Alumni Book Nook: Winona Kent (BA’74)

University of Saskatchewan (USask) graduate Winona Kent earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in English from USask’s Regina campus in 1974 before continuing her post-secondary studies at the University of Regina, the University of British Columbia (UBC), and Vancouver Film School.

Currently residing in New Westminster, B.C., Kent serves as the vice-chair and B.C./Yukon regional representative for the Crime Writers of Canada. She recently wrote the fifth book in her Jason Davey Mystery series, Bad Boy, which features the protagonist Jason (Davey) Figgis, a professional musician and amateur sleuth. Published by Winona Kent/Blue Devil Books, the mystery novel is scheduled to be released on Sept. 26, 2024.

I got my Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing from UBC. I got a diploma in screenwriting from Vancouver Film School. I’ve written 10 novels and a book of short stories. Novel #11 will be out in September 2024. I retired from my full-time job at UBC’s School of Population and Public Health in 2019, and I’m now happily a full-time writer (at last).

When a priceless collection of scores by English composer Sir Edward Elgar goes missing from a Soho crime lord’s private vault, professional musician and amateur sleuth Jason Davey is tasked to get it back. With the help of a series of clues seemingly lifted from Elgar’s own Enigma Variations, Jason sets out to track down both the thief and the collection. The chase leads him from London to Derbyshire and then back to London again, and ultimately to a heartbreaking discovery in a long-abandoned recording studio in the heart of Soho’s Tin Pan Alley, Denmark Street.

It’s the fifth in my Jason Davey Mystery series. I was inspired by a real Elgar collection that mysteriously showed up for sale on an episode of Antiques Roadshow. I was also inspired by a recent trip I took to England to scatter my late mum’s ashes, and a four-hour walking tour I took of Soho’s Lost Music Venues.

Absolutely. Doing my BA in English taught me how to do effective and targeted research—and I also learned that I absolutely loved doing that kind of research. I was also introduced to creative writing at a time when such courses were very rare indeed at Canadian universities (the 1970s). The guidance I got in my English and creative writing classes has lasted me a lifetime.

Intriguing, brain-testing, entertaining, musically inspired, and exciting.

This novel will appeal to anyone who’s familiar with Elgar’s music, as well as anyone who’s been to London’s Soho and seen the massive changes that have happened over the past few years. I’m a (USask) graduate and I’m proud to share my novels with my fellow alumni as well as new readers. I’m a great example of how perseverance and never losing sight of one’s goals has ultimately paid off in what has turned out to be a very challenging publishing landscape.

Skywatcher (1989); republished in 2020
The Cilla Rose Affair (2001); republished in 2020
Cold Play (2012); republished in 2020
Persistence of Memory (2013); republished in 2020
In Loving Memory (2016); republished in 2020
Disturbing the Peace (2017)
Marianne’s Memory (2018)
Notes on a Missing G-String (2019)
Lost Time (2020)
Ticket to Ride (2022)