Thomas King

Timely, important, mischievous, powerful: in a word, exceptional.

Seventy-seven poems intended as a eulogy for what we have squandered, a reprimand for all we have allowed, a suggestion for what might still be salvaged, a poetic quarrel with our intolerant and greedy selves, a reflection on mortality and longing, as well as a long-running conversation with the mythological currents that flow throughout North America.

Additional Information
96 pages | 6.00" x 9.00"

When a TV producer asks Thumps to assist with an episode about a local woman from a wealthy family whose death was ruled “misadventure,” he is reluctant to get involved. Then the producer dies in the exact same manner, and Thumps finds himself solving two cases.

Can a reality TV show solve a cold case?

The crew of a true-crime reality TV show, Malice Aforethought, shows up in Chinook to do an episode about the death of Trudy Samuels. Trudy’s death had originally been ruled accidental, but with ratings in mind, one of the producers, Nina Maslow, wants to prove it was murder. And she wants Thumps to help. Thumps is reluctant to get involved until Nina dies in the exact same place and in the exact same way as Trudy. Are the two deaths related? Or are there two murderers on the loose in Chinook? Thumps uses Nina’s Malice Aforethought files to try to fit the pieces of the puzzle together, and in the process discovers that she had already started work on another case close to Thumps' heart: the Obsidian murders.

Series Information
This novel is part of the DreadfulWater Mystery series from Thomas King. Books in this series include:
- Dreadful Water
- The Red Power Murders
- Cold Skies
- A Matter of Malice
- The Obsidian Murders
- Deep House 
- Double Eagle
- Black Ice

Additional Information

From the #1 bestselling and award-winning author of Indians on Vacation, a witty and wry novel set in a small Ontario town where all is seemingly ordinary except for one thing—aliens have landed on the moon

In Thomas King’s new novel, the citizens of a small Ontario town face life-changing decisions. Bria’s grandmother asks her to take her great-grandmother’s rosary to Edmonton and return it in person to the pope. When she flings it into the lake, the rosary somehow hits the pope on the cheek, thousands of kilometres away. It is the same rosary. How is this possible? Thea is furious at her son for putting her in an old-age home. She should have had a daughter. A daughter would never have forced her from her home. Darlene is mixed up with the no-good petty thief Billy. When she ends up in the hospital, she finds Thea’s fanny pack on the floor. Darlene needs the $265 tucked inside, but she also wants a reward for returning the fanny pack. Herb has bought the drive-in movie theatre on the edge of town and has turned it into his home. He watches movies on the big screen while treating the parking lot as his personal driving range. Should he travel west to see his family on the reserve? Nico has a Subaru whose battery keeps failing, but there are no replacements in North America. Gary and Brenda from the dealership are having an affair. Richard wants to set up a dating profile but has no cell phone.

Just the stuff of ordinary life except for one thing: Aliens have landed on the moon. They are watching Earth and earthlings. What is their plan? With the arrival of the aliens, ordinary life is upended in ways that are both hilarious and revealing. While some people fear the aliens’ three-part mandate to save the planet (which might have been written by a grade 9 student in the US), others think the arrival of the aliens is a golden opportunity for a deep discount weekend at Costco that could possibly rival Amazon’s Black Friday.

Additional Information
272 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Hardcover

Thumps DreadfulWater has a lot on his plate. With Duke out of commission following his wife’s tragic death, Thumps is appointed temporary deputy sheriff, a role that makes him doubly eager for Duke’s swift recovery.

First, a myopic private investigator dies while in custody. The autopsy concludes that he died of natural causes; then an assault rifle is found in the trunk of the dead man’s rental car, and the mystery woman he was investigating disappears. Meanwhile, Thumps contends with a couple of horse-thieving octogenarians and a large, slobbery dog acquired in the line of duty.

As the rest of Chinook comes together to cheer on golf novice Wutty Youngbeaver, who is competing in the US Open qualifying tournament up at Shadow Ranch, Claire and Ivory decamp to Alberta, leaving Thumps to contemplate the simplicity of a life lived alone. If he can’t manage something as simple as a dog or a couple of cats, how can he be responsible for another human being? Two human beings?

