Don't Look Close
- Judith D Collins
- 5 days ago
- 12 min read
By: Jaima Fixsen
Narrator: Libby McKnight
Recorded Books
ISBN: 9781728294933
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: 08/18/2026
Format: Paperback
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
From USA Today bestselling author Jaima Fixsen, comes a gripping crime novel perfect for fans of William Kent Kruger, following one man who would do anything for his sister, even if it means catching a serial killer…
If you look closely, you just may catch a killer.
When Peter Simmons calls his sister Edie from the polio rehabilitation ward, he expects to hear that she's on her way to get him. Instead, he learns her ex-husband has been murdered – and whispers around town have turned her into a prime suspect.
Determined to set things right, Peter checks himself out of the hospital and heads to Clairbeck, the rugged mining community Edie calls home. He can't walk or drive unassisted, but armed with his camera and a stubborn streak, he's intent on proving her innocence.
Clairbeck, however, is far from welcoming. Old grudges between miners and the establishment simmer, and even Edie's clinic isn't the safe haven it appears to be. As Peter observes – and then investigates – he starts to wonder… Is someone watching, waiting, and eliminating anyone who steps out of line?
In a town shrouded in secrets, Peter's eye for truth might be the only thing that stops a killer, unless he draws the killer's eye first…
About the Author
Jaima Fixsen is a USA Today and internationally bestselling Alberta author whose crime fiction blends history, medicine, and suspense. Her novel The Specimen was a finalist for the 2025 Crime Writers of Canada Best Novel Award. Trained as an occupational therapist, she writes about disability, patient vulnerability, and the darker side of medical history.
Connect with Jaima
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Standout Books. Elevator Talk.
BEHIND THE BOOK AND THE AUTHOR
Welcome back, booklovers to the lift!
Today we have an exciting ride with bestselling author, Jaima Fixsen—stepping into the lift and the 1950s, for an exclusive Lit Lift Mini Author Chat and her upcoming novel, Don't Look Close, out August 18, 2026.
A polio survivor wheels out of his rehab clinic and into a hostile, post-war Canadian mining town, armed only with a vintage camera and a stubborn streak, to catch a hidden serial killer before his sister is wrongfully convicted of murder.
Intro:
In Don't Look Close, USA Today bestselling author Jaima Fixsen departs from her usual Victorian medical dramas to deliver a deeply atmospheric, mid-century crime thriller. The narrative centers on an unconventional detective facing immense physical and social hurdles to protect the only family he has left.
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Welcome, Jaima!
The Jaima Fixsen Edition | DON’T LOOK CLOSE
The Ground Floor Hook
Q. Give us your best Elevator Pitch for Don’t Look So Close
JF: Don’t Look Close is a small-town, 1950s thriller about a former mountain climber, now a recovering polio patient, trying to save his stubborn sister from being arrested for murder. Think retro Nancy Drew, but for grown ups. Rear Window vibes.
Q. Name 3-5 things readers may or may not know about your latest novel.
JF. I’ve plunged in the hot springs and hiked many of the trails mentioned in the book. I also, as background, read an entire textbook about forensic photography before the advent of digital film. The hikes and the hot springs were more fun than the textbook.
The Secret Double Life
By day, you are navigating the world of pediatric occupational therapy, and by night, you are a finalist for major crime writing awards,
Q. Do your two professional worlds ever accidentally text or bump into each other in the elevator lobby?
JF: All the time! I am so inspired when patients use narrative framing to change their perception of an injury or a distressing event. It’s incredible to see storytelling empower people. But bumping goes the other way as well, and Don’t Look Close has been deeply impacted by my clinical practice.
For example, Peter’s character is shaped the idea of “me” vs “not me” —the way we mentally distinguish between what belongs to us and what feels foreign.
A simple example is saliva: while it's in our mouths, it's part of us. Once it's spit into a glass, it’s suddenly disgusting, but nothing about the saliva has changed except its relationship to our sense of self. Peter had no trouble identifying with his body when he was strong, agile, and climbing mountains. After polio, he found himself living in a body that was weaker, easily fatigued, and reliant on mobility aids. Part of his journey is learning to see this altered body not as an unwelcome intruder, but as himself. The mystery he investigates is external, but beneath it runs a quieter struggle to reconcile who he is with who he has become.
