Diamond River Books

Publisher info

Chris Banner was raised on the edge of the Cotswold Hills in the west of England.
Years later as the publisher and editor of a rural newspaper in Eastern Ontario, he recorded the decay of an established rural society. Inspired by Laurie Lee's Cider with Rosie, these circumstances became the background for his love story, `The Mercedes Variation’.
Chris Banner has an extensive career as a journalist and writer. He was a regular contributor to the Ottawa Citizen, a regular freelance writer for several Maclean Hunter magazines, including `Driver Owner’ and `Bus and Truck’, and [ublisher and editor of The Lanark Era, one of Canada’s oldest weekly newspapers. He also co-owned and founded `Anthos’, an eastern Ontarioarts journal.
He moved to Canada’s west coast in the 1980s and became a reporter and columnist for the Victoria Star and a freelance writer for Monday Magazine. He edited and photographed for `On The Waterfront’, a monthly maritime journal, later edited `Coastal Echoes’, an environmental journal and regularly contributed to `Cosmic Debris’, a Vancouver Island music magazine. He has also contributed political commentary to the Victoria Times Colonist and `Impact’ magazine in Florida.
He was a finalist in the British Columbia Writer’s Festival Competition and his short story `Flight’ was published by Laughing Willow Books in `The Air Between Us’ (ISBN 0-9698975-0-2).

Where to find Diamond River Books online

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Indigenous Teenage Interpreters in Museums and Public Education: The Native Youth Program in the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 63,430. Language: English. Published: November 13, 2012 by Diamond River Books. Categories: Nonfiction » Social Science » Anthropology / Cultural
Indigenous Teenage Interpreters in Museums and Public Education describes the development of the Native Youth Project (NYP) at the Museum of Anthropology (MOA). This book shows how the students learned to give lectures and tours to museum visitors about their heritage and culture. Rowan’s account includes the voices of NYP students and MOA staff, and is reflective and honest.
War in the corner: Chronicle of a village in wartime Netherlands
Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 72,760. Language: English. Published: November 13, 2012 by Diamond River Books. Categories: Nonfiction » History » European » Europe / Western
The betrayal and subsequent death of Jan Braakman’s grandfather during the Second World War is the thread tying together this story of the Dutch village of Laren near the German border. Daring acts of resistance by locals aided the Dutch, the Jews, even Germans, as well as allied soldiers who marched through Laren on their way to liberate the Netherlands.
Circle of Attachment
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 39,410. Language: English. Published: November 16, 2011 by Diamond River Books. Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » General
Retired FBI Agent Warren Marshall retreats from postwar Europe to the seedier side of late 1950s San Francisco. He supplements his income working for Harry Franks, a local private detective.He struggles to focus on his writing career but is drawn to the promise of a reunion with a woman half a world away. Will he escape the seedy underbelly of the Bay or will he meet his own end here?
Murder in Parksville: Confusion in Tofino
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 36,890. Language: English. Published: October 30, 2011 by Diamond River Books. Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » General
Murder in Parksville is a classic mystery. In Tofino, only hours after having supper with her `new’ fiancé and her parents in Parksville, Leann is woken by police. She returns to Parksville to identify her parents, the apparent victims of a fatal car crash. Appearances aren’t everything. After surprising twists and turns local detectives unmask her parents’ murderer.
Wait until Morning
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 46,710. Language: English. Published: October 28, 2011 by Diamond River Books. Categories: Fiction » Literature » Plays & Screenplays
A story of denial and despair, follows Kate Rothwell through her life with a doting father, an interfering mother; an unreliable husband and her own deteriorating mind. The story is set in Victoria in the 1950s. Kate Rothwell is an escapist. She denies the truth, until forced to choose between harsh reality and complete despair.Should she leave him?
Murder on the Galloping Goose
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 47,300. Language: English. Published: October 25, 2011 by Diamond River Books. Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » General
Three ex loggers are murdered one at a time and so Zack Ward, the head of the local RCMP detachment must try to find the connection between these three murders and the history of Sooke. This is the 1st book in a Murder Mystery Trilogy by Shirlety Skidmore. All the murders are set in Sooke, on Vancouver Island.
The Coffin Ship Legacy
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 86,630. Language: English. Published: October 25, 2011 by Diamond River Books. Categories: Fiction » Historical » General
Drawing on the life of her great-grandfather author Shirley Skidmore recreates a gripping story of the 'coffin' ships that brought Irish famine survivors to Canada. Most did not survive the harrowing voyage but those who did were further challenged by the harsh life meted out in the New World.
Murder in the Sooke Potholes
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 79,010. Language: English. Published: October 25, 2011 by Diamond River Books. Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » General
Serial killings at the Sooke Potholes complicate Zack Ward's life– he heads the Sooke RCMP detachment. The plot is complicated by interaction between a beautiful young constable and the local doctor. Meanwhile Zack Ward relentlessly courts Cass Derby – a local business women and artist. Yet, despite the obstacles and confusion, Zack's professional detective work finally resolves the murders.
September gales
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 46,600. Language: English. Published: August 16, 2011 by Diamond River Books. Categories: Fiction » Literature » Literary
September Gales is an engaging story that minutely examines the creative spirit of Edwin, a successful painter, who for over 15 years maintains a marriage in Toronto during the winter, and a creative love affair with his soul mate and muse on Canada's West Coast each summer. Marion, his loyal and dutiful wife, sets up winter showings of Edwin's paintings, maintains his servants, his household and
Circle of Beginning
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 37,580. Language: English. Published: March 19, 2010 by Diamond River Books. Categories: Fiction » Mystery & detective » General
The Circle of Beginning is a murder mystery that delves into the lives of six people who survived the second world war only to have their fears reawakened by a young American FBI agent almost nine years later. He is on the trail of a simple solution to a murder while each of them is convinced that something unfinished from the war has surfaced.
Treachery and Treason in Canada's Sealing Fleet
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 108,640. Language: English. Published: March 9, 2010 by Diamond River Books. Categories: Fiction » Historical » General
This is an epic love story in a period when Vancouver Island was not part of British Columbia, not part of Canada and not part of the USA, though that was an option. The hardy residents fell under the administration of the Hudson's Bay Company. This is a rivalry between two `sea dogs' played out on the sealing grounds of the Pacific North West.
The Mercedes Variation
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 81,370. Language: English. Published: February 24, 2010 by Diamond River Books. Categories: Fiction » Romance » General
The Mercedes Variation is a love story set against the backdrop of people who went `back to the land" in the 1960s, with 'flower power' values. Mercedes and her friends reject consumerism and corporate hierarchies and live the traditional rural lifestyle. Mercedes gets help building her tepee from her farmer neighbor who is seduced by her earthy nature.
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