Bargain @ $2.99 for Canadians only from Simon & Schuster's Touchstone imprint (non-couponable; linkage goes to Kobo, should be price-matched in the usual Canadian stores, was $12 in the US when I checked):
Death of a Patriot by Don Gutteridge (
Wikipedia), the recently-published 6th and latest in his Marc Edwards series of historical military/legal murder mysteries set in pre-Confederation Canada, where the tensions between the UK and US are still going on over the colonial borders, starring the titular officer-turned-lawyer.
Gutteridge is a prize-winning poet and we've previously gotten one of his other novels free during Read an Ebook Week from Canadian specialty backlist re-publisher Bev Editions and historical mysteries with actual history in them are my 2nd favourite subgenre and these have a whole bunch of blurb praise from Canadian newspapers and literature review outlets, so I snapped this one up. Also, the others in the series are priced at $10-$17 in Canada, so this is dirt-cheap, considering and I hope they put the rest of them on sale at some point.
ETA: here's a bit of a non-spoilery
article w/interview-ette that gives an overview of the series and a few quotes from Gutteridge on its origins and his historical research for and approach towards it. Apparently the word "detective" post-dates the setting of the series by 6 years, so he couldn't use it.
As the winter cold settles over Upper and Lower Canada, sparks still fly between the provinces. But while the fate of the colony is debated in the British parliament, a more pressing danger threatens the fledgling state: American militia is raiding across the border, intent on annexing the Canadian provinces by any means necessary.
Following a battle along the border, a high-ranking American officer is wounded and captured. Brought back to Toronto, he is scheduled to be tried and executed in order to send a message to the encroaching Americans. The American colonel has a penchant for showmanship, and trouble always follows closely in his wake. But the American colonel’s boasts of escape and revenge are cut short when he is poisoned in his cell.
All fingers point to Billy McNair, a young Canadian militia officer and the same man who saved the American colonel from dying from his wounds on the battlefield. Into this turmoil steps Marc Edwards, a decorated army officer who has traded his military uniform for a lawyer’s robes. Marc is convinced that the accused is innocent, and so, with the aid of Constable Cobb, he sets forth to track down the killer.
But the investigation is nowhere near straightforward. Spies are everywhere, spreading lies and half-truths, and everyone has an agenda, some personal and some political. With time running out and the ever-present threat of attack from a foreign army looming, Marc must rely on his every skill to secure a future not only for his friend, but for his entire country.