Q. What is one specific real-world therapy detail you gave Peter that a non-OT writer would have completely missed?
JF: I think other writers or clinicians of other disciplines might not have emphasized how healing it is for people to be able to choose and perform meaningful work and activities, and how this strengthens their purpose and identity. Because I’m an OT, this naturally became part of Peter’s story.
The Co-Writing Dynamic
You write solo, but you also write major historical bestsellers as half of the duo Audrey Blake.
Q. Is it easier to cover up a fictional murder by yourself, or when you have a co-author accomplice?
JF: You know, I’m not sure. Regina and I have never written a murder mystery, but we tend to build off each other’s ideas pretty well, so I think there might be some untapped potential there. Maybe we should try one.
Partner-in-Crime
Q. When you meet up with your partner-in-crime Regina Sirois, if the two of you were trapped together in an elevator for an hour, would you spend it plotting a new book or just catching up?
JF: Catching up, for sure. Having fun together is harder to do remotely. Plotting from a distance is easier.
Author Floor
Q. Share with us 3-5 things about YOU that readers may (or may not know).
I’m left-handed
I’m super nerdy. In so many ways. And I’ve accepted that.
I type in a different keyboard layout called Dvorak that’s more efficient and ergonomic, with all the vowels and most used consonants on the home row. Qwerty keyboards were invented to slow typists down, back when they were using typewriters with hammers that would jam when they got too fast. And really, does the semicolon deserve prime real estate on home row? No, it does not.
I’m celiac. Gluten does not like me.
Winter Sports
You are a major fan of snow, mountains, and winter sports.
Q. If you could open the elevator doors to any winter resort or mountain peak in the world, where are we stepping out?
JF: Fernie, British Columbia
Writing Sanctuary
Q. If you could open the elevator doors onto your absolute ideal, distraction-free writing sanctuary anywhere in the world, what does it look like?
JF: Any place in Fernie. With a window and inside and outside chairs.
The Boarding Pass
Q. If you could type any historical year into the elevator keypad and travel back in time for exactly one day, where are you going?
JF: Normally I would refuse, but if I’m only going for one day and not getting stuck there, I would visit Elizabeth Garrett Anderson’s hospital. Or Anna Morandi Manzolini’s anatomy class. Or march with the suffragettes of the WSPU.
Mystery Guest Floor:
The elevators are stuck between floors.
Q. What legendary author (dead or alive) or relative, celebrity, influence would you hope stepped in for their undivided attention.
JF: This question made me laugh. I actually had an experience like this that I totally flubbed. This past May, at Thrillerfest, I looked up from my phone and realized I was standing in the elevator next to author, actor, and producer Eriq LaSalle. ER was my very first medical drama, and, if you’ve read The Specimen or any of the Nora Beady books, you can guess how much I love medical dramas. I actually gasped out loud. He smiled at me, and I stammered, “Mr. LaSalle!” And then I was so embarrassed I couldn’t do anything else but stare at the floor. I don’t think I can handle being around celebrities and writers I admire. But I will watch and read all their books and episodes and interviews!
Wild Card Rapid Fire Floor
Q. How many books have you written? (all names)
Don’t Look Close, my latest, featuring sibling sleuths, a suspicious small town, and a serial killer.
The Specimen. It’s about a mother with a missing son. And serial killers and medical research and revenge.
The Woman With No Name. It’s a World War two spy novel about Yvonne Rudellat, a real life agent, the first trained woman sent by the British government into occupied France.
The Girl In His Shadow, The Surgeon’s Daughter, and All In Her Hands, a series about an aspiring female surgeon in Victorian London.
I have my fair share of finished but abandoned manuscripts, and I’ve learned that most writers do. These are stories I’ve learned from (even if it was only just to leave them alone). Also, before I found representation and a publisher, I wrote and self-published a trilogy of historical romances, inspired by Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, and the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen.
Q. Current Project/upcoming
JF: I’m working on another book. But it’s a secret.