The plot thickens when ninja assassin Cisco Cruz returns to Chinook, and Thumps finds himself knee-deep in a complicated web of deceit spun by a nefarious collective known as Black Ice. His job? To sort through the lies. It’s like a game of Jenga, where the blocks need to be removed carefully, one by one, or the whole structure will topple.

Series Information
This book is from the DreadfulWater Mystery series, a mystery/detective series from Thomas King.

Books in this series include:
- Dreadful Water
- The Red Power Murders
- Cold Skies
- A Matter of Malice
- The Obsidian Murders
- Deep House 
- Double Eagle
- Black Ice

Additional Information
384 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Paperback

Thumps DreadfulWater has finally found some peace and quiet. His past as a California cop now far behind him, he’s living out his retirement as a fine-arts photographer in the small town of Chinook. His health isn’t great, and he could use a new stove, but as long as he’s got his cat and a halfway decent plate of eggs, life is good.

All that changes when a body turns up on the eve of a major water conference and the understaffed sheriff’s department turns to Thumps for help. Thumps wants none of it, but even he is intrigued when he learns the deceased was developing a new technology that could revolutionize water and oil drilling . . . and that could also lose some very powerful people a lot of money. As strangers begin to pour into Chinook for the conference, Thumps finds himself sinking deeper and deeper into a conflict between secretive players who will kill to get what they want.

In Cold Skies, the sly, wry, reluctant investigator of DreadfulWater and The Red Power Murders returns for another irresistible mystery that only Thomas King could tell.

Reviews
“Whimsical and wry, large-hearted and at times laugh out loud funny, but with an underlying gravitas and significance.” — Quill & Quire

“Even armchair sleuths who can see the solution from a mile away will appreciate GoodWeather’s unerring knack for converting social, racial, and economic conflict into blissful farce.”— Kirkus Reviews

Series Information
This novel is part of the DreadfulWater Mystery series from Thomas King.

Books in this series include:
- Dreadful Water
- The Red Power Murders
- Cold Skies
- A Matter of Malice
- The Obsidian Murders
- Deep House 
- Double Eagle
- Black Ice

Additional Information
464 pages | 6.00" x 9.00"

For the first time since the pandemic, Thumps DreadfulWater has finally found some peace in small-town Chinook. Sure, his beloved cat is still missing and his relationship with Claire is more than uncertain, but at least he can relax in the comfort of his home. And now that local businesses are starting to open their doors again, everything can go back to normal.

But when Thumps unintentionally discovers a body at the bottom of a treacherous canyon, he becomes entangled once again in an inexplicable mystery. As more puzzling details come to the surface, Thumps begins to question whom he can truly trust—especially when an unexpected visitor walks back into his life.

In the follow-up to Obsidian, a Globe and Mail Favourite of 2020, Thumps DreadfulWater returns with wit and wry humour to solve a mystery that only Thomas King could create.

Series Information
This book is from the DreadfulWater Mystery series, a mystery/detective series from Thomas King.

Books in this series include:
- Dreadful Water
- The Red Power Murders
- Cold Skies
- A Matter of Malice
- The Obsidian Murders
- Deep House 
- Double Eagle
- Black Ice

Additional Information
400 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Paperback

Buffalo Mountain is set to host a gold coin exhibition with dealers coming from all over, and Thumps DreadfulWater winds up with the task of making sure the event goes off without a hitch. As if he didn’t already have enough to do.

For starters, he and Claire Merchant are trying to work out their relationship. Should they move in together or should they continue on as they have in the past? And there’s Sheriff Duke Hockney, who wants Thumps to give up landscape photography and return to law enforcement. And last but not least, Cisco Cruz, the ninja assassin, shows up in town with a fiancée in tow.

Can things get any more complicated for our hero?

Yes, they can.

When one of the dealers at the exhibition winds up dead, Cruz’s fiancée is revealed to be an FBI agent responsible for his protection. And Claire’s adoption of Ivory hits a major snag. Like it or not, Thumps is going to have to help Claire as best he can, discover why Cruz is really back in town and try to unravel the murder of the coin dealer—before anyone else dies.

