Photo by Meg Foster Mulligan
Maureen Foss, born in New Westminster, lived in Saskatchewan and Manitoba before returning to B.C. She spent many years as an activity worker in geriatric hospitals until moving to the Sunshine Coast in 1988, where she lived until June 2001. She now resides in the southern Cariboo.
Foss served on the Board of Directors of the prestigious Festival of the Written Arts for 12 years and then on the Producer's Advisory Committee for a number of years after that. From 1994-2001, she volunteered at Madeira Park Elementary in the reading program for grades 1-2. She is on the board of directors of an animal refuge in Surrey.
Foss is a member of The Writers Union of Canada and the Quintessential Writers Group.
Foss is a member of The Writers Union of Canada and the Quintessential Writers Group.
Watch for...
The Countess of Tapantí, the sequel to The Rat Trap Murders. Annie and Harve seek his stolen daughters in the jungles of Costa Rica
The Countess of Tapantí, the sequel to The Rat Trap Murders. Annie and Harve seek his stolen daughters in the jungles of Costa Rica
The Rat Trap Murders:
Nightwood Editions, $18.95. Buy Now
Picture a neglected ivy-covered geriatric hospital housing five floors of time-worn residents. The basement holds secrets. Why are the residents going missing only to turn up in the local sewer system? Could it be the work of Eugene, the caretaker, the watcher, the rat man? When a nurse disappears on the midnight shift, her friend and co-worker, Annie Cusco, sounds the alarm. Harve Harvey is called in as damage control. A graduate of a six-week private detective training course, he's in way over his head on this case. Although taking an instant dislike to one another, Annie and Harve must work together to uncover the janitor's dirty little secrets. It's a darkly funny novel bent on murder, mystery, suspense and rats!
A review from Leslie MacFarlane, The Reporter: The Rat Trap Murders--while definitely on the grisly side--is also wildly hilarious if you have the right "bend" to you.
Reviews of The Rat Trap Murders;
"This Hitchcock-style suspense thriller happens mostly in your head. Definitely not a whodunit--you find out the identity of the murderer in the prologue--this is a gripping tale of evil stalking the unwary. Well-paced writing, believable characters and strong dialogue make for a great read." Times Colonist, Victoria BC.
"Fast-paced thriller." Encore, Grande Prairie, Alta.
"The suspense comes in not knowing who will be caught up in the spider's web." The Telegram, St. John's Nfld.
"Foss drew on her experience as a hospital worker to add texture to her thriller." The Province, Vancouver, B.C.
"Once the victim is caught, readers will hold their breath to see if anyone manages to struggle free." The Daily Graphic, Portage La Prairie, MB.
"Fast-paced thriller by B.C. author Maureen Foss." The Chronicle-Herald, Halifax, NS.
Buy Now
Nightwood Editions, $18.95. Buy Now
Picture a neglected ivy-covered geriatric hospital housing five floors of time-worn residents. The basement holds secrets. Why are the residents going missing only to turn up in the local sewer system? Could it be the work of Eugene, the caretaker, the watcher, the rat man? When a nurse disappears on the midnight shift, her friend and co-worker, Annie Cusco, sounds the alarm. Harve Harvey is called in as damage control. A graduate of a six-week private detective training course, he's in way over his head on this case. Although taking an instant dislike to one another, Annie and Harve must work together to uncover the janitor's dirty little secrets. It's a darkly funny novel bent on murder, mystery, suspense and rats!
A review from Leslie MacFarlane, The Reporter: The Rat Trap Murders--while definitely on the grisly side--is also wildly hilarious if you have the right "bend" to you.
Reviews of The Rat Trap Murders;
"This Hitchcock-style suspense thriller happens mostly in your head. Definitely not a whodunit--you find out the identity of the murderer in the prologue--this is a gripping tale of evil stalking the unwary. Well-paced writing, believable characters and strong dialogue make for a great read." Times Colonist, Victoria BC.
"Fast-paced thriller." Encore, Grande Prairie, Alta.
"The suspense comes in not knowing who will be caught up in the spider's web." The Telegram, St. John's Nfld.
"Foss drew on her experience as a hospital worker to add texture to her thriller." The Province, Vancouver, B.C.
"Once the victim is caught, readers will hold their breath to see if anyone manages to struggle free." The Daily Graphic, Portage La Prairie, MB.
"Fast-paced thriller by B.C. author Maureen Foss." The Chronicle-Herald, Halifax, NS.
Buy Now
The Cadillac Kind
A first novel from Polestar Book Publishers (now Raincoast) $16.95. Buy Now
It's a funny, understated, essentially Canadian road book. Edith, a fortyish copywriter for the Sears catalogue, under the influence of one-too-many glasses of home-made wine, has promised to drive her mother, Dixie, to Manitoba to visit mom's hockey-playing older sister.
Before they've even left the smoggy city behind, her mother has hit on a travelling cheese salesman in a motorhome. Dixie and the salesman get to know each other very well by Alberta, and once into the Prairies, they visit his two sons, one a cross-dressing rancher, the other a used car salesman with the world's smallest Mercedes dealership. On the open road, mother and daughter, verbally sparring their way across Canada, encounter a selection of odd-ball characters like Charleen, the hitchhiker, the two aunts in Calgary who have divided their shared home into hers and hers, and a musician with one blue eye, one green.
The Cadillac Kind was serialized and broadcast on CBC radio's Between the Covers in January 2000 and June 2001.
Buy Now
A first novel from Polestar Book Publishers (now Raincoast) $16.95. Buy Now
It's a funny, understated, essentially Canadian road book. Edith, a fortyish copywriter for the Sears catalogue, under the influence of one-too-many glasses of home-made wine, has promised to drive her mother, Dixie, to Manitoba to visit mom's hockey-playing older sister.
Before they've even left the smoggy city behind, her mother has hit on a travelling cheese salesman in a motorhome. Dixie and the salesman get to know each other very well by Alberta, and once into the Prairies, they visit his two sons, one a cross-dressing rancher, the other a used car salesman with the world's smallest Mercedes dealership. On the open road, mother and daughter, verbally sparring their way across Canada, encounter a selection of odd-ball characters like Charleen, the hitchhiker, the two aunts in Calgary who have divided their shared home into hers and hers, and a musician with one blue eye, one green.
The Cadillac Kind was serialized and broadcast on CBC radio's Between the Covers in January 2000 and June 2001.
Buy Now
Maureen Foss