R.E. Donald Books In Order

Publication Order of Hunter Rayne Highway Mystery Books

R.E. Donald
Ruth E. Donald was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She worked in the transportation industry in various capacities for 25 years (from 1972 until 2001) and draws on this experience, as well as those of Jim Donald (her late husband), in creating the realistic situations and characters in her novels.

She went to the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C., where she studied creative writing and languages (French, Russian, and German) to get a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Ruth’s always been an avid reader and has been especially attracted to murder mysteries. She loves the puzzle and loves the satisfaction that comes with solving the crime and seeing justice done. Since she was in grade school, she has also had a compulsion to write: stories, journals, poems, and songs. She has enjoyed any sort of writing she has attempted.

During the nineties, she found herself being drawn to a certain kind of mystery novel and tried to describe to herself why exactly she enjoys these kinds of novels more than others. When she started writing, it made sense that she would write the sort of novel she loves reading: realistic characters with flaws and a personal life which distracts them from their goal sometimes, multiple perspectives, a complex plot with a challenging puzzle to it, and plenty of descriptive detail that she could be drawn right into the scene.

If Ruth gets stuck on a scene, or stuck between scenes, there are a couple of different ways she can give herself a jump start. One is by reading over some earlier scenes and doing some revision or editing. Often that works to get her back on track with the plot of the novel. Another way is to begin making notes about potential scenarios for where things will go. She may explore two or three directions for the plot to take, or the characters to react. Typically one of them feels right and will get her inspired to go back and work on the manuscript.

Ruth lives on a ranch in Lone Butte, BC, where she and Gilbert Roy (her partner) enjoy their Canadian Horses and other assorted animals.

“Ice on the Grapevine”, the second novel from the “Hunter Rayne” series, was a 2012 Global Ebook Awards finalist.

Ruth’s debut novel, called “Slow Curve on the Coquihalla”, was released in the year 2011. Her work is from the mystery and thriller genres.

“Slow Curve on the Coquihalla” is the first novel in the “Hunter Rayne Highway Mystery” series and was released in the year 2011. A well respected truck driver and owner of a family trucking business, is discovered dead in his truck down a steep embankment along the Coquihalla highway which winds through the mountains in British Columbia, his distraught daughter wants to know why and how he died.

Not too long afterwards, while driving that same highway, her husband’s brakes get tampered with, which almost creates another deadly accident on a treacherous incline. It compels Hunter Rayne, a fellow trucker and a retired RCMP detective, to help her out and get some answers.

While he uncovers signs of some illegal cross border activity that originates in a warehouse in Seattle, Hunter recruits an outlaw biker and an old friend, to infiltrate what seems to be an international smuggling ring. However as he follows up clues and waits for some critical information from his old buddy, this wily biker begins playing angles of his own.

At last, putting all of the pieces together, there in the dark on that same uphill curve on the Coquihalla highway, he risks it all to face the killer.

“Ice on the Grapevine” is the second novel in the “Hunter Rayne Highway Mystery” series and was released in the year 2011. On a warm July morning in Los Angeles County, a frozen corpse is found at a highway brake check just south of the Grapevine Pass. Hunter Rayne, now driving an eighteen wheeler, is persuaded by Elspeth Watson, his irascible dispatcher, to help her clear two of their fellow truck drivers that have been arrested for this murder. His job is made that much tougher by the fact that these suspects, who are a newlywed couple, refuse to speak up for their defense.

The circumstantial evidence is rather strong, and a rookie cop from the LA County Sheriff’s Department is eager for a win. The investigation crosses the Canada-US border when the victim ends up being identified as a second rate musician from Vancouver. And turns out there were more than just a few desperate people happy to see this guy dead, which includes the accused couple. Hunter must use up all of his investigative skills to learn the truth.

Hunter’s former wife maintains that by taking to the highway he’s running away from his past, however he believes that the solitude of days spent on the road helps him to heal from guilt over his marriage’s failure and the suicide of his best buddy. Multiple suspects and tangled relationships emerge over the course of the novel, while Hunter continues to butt heads with more than just one peace officer to solve this case.

“Sea to Sky” is the third novel in the “Hunter Rayne Highway Mystery” series and was released in the year 2012. A dead guy rides a chairlift at the popular ski resort up on Whistler Mountain. Hunter Rayne finds himself up at the top of the list of suspects, so he’s got no choice in the matter but to get involved in this investigation in order to clear his name.

While busy in Whistler, trucker Hunter is stuck hiring Dan Sorenson, a biker, to take his place behind the wheel. What links this badass biker that hails from Yreka, California to the most prolific female serial killer in US history? And what happens when Hunter’s dispatcher El Watson gets this biker involved in the investigation?

Hunter’s life, in the midst of this investigation, gets more complex when the progress of a brand new relationship gets arrested by the sudden appearance of a woman from his troubled past.

2 Responses to “R.E. Donald”

1. J L Griggs: 2 years ago

   Loved Yellowhead Blues!
   Favorite so far. What comes next?

   Reply
   • Graeme: 2 years ago

     That’s the last one in this series at the moment

     Reply