Q. Favorite snack or beverage while plotting
When I have a really pressing writing day, I buy myself a green apple Rockstar energy drink and a Cadbury Dark Burnt Almond bar. The Rockstar is awful, but also good? Like drinking Jolly Rancher candy, but with loads of caffeine. I get to eat the chocolate when I’m done. Regular days, I sit down with chai or diet cola. I can’t really eat and write at the same time. I forget the food is there, usually.
Q. Morning or night person?
Neither. I do my best writing in the reasonable part of the morning or in the afternoon. The unholy hours of the morning are for sleep, imagining, and reading. And late hours are for binge watching and doom scrolling, obviously.
Q. Pantser, Plotter, or Plantser?
JF: All those categories credit me with more consistency than I actually have. What I am consistent about from book to book is preferring to work in Scrivener (the long-form writing software) for solo projects, because I can outline, muss about with metadata and shuffle scenes easily, which probably places me in the plotter camp. But Scrivener doesn’t work for collaborative writing, so all the Audrey Blake books are written more organically and spontaneously (and pantsy, I guess) in Google Docs. No meta data, outlining or simple shuffling there. But it balances out, because then I have a co-author ally, and Regina is brilliant.
Q. Zodiac Sign, Favorite Color, Favorite Season
JF: Virgo, Green, Fall
Q. A book recommendation
JF: Just one?! So hard. Ok. I just finished listening to Emma Donoghue’s The Pull of the Stars and it made me cry. I loved it. In fact, it’s on my latest playlist of audiobook recommendations. I regularly share reading recommendations in my substack newsletter.
Fascinating!
So much fun! We loved the elevator story (this question always leads to fun and interesting responses). I am a Virgo too! Plus learning more about your double life, getting to know you better, and how your work intersects with your writing and characters.
Thank you, Jaima, for spending time with us today!
Be sure and order your copy of Don't Look Close available in paperback, e-book (Poisoned Pen Press) and audio format (Recorded Books) narrated by Libby McKnight.
And don't forget the signed book Giveaway Contest
Praise
"Don't Look Close takes a pair of unlikely protagonists and drops them into the dark valley of a small town, where friendliness is the norm until a shadow of danger envelopes them all."
― Lisa Black, New York Times bestselling author of the Gardiner & Renner series
"I was completely hooked from the start. Fixsen crafts unforgettable characters and puts them in situations that are frighteningly real. I loved every minute!"
― Jonathan Whitelaw, author of The Bingo Hall Detectives
"Don't Look Close is a gripping and very well-crafted mystery set in a Canadian mining town in the 50s. Believable characters and a nicely twisted plot make for terrific entertainment."
― Martin Edwards, author of Miss Winter in the Library with a Knife
"Don’t Look Close is a well-drawn story of a brother’s determination to save his sister and to stop a killer!"
― Debra Webb, USA Today Bestseller
"Dark, atmospheric, and edged with menace, Don’t Look Close is unsettlingly intimate. Its simmering tensions and richly drawn characters create suspense that’s absorbing and inescapable, while the twists land with quiet, chilling force. I read it with the dread of watching a friend walk into a trap. This is a smart, deeply unnerving thriller I won’t soon forget."
― Rebecca Zanetti, New York Times bestselling author of You Can Run
"Set in the 1950s in a small Canadian mining town, this intricately woven, superbly plotted suspense will keep you on your toes. Jaima Fixsen brilliantly casts doubt on multiple characters as a protective brother joins forces with his determined sister to uncover the truth behind her ex-husband's murder. The searing tension brewing among the residents reaches a boiling point when it becomes clear that there's a serial killer hiding in plain sight. Exploring medical ethics, prejudice, and the power imbalance between men and women, Don’t Look Close is a riveting read with serpentine twists that strike when you least expect them."
― Samantha M. Bailey, USA Today and #1 international bestselling author of Hello, Juliet
"Don’t Look Close by Jaima Fixsen is a roller-coaster ride of a mystery. The small town nestled near the mountains of western Canada is the perfect back drop for this twisted tale. Multiple murders among people who all know each other kept me on edge throughout the book. And Fixsen’s well-drawn characters had me invested until the very end. A knockout read!"
