These Pacific Northwest crime novels take readers from Vancouver to the Washington border

A missing woman in Vancouver. A murder investigation near the Washington border. A rescue in False Creek that leads to a much bigger case.

For readers looking for a mystery set closer to home, author Sam Wiebe has several places to start. The author recently joined Jennifer Palma on Global News to discuss his Pacific Northwest crime fiction.

The appearance offers a reason to look at the regional settings behind his books, from Vancouver neighborhoods to communities along the U.S.–Canada border.

Who is Sam Wiebe?

Wiebe lives in New Westminster, British Columbia, and writes the Dave Wakeland detective novels. His work has won the Kobo Emerging Writers Prize and a Crime Writers of Canada award, according to Harbour Publishing.

Wakeland is a Vancouver private investigator whose cases involve missing people, powerful criminals, and people with something to hide. Readers can follow him through a series or try Wiebe’s separate novel, Ocean Drive, for a story outside Wakeland’s investigations.

Where does the Wakeland series begin?

Invisible Dead introduces Wakeland through a missing-person case that is already more than a decade old.

Chelsea Loam disappeared 11 years earlier. When Wakeland is hired to find out what happened, the investigation brings him into contact with career criminals and influential men.

It’s the starting point for readers who prefer to meet a recurring detective at the beginning. Vancouver remains the setting as the cases continue in books including Cut You Down, Hell and Gone, and Sunset and Jericho.

What are the more recent books about?

In The Last Exile, published in 2025, Wakeland investigates a double killing aboard a houseboat. Maggie Zito is accused of murdering a retired motorcycle gang leader and his wife, and her lawyer asks Wakeland to find evidence that could clear her.

There’s also trouble closer to his own business. His partner is missing, and their security firm is struggling financially.

Guns Across the River, published in March 2026, begins with Wakeland rescuing Nicola Havoc from False Creek. He and his partner, Jeff Chen, become involved in a case connecting a construction scandal, gun trafficking, and Nicola’s family.

According to the publisher, that investigation takes them from Vancouver into the Fraser Valley. It’s the sixth Wakeland novel.

Is there a book to try without starting a series?

If you’d rather start with a standalone book, try Ocean Drive.

The novel follows Cameron Shaw, a man newly released from prison, and Meghan Quick, a police chief investigating a death in Crescent Beach, Washington.

A body is found in a burned house, setting off an investigation involving a criminal organization operating across the border.

Shaw is trying to stay out of trouble, but an offer to infiltrate the organization pulls him back in. As Quick investigates the killing, the two storylines move toward each other.

If you’re new to Wiebe’s books, start with Invisible Dead to follow Wakeland’s cases from the beginning, or pick up Ocean Drive if you’d rather read a standalone mystery.