In this new DreadfulWater instalment, our favourite reluctant investigator returns with his signature wit and wry humour to solve a mystery that only Thomas King could create.

Series Information
This book is from the DreadfulWater Mystery series, a mystery/detective series from Thomas King.

Books in this series include:
- Dreadful Water
- The Red Power Murders
- Cold Skies
- A Matter of Malice
- The Obsidian Murders
- Deep House 
- Double Eagle
- Black Ice

Additional Information
304 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Paperback

The award-winning, bestselling author of The Back of the Turtle and The Inconvenient Indian masters the comic mystery novel in this series opener, starring ex-cop Thumps DreadfulWater.

Thumps DreadfulWater is a Cherokee ex-cop trying to make a living as a photographer in the small town of Chinook, somewhere in the northwestern United States. But he doesn’t count on snapping shots of a dead body languishing in a newly completed luxury condo resort built by the local Indian band. It’s a mystery that Thumps can’t help getting involved in, especially when he realizes the number one suspect is Stick Merchant, anti-condo protester and wayward son of Claire Merchant, head of the tribal council and DreadfulWater’s sometimes lover. Smart and savvy, blessed with a killer dry wit and a penchant for self-deprecating humour, DreadfulWater just can’t manage to shed his California cop skin. Before long, he is deeply entangled in the mystery and has his work cut out for him.

Reviews
"The characters are really clever. . . . The dialogue is crisp and just begs to head to the screen."  — The Globe and Mail

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the DreadfulWater Mystery Series.

Books in this series include:
- Dreadful Water
- The Red Power Murders
- Cold Skies
- A Matter of Malice
- The Obsidian Murders
- Deep House 
- Double Eagle
- Black Ice

A novel that will appeal to mystery fans as well as Thomas King’s loyal audience, DreadfulWater is a catchy, clever read.

Additional Information
464 pages | 4.19" x 7.50" | Paperback

Strong, sassy women and hard-luck, hard-headed men, all searching for the middle ground between Native American tradition and the modern world, perform an elaborate dance of approach and avoidance in this magical, rollicking tale by award-winning author Thomas King. Alberta, Eli, Lionel and others are coming to the Blackfoot reservation for the Sun Dance. There they will encounter four Indian elders and their companion, the trickster Coyote—and nothing in the small town of Blossom will be the same again...

Additional Information
480 pages

Acclaimed author Thomas King is in fabulous, fantastical form in this bestselling short story collection. From the surreal migrations of the title story to the misadventures of Coyote in the modern world and the chaos of a baby's unexpected arrival by airmail, King's tales are deft, hilarious and provocative. 

Reviews
"The stories in this volume cover a lot of ground. King touches on the history of displacement, racism and stereotyping, oppressive government policy, marriage and relationships, and Aboriginal-white relations, among other topics." - Dragonfly Consulting Services Canada

Educator Information
Grade 10/11 English First Peoples resource used in the unit The Trickster - A Recurring Presence.

Additional Information
256 pages | 5.31" x 8.00"

A trickster named Coyote rules her world, until a funny-looking stranger named Columbus changes her plans. Unimpressed by the wealth of moose, turtles, and beavers in Coyote' s land, he' d rather figure out how to hunt human beings to sell back in Spain. Thomas King uses a bag of literary tricks to shatter the stereotypes surrounding Columbus' s voyages. In doing so, he invites children to laugh with him at the crazy antics of Coyote, who unwittingly allows Columbus to engineer the downfall of his human friends. William Kent Monkman's vibrant illustrations perfectly complement this amusing story with a message.

Educator Information
Recommended Ages: 5 to 8.

Curriculum Connections: Social Studies, Geography, Physical Education and Health

Additional Information
32 pages | 8.50" x 10.50"

Trickster Coyote is having his friends over for a festive solstice get-together in the woods when a little girl comes by unexpectedly. She leads the party-goers through the snowy woods to a shopping mall -- a place they have never seen before.

Coyote gleefully shops with abandon, only to discover that filling your shopping cart with goodies is not quite the same thing as actually paying for them. The trickster is tricked and goes back to his cabin in the woods -- somewhat subdued -- though nothing can keep Coyote down for long.