― Terri Parlato, author of She Thought She Was Safe
"Jaima Fixsen delivers a chilling, atmospheric masterclass in historical suspense. Set against the jagged, unforgiving beauty of the 1950s Canadian Rockies, Don’t Look Close pulls readers into a suffocating web of secrets and betrayal where the shadows are as dangerous as the mountains themselves. A sharp, propulsive thriller that proves the past is never truly buried."
― Rea Frey, #1 bestselling author of When She's Gone
My Review
"A gripping, slow-burning 1950s historical noir masterclass. A razor-sharp thriller where the hunter is forced to out-think a hidden monster from the confines of a wheelchair."
In DON'T LOOK CLOSE, bestselling author Jaima Fixsen departs from her usual Victorian medical dramas to deliver a deeply atmospheric, mid-century Canadian Rockies, 1950's historical thriller mystery. The story hinges on an unconventional detective in a wheelchair facing immense physical and social hurdles to protect the only family he has left.
Polio survivor vs. small-town serial killer.
Elevator Pitch
A polio survivor wheels out of his rehab clinic and into a hostile post-war mining town, armed only with a camera and a stubborn streak, to catch a hidden serial killer before his sister is wrongfully convicted of murder.
Setting
The story is set in the 1950s in Clairbeck (Canmore), a rugged, isolated mining community nestled in the shadows of the Canadian Rockies. The town is physically segregated by class and wealth, defined by soot-choked air, dangerous coal shafts, and a cold, unforgiving mountain climate.
Vibe
Tense, claustrophobic, and gritty.
It blends the bleakness of mid-century noir with the slow-burning dread of an isolated small-town thriller where everyone is watching, but no one is telling the truth.
Genre
Historical Mystery / Crime Fiction / Serial Killer Thriller.
Themes
~Perception vs. Reality
~Disability and Autonomy
~Class and Corporate Greed
~Sibling Devotion
PETER SIMMONS: THE EYE FOR TRUTH "Turning vulnerability into an investigative superpower ".
Standout Characters
~Peter Simmons:
The protagonist is a fiercely independent polio survivor who refuses to let his physical limitations or his wheelchair stop him from investigating a murder.
~Edie Simmons:
Peter’s sister, a resilient medical professional running a local clinic, caught in a web of town gossip and legal jeopardy.
Author Writing Standout
Fixsen’s background in occupational therapy shines through in her meticulous, highly empathetic rendering of Peter's physical reality. She avoids making his disability a mere plot device, writing his everyday logistics—from maneuvering a 1950s wheelchair on unpaved mining roads to framing a shot with his camera—with striking, tactile realism.
Takeaway
True sight requires looking past social prejudices and surface-level assumptions; the most dangerous monsters are often the ones hiding in plain sight behind a veneer of ordinary respectability.
Title Significance
Don't Look Close acts as a warning from the killer and the town itself. It represents the community's desire to bury its dark secrets and corporate negligence, while simultaneously hinting that if Peter looks too closely through his camera lens, he will draw the killer’s deadly attention.
What happens when you look too close?
Metaphor
Peter’s camera lens serves as the central metaphor of the novel. It represents a tool that both distances him from a world he can no longer physically run through, while sharply focusing on the microscopic clues that able-bodied townspeople completely overlook.
Why You Should Read
Read this if you are a fan of slow-burn historical mysteries like those by William Kent Krueger, or if you want an atmospheric thriller with a uniquely capable, neurodivergent, or physically challenged protagonist who wins by out-thinking his opponents rather than out-running them.
My Thoughts
The author builds historical tension beautifully. The 1950s timeline is perfectly captured—not just through aesthetics, but through the medical anxiety of the post-polio era and the systemic labor battles of the time. Peter is an unforgettable lead; his frustration, wit, and stubbornness make him incredibly grounded. A masterfully executed, high-stakes climax.
Verdict 5 / 5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "A gripping, atmospheric historical thriller that pairs a highly unique detective with a genuinely chilling small-town conspiracy. A razor-sharp thriller! Mid-century tension & sibling devotion.”
Recs
~Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger (for the rich historical atmosphere and emotional depth)
~The Specimen by Jaima Fixsen (for more of the author's signature medical mystery roots)
~Until I Find You by Rea Frey (If you love a twisty thriller featuring a protagonist who relies on unique physical observations/sensory pacing to unmask a criminal)
Special thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: Aug 18, 2026
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