nationalist group, a corrupt police force, and a true crime podcaster hungry for the truth. But this case is more than murder—it’s a battle for the soul of the city. For fans of S.A. Crosby’s ALL THE SINNERS BLEED and Amy Stuart’s STILL MINE, this novel delivers a searing look at justice, power, and the cost of standing up to hate.
