No Worst, There Is None

2015 Arthur Ellis Award — Nominated, Best First Novel

A terrible tragedy tears a family apart.

In a serene city in the extravagant mid-eighties, the privileged Warne family is victimized when their talented and artistic eleven-year-old daughter Lizbett is sexually slain. How can any family endure such horror?

In an intimate exploration of grief, the surviving family members struggle with their mourning. Hildy, a loving but abused Great Dane, also in need of healing, joins the family and becomes part of their journey back to normalcy.

Meanwhile, the police search in vain for the murderer, Melvyn Searle, who is on his own journey, hiding in plain sight, feeling invincible, and hatching new plans as he draws closer to the family and stalks the Warnes’ younger daughter, Darcy.

A work that challenges our reason, our emotions, and our spirit, No Worst, There Is None is a novel inspired by real-life events.

Eve McBride is a graduate in Fine Art from Trinity College at the University of Toronto. She was a columnist for the Toronto Star and the Montreal Gazette. An anthology of her columns, Dandelions Help, was shortlisted for The Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour. She has also worked for CBC Radio with Peter Gzowski and done editorials for CBC Television. She is the mother of four daughters and lives in Port Hope, Ontario.