No Safe House

NO SAFE HOUSE is set on the south coast of British Columbia. Kathleen (Kot) Cafferty is an optimist and a dedicated professional who is rather fond of control - until she is suddenly swept into the RCMP’s Witness Protection Program with only her dog, Medley, for company. When the safe house becomes anything but, Kot realizes that she has to disappear on her own terms -somewhere not even the police can find her. Late at night, she and Medley escape into the Salish Sea, sleeping rough until the need for supplies forces her to paddle towards one of the larger islands on the horizon.

On Atticus Island, Kot finds work, friends, and a measure of security, but she still looks forward to returning to her ＂real life＂ When she discovers an abused orphan living secretly in the island’s decommissioned lighthouse, Kot is torn between the law and the need to protect the fragile safety that each of them has found. Life takes another unexpected turn when a global celebrity with lifelong roots on Atticus takes a keen interest in her.

Meanwhile, detectives achieve a breakthrough in their investigations into deadly drug smuggling through the Port of Vancouver, and uncover unexpected links to events on Atticus Island. When a stranger arrives who is openly hunting for Kot, her survival rests on the resourcefulness of her friends and, ultimately, on the not-so-rare altruism of another species.

No Safe House was short-listed for the Crime Writers of Canada’s 2023 Best Unpublished
Manuscript Award. Reviewer’s comments included:

＂...an ambitious and lyrical novel that takes its time to draw together disparate threads and characters into a transcendent whole＂

＂...exquisite description, superb dialogue and a complex and topical plotline.＂