Tell Anna She's Safe - SIGNED

Based on a true story, Tell Anna She’s Safe is the tale of two women, one missing, the other searching for her. Driving home alongside West Quebec’s Gatineau River one April afternoon, researcher Ellen McGinn spots a parked car that looks like it might belong to her friend and colleague, Lucy Stockman. She soon finds out that Lucy has disappeared. Ellen has an unusual dream in which she receives three clear messages: she is to search and to write everything down—and Lucy is safe. But is she? Ellen’s continuing dreams seem to indicate otherwise, and then there is the suspicious behaviour of Lucy’s partner, a man with a violent past that includes a manslaughter conviction. What begins as a physical search soon also becomes a determined quest for the truth beyond the stereotypical appearances of her friend’s risky relationship. Terrified for her own life, Ellen reaches a deeper than bargained for understanding of Lucy’s dark journey, and her own.

This novel is inspired by the life of Ottawa free-lance writer Louise Ellis, who disappeared some 15 years ago. The author, Brenda Missen, was a friend and colleague of Louise, and was the person who found Louise’s car when she she first went missing. A compelling and gripping book that gives voice to what may have been the last days of Louise Ellis’s life.

“Gripping. A moving, scary story of love and betrayal.”
—Kathy Reichs, New York Times bestseller author and producer of the hit TV series, Bones

“A true-life crime novel that explores both the fascinating pathology of a woman who falls for a convicted killer and the deadly human need to control—at any cost. Missen deftly blends fact, fiction, and speculation into a book that refuses to be put down.”
—Merilyn Simonds, author of The Convict Lover

“An emotional journey behind the scenes of a turbulent relationship and its tragic outcome. The disturbing portrayal of hope, fear and loss exposes the lasting damage to the victim’s friends and family in the aftermath of the crime. This novel and the issues it explores will stay with you long after you reach the end.”
—Mary Jane Maffini, author of The Busy Woman’s Guide to Murder

Brenda Missen‘s award-winning short fiction has been published in the crime anthology Cottage Country Killers and in the Algonquin Roundtable Review. Her work has also been published in a number of Canadian magazines and her local newspaper. Born and raised in Toronto, Brenda Missen currently lives on the Madawaska River in rural Ontario with her dog, Maddy.