In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with author Greg Rhyno about his new mystery novel, Who By Water (Cormorant Books, 2025). 

After barely surviving her last case, Dame Polara trades her part-time detective gig for the safer — though no less chaotic — life of a single, working mother, picking up toys instead of picking locks, chasing after her two-year-old instead of chasing crooks.

But when her ex-husband inexplicably drowns, and Dame becomes the prime suspect in his murder investigation, she must work alongside the woman who ruined her marriage to unravel the mystery of the man they both loved.

Dame’s sleuthing takes her to dive bars, industrial ports, and eventually, Toronto Island, where her ex spent his final days with a community of secretive and temperamental artists.

As she comes closer to the complicated truth, Dame realizes that in order to clear her name and protect her family, she’ll have to re-examine everything she thought she knew about the people she loved and left behind.

About Greg Rhyno:

Greg Rhyno is the author of Who by Fire, first of the Dame Polara Mysteries, and To Me You Seem Giant, which was nominated for a ReLit Award and an Alberta Book Publishing Award. His writing has appeared in a number of journals, including Hobart, Riddle Fence, The Quarantine Review, and PRISM International. He completed an MFA at the University of Guelph and lives with his family in Guelph, Ontario.

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