About
Amy Tector has spent more than 20 years plumbing the secrets squirrelled away in archives — whether it's uncovering a whale's ear (true story) in a box of old photographs, or working in The Hague for the United Nations' International Criminal Tribunal for War Crimes in the former Yugoslavia, she has been privy to hidden records and extraordinary secrets.
She now works at Canada’s national archives, Library and Archives Canada, and is adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa and a sessional instructor at Carleton University.
Amy’s debut novel, THE HONEYBEE EMERALDS was published in spring 2022 and was a finalist for the Indie Book Award Best - First Novel. Her second novel, THE FOULEST THINGS, was the first in a loose trilogy centered on murders and mayhem in the archives. It was a finalist in the Crime Writers of Canada awards. SPEAK FOR THE DEAD was the second in the series and the third is HONOR THE DEAD.
Amy has a PhD in English literature from the Université Libre de Bruxelles and lives in Ottawa, Canada with a daughter named Violet, a husband named Andrew and a dog named Daffodil. She is an enthusiastic, but incompetent, cross-country skier.
Featured Work
The Honeybee Emeralds
Alice Ahmadi has never been certain of where she belongs. When she discovers a famed emerald necklace while interning at a struggling Parisian magazine, she is plunged into a glittering world of diamonds and emeralds, courtesans and spies, and the long-buried secrets surrounding the necklace and its glamorous former owners.
When Alice realizes the mysterious Honeybee Emeralds could be her chance to save the magazine, she recruits her friends Lily and Daphne to form the “Fellowship of the Necklace.” Together, they set out to uncover the romantic history of the gems. Through diaries, letters, and investigations through the winding streets and iconic historic landmarks of Paris, the trio begins to unravel more than just the secrets of the necklace’s obsolete past. Along the way, Lily and Daphne’s relationships are challenged, tempered, and changed. Lily faces her long-standing attraction to a friend, who has achieved the writing success that eluded her. Daphne confronts her failing relationship with her husband, while also facing simmering problems in her friendship with Lily. And, at last, Alice finds her place in the world―although one mystery still remains: how did the Honeybee Emeralds go from the neck of American singer Josephine Baker during the Roaring Twenties to the basement of a Parisian magazine?
Other Works
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Honor the Dead
2024
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Speak for the Dead
2023
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The Foulest Things
2021
Awards and Recognition
- The Foulest Things -- Finalist, Crime Writers of Canada, best novel set in Canada