Hamilton Passes Away

As you may already have heard, Canadian novelist Lyn Hamilton died on September 10 after a battle with cancer. She was 65 years old. After many years of working in the communications field, Hamilton began writing fiction at age 50. She eventually penned 11 books featuring Toronto antiques dealer Lara McClintoch, “who travels the world in search of the rare and beautiful for her shop, finding more than a little murder and mayhem along the way. Each book in the series is set in a different and exotic location and calls upon the past in an unusual way.” Those novels blended Hamilton’s fondness for thriller stories with her interest in archeology. Her most recent McClintoch novel was The Chinese Alchemist (2007).

Janet Rudolph reports at Mystery Fanfare that “There will be no funeral service at [Hamilton’s] request. A celebration with friends will be held later. Condolences may be posted at: etouch.ca. Donations in Lyn’s name to the Canadian Opera Company or the Princess Margaret Hospital.”

Rudolph has also posted a piece that Arthur Ellis Award-nominee Hamilton wrote for Mystery Readers Journal about the background of her McClintoch series. And Mystery*File offers more information about the author and her books.

Our condolences go out to Hamilton’s family and friends.