Awards

• Winner of the American Indian Library Association Youth Literature Awards, Best Picture Book

Reviews
"The humor is dry and affectionate, the rhyming text delights with sly turns of phrase, the watercolor cartoons are whimsical … [A] holiday treat." — School Library Journal

"This witty winter tale deftly skewers the materialistic aspect of the holiday season in a humorous, trenchant way." — Kirkus Reviews

Educator Information
Recommended Ages: 5 - 8.

Curriculum Connections: Social Studies, Geography, Physical Education and Health, Science.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.4
Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhythm and meaning in a story, poem, or song.

Additional Information
64 pages | 5.25" x 7.75" | Paperback

From celebrated Indigenous author Thomas King and award-winning Métis artist Natasha Donovan comes a powerful graphic novel about a family caught between nations.

Borders is a masterfully told story of a boy and his mother whose road trip is thwarted at the border when they identify their citizenship as Blackfoot. Refusing to identify as either American or Canadian first bars their entry into the US, and then their return into Canada. In the limbo between countries, they find power in their connection to their identity and to each other. 

Borders explores nationhood from an Indigenous perspective and resonates deeply with themes of identity, justice, and belonging.

Reviews
"Borders is a graphic novel adaptation of one of Thomas King’s short stories exploring identity and belonging themes. This story highlights the significance of a nation’s physical border versus that of an Indigenous perspective. It follows a boy and his mother being asked a question about citizenship and the limbo between nations." - The Dalai Lama Center

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 10 to 14.

Additional Information
192 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Paperback

C’était il y a très longtemps, alors que les animaux parlaient encore aux humains… Coyote était alors le plus grand fauteur de troubles de la forêt. Un jour, il mit Lune dans une colère telle, qu’elle se cacha tout au fond de l’étang et plongea le monde dans l’obscurité. Vieille-femme et les autres animaux durent user de toute leur imagination pour la faire remonter dans le ciel.Un jour encore, Coyote s’empara des habits des autres animaux. Gênés par cette nouvelle nudité, les animaux commencèrent à se vêtir avec tout ce qui séchait sur la corde à linge des humains.Deux contes animaliers par l’un des grands de la littérature autochtone contemporaine, Thomas King, magnifiquement illustré par Byron Eggenschwiler.

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 6 to 9.

This book is available in English: Coyote Tales.

Additional Information
56 Pages

Two tales, set in a time “when animals and human beings still talked to each other,” display Thomas King’s cheeky humor and master storytelling skills. Freshly illustrated and reissued as an early chapter book, these stories are perfect for newly independent readers.

In Coyote Sings to the Moon, Coyote is at first the cause of misfortune. In those days, when the moon was much brighter and closer to the earth, Old Woman and the animals would sing to her each night. Coyote attempts to join them, but his voice is so terrible they beg him to stop. He is crushed and lashes out — who needs Moon anyway? Furious, Moon dives into a pond, plunging the world into darkness. But clever Old Woman comes up with a plan to send Moon back up into the sky and, thanks to Coyote, there she stays.

In Coyote’s New Suit, mischievous Raven wreaks havoc when she suggests that Coyote’s toasty brown suit is not the finest in the forest, thus prompting him to steal suits belonging to all the other animals. Meanwhile, Raven tells the other animals to borrow clothes from the humans’ camp. When Coyote finds that his closet is too full, Raven slyly suggests he hold a yard sale, then sends the human beings (in their underwear) and the animals (in their ill-fitting human clothes) along for the fun. A hilarious illustration of the consequences of wanting more than we need.

Reviews
"Coyote Tales features two tales crafted together to reflect on a time when animals and humans still spoke to each other. The two uniquely crafted works teach lessons and demonstrate how to think and reflect, displaying the many ways to solve problems." - The Dalai Lama Center

Educator Information
Recommended for Grades K-4 English Language Arts.

Curriculum Connections: Social Studies, Language Arts, History, Indigenous Studies.

Recommended Ages: 6 - 9.

This book is available in French: Contes de Coyote.

Additional Information
56 pages | 5.25" x 7.75"