On May 24, 2026 the annual Toby Award announcement was held at the Rideau Lakes-Portland Public Library. At the workshop for aspiring mystery authors, C. (Chris) J. Fournier of Ottawa was named this year’s winner of the second annual Toby Award for his mystery novel, ‘The Pathfinder’. Born in Halifax, C.J. grew up in Yellowknife where he travelled across the North as a surveyor’s assistant. He is a crime writer, copywriter and journalist; for many years he was a reporter and editor with Bloomberg News, later becoming a writer for Up Here magazine. C.J. is a member of Ottawa’s Capital Crime Writers group.
Carol Moreira of Seabright, Nova Scotia, received an Honourable Mention for her novel ‘The Pet-Sit’, as did Ottawa author Gary Coffin for his entry, ‘All That We Lost’. Other shortlisted authors included Danee Wilson of Toronto for her novel, ‘Death at Fort York’ and, Timothy Reynolds of Calgary for ‘Faded Notes’.
The year’s contest was judged by a panel of authors, journalists, editors, and librarians who evaluated entries based on writing quality and originality.
The Toby Award, the first of its kind in Canada, recognizes excellence in self-published mystery novels released in trade paperback format in 2025.
The 2026 award was sponsored by Barbara Crook of Ottawa and ReBound Press located in Ashton, Ontario. The award aims to spotlight Canadian crime fiction authors navigating the evolving publishing landscape.
Award founder Peggy Blair, an internationally recognized mystery author and owner of ReBound Press, established the Toby Award to celebrate the talent of self-published authors. “The Toby Award recognizes the risk-taking, creativity, and perseverance of Canadian mystery writers who choose to publish outside the traditional system. Our goal is to help readers discover exceptional books that deserve a wider audience” said Peggy.
With respect to the calibre of authors, Blair shared, “This year’s decision was particularly difficult: These were all great reads with protagonists ranging from a retired bus driver to an archaeologist investigating a mystery within a mystery. All of the books stepped outside the genre in unique and compelling ways. Chris Fournier’s winning entry was exceptional.”
All five authors on the shortlist were offered an opportunity to include a short story in an anthology called ‘Crime for the Cottage’ to be published by ReBound Press in 2027. The winner, C.J. Fournier, will also receive the Toby Award statue — a unique metal sculpture of a dog reading a book, created by acclaimed Ontario artist Carol Nasvytis of Soul Metal — with silver eyeglasses handcrafted by Vonda Croissant of Ladysmith, B.C. and Evan Taylor of Silver Spoons in Perth, Ontario.
For more information about the Toby Award please visit https://tobyaward.wordpress.com/.