“Absolutely amazing. I really enjoyed this book a lot.. Historical fiction is my favorite and this wasn’t a let down. Well-researched, fun, a bit of something for everyone. Wonderful book. I would recommend it.”

– NetGalley

“…this book is filled with juicy plot lines, historical and modern characters, and mysteries from every direction…”

– Suzanne, goodreads

“15 year old Allison Briscoe should be dead. Shot in the head, she lies in the hospital in what appears to be a coma. She cannot speak or move, but she dreams vividly. She dreams of her ancestor, Rebecca who lived in Pennsylvania at the time of the Revolutionary War. In her dreams, she is Rebecca, a young woman who leaves her faith behind to join the Women’s Brigade with Washington’s army at Valley Forge. Two stories play out here, Rebecca’s and Allison’s, either of whom could be killed at any time. Which begs the question, if one of them dies, does the other as well? A thoughtful time travel/murder mystery.”

– ForTheLoveOfBooks

“Wow! I’m really impressed with …  your eye for detail, and the psychological sophistication of the interactions between the characters. … I read a few thrillers and mysteries a year written by the big names; the quality of the writing and the characterizations usually disappoints. All plot (often silly) and little else. Your writing is so much richer. Well done.”

– Ross Pennie, author of Up in Smoke

“The Dead Scholar immerses the two Toronto detectives … in an eclectic group of characters, all members of the Francis Bacon Society and verbal sparring that’s right up their alley. … It’s a good read for these long, cold nights when a puzzle … hits the spot.”

– Mystery Maven Canada

 “There are many suspects (all Sir Francis Bacon Society members) but, far from confusing the reader, or the detectives, it becomes clear that the backgrounds and past experiences of these individuals shaped the events that ended in death. Even the dead man, the ominous Professor Kurtz, becomes a major player. The relationship each suspect had with the victim is complicated and haunting. The story is set partly in Toronto (Is Philosophers Walk real? I hope so.), and partly on a wealthy man’s holiday island. The island sojourn reminds me of a Canadian version of a British manor house mystery…”

– Gloria Ferris, author of Corpse Flower

“… it is a pleasure to read a story containing ideal adjectives rather then the usual pedestrian ones. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good read and also would urge readers to try the other equally good books in the series. (Still Waters, Grave Doubts and Reluctant Dead.)”

– Ruth Gilbert

“The team of Miranda Quin and David Morgan… is now three books in, and it’s clear that John Moss has a winning combo… Reluctant Dead is the best so far.”

– Margaret Cannon, The Globe and Mail

“As in the previous books, Moss has created a sophisticated puzzle for us to solve… The author’s murder methods are unique and challenge the reader, and his humour is wry and intelligent.… Moss challenges the reader with a tense, quietly thrilling conclusion that is strangely erotic.”

– Merrill Young, Reviewingtheevidence.com

“… intricate, erudite, and cleverly written.”

– Joan Barfoot. London Free Press

“This is your best yet. Wow!… The writing is fantastic… approachable, engaging, compelling… I’m savouring every paragraph.”

– Ross Pennie, author of Tainted and Tampered

“In the annals of fictional crime detection, Quin and Morgan are unique. I can hardly wait to see where they’ll get to in the next instalment of their weird and wonderful careers.”

– Eric McMillan, mytowncrier.ca

“John Moss is quite the storyteller. He seamlessly blends historical details, descriptions of locations, and spy-tingling adventure into a page-turning novel.”

– http://mysterymavencdn

“By the end of the novel all of the various events and subplots are tied up in the mandatory neat package. But with a John Moss novel, not everything is quite so neat and he gives the reader many opportunities to work on the various solutions while reading an easy pace to the finish.”

– Brian Turner, EMC Community Papers

“John Moss’s Reluctant Dead makes my must-read list.”

– Don Graves, The Hamilton Spectator

“Summertime demands a really good, grisly mystery, and John Moss… delivers the goods.”

– Margaret Cannon, The Globe and Mail

“Unusual mystery proves hypnotic delight.”

– Joan Barfoot, The London Free Press

“How lucky we are that John Moss has turned his brilliant academic mind to writing mysteries. His Miranda Quin and David Morgan of the Toronto Police service are a different breed of detectives. Intellectual and culturally sophisticated, they wrestle with both existential problems and their feelings for each other. Their adventures take them through the streets of Toronto and into the wilds of rural southern Ontario. Moss has written two titles so far (Still Waters and Grave Doubts) and I hope there will be many more.”

– Clare Hitchens, http://adventbooks.wordpress.com

“John Moss’s previous tale, Still Waters, was on my must-read list. Grave Doubts is on that list with a star beside it…”

– Don Graves, The Hamilton Spectator

“Moss proves again that he is a thrill-master of detail and suspense, drawing readers in to death’s lonely chill.”

– Murder Out There

“Snappy dialogue, engaging characters, and a layered plot with a riveting climax combine to make this well-crafted tale a compelling read.”

– Jim Napier, The Sherbrooke Record

“Stellar storytelling…for mystery buffs, it doesn’t get much better than this. Dashiel Hammett meets P.D. James.”

– Chaos.com

“Moss spins a mystery that sparkles with dynamic setting…with vivid pictures, resonant insights and a spin on mystery storytelling that is as multilayered as it is beautiful…passionately intellectual with gripping narrative…Still Waters is a mystery told by a storyteller par excellence and is not to be missed.”

– Don Graves, The Hamilton Spectator

“A powerful novel…Moss skillfully enlarges his story to make it more than a murder mystery: it is a life mystery.”

– Jenni Mortin, Saskatoon Star Phoenix

Still Waters… refers not only to the deep undercurrents of psychological and family tensions and memories that lie at the heart of the mystery, but also to the victim’s fish pond, and his priceless collection of ornamental Japanese koi… a direct connection between collecting animals as trophies and collecting and dehumanizing people… The novel is at once playfully intellectual and grittily realistic.

– Judith Leggatt, Canadian Literature

“Grittily complex…Ontario Gothic à la Robertson Davies…Moss does noir Canadian Style.”

– Kerry J. Schooley, Murder Out There

“…wonderfully clever dialogues between Quin and Morgan. They put me in mind of Reginald Hill’s Daziel and Pascoe, or perhaps the clever cocktail commentary of Hammetts’ Thin Man duo, Nick and Nora Charles.”

– Merrill Young, Reviewing the Evidence

“John Moss is off to a good start, and Morgan and Quin are promising and appealing protagonists worth following in future books.”

– Quill and Quire

“Still Waters is both an assured debut in the mystery category and offbeat…If anything, Moss’ character-driven writing in Still Waters reminds me of the involving work of the British writer Reginald Hill in the famed Dalziel and Pascoe series.”

– Eric McMillan, Towncrier