B.C. author Kerry Wilkinson has been nominated for a national crime writing award for his novel The Call, a psychological thriller set largely in Shawnigan Lake.
The book is one of five finalists for Best Crime Novel Set in Canada, part of the 2025 Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence.
Although Wilkinson has written more than 30 books, The Call is his first set in Canada since he moved from the U.K. to Ladysmith on Vancouver Island in 2015.
乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檓 genuinely delighted by it,乌鸦传媒� Wilkinson said of the nomination. 乌鸦传媒淓ach step of my writing career has been pushing to see if I can do the next thing. Can I write a book full stop? Can I write a crime book? A book in another genre? A book set outside the UK? And then, yes, a book set in Canada. It乌鸦传媒檚 so gratifying to have acknowledgement in Canada. I乌鸦传媒檓 really pleased."
In The Call, British tourist Melody takes her family to a lakeside cabin on Vancouver Island, hoping to revisit childhood memories. But when her fianc茅 Evan calls to say he乌鸦传媒檚 encountered a girl in distress, the line goes dead and Evan disappears without a trace. As Melody searches for answers, she乌鸦传媒檚 drawn into a darker, more complicated version of the island she thought she knew.
Though British characters anchor the narrative, Wilkinson said setting the story on Vancouver Island was essential.
乌鸦传媒淚 sort of cheated,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淭he story follows British tourists who are on vacation on Vancouver Island, where things go very wrong, very quickly. But it allowed me to tell a story that I think shows a couple of different perspectives.乌鸦传媒�
Wilkinson said this isn乌鸦传媒檛 the sort of search that could happen in the U.K. The geographical and cultural differences between where he grew up and Canada gave him some fun elements to play with.
乌鸦传媒淰ancouver Island is so vast and almost all of it is untouched. Locals know this, of course. You can walk five minutes into the woods and you乌鸦传媒檙e in the middle of (almost) nowhere,乌鸦传媒� Wilkinson said. 乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 not like a person disappearing in a British town, even a rural one. Here, people can really disappear in devastating, horrifying ways 乌鸦传媒� and it can happen so instantly. But because there乌鸦传媒檚 a road nearby, or a smattering of houses, there乌鸦传媒檚 also a sense of safety, civility, and normality."
Wilkinson, who first gained recognition as a self-published Kindle bestseller in the U.K., said the local landscape has also inspired some particularly crime-writerly thoughts.
乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 sometimes difficult to be a crime writer and not sound like a psychopath,乌鸦传媒� Wilkinson joked. 乌鸦传媒淵ou often find yourself wandering around thinking, 乌鸦传媒楾hat乌鸦传媒檇 be a good place to hide a (fictional) body.乌鸦传媒櫸谘淮綕
Winners of the 2025 Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence will be announced May 30.
