New! Cold Dread

A brutal assault in broad daylight. Young snowmobilers stalking a polar bear discover a bloodied woman unconscious in the snow.

Calista Gates, the police chief of a remote coastal town in Newfoundland, is faced with a puzzle. Why didn`t anyone who lives nearby in the fishing cove report the incident despite having a clear view of the spot where it took place?

Two days later Calista discovers the body of a local troublemaker who hates her. Bullets are lodged between his ribs.

As if this weren’t enough, Calista’s lover, Gerald Hynes, goes missing in the freezing cold of subarctic Labrador. He was last seen around a mysterious crater where a demon is said to swallow intruders.

Beside herself with worry, Calista remembers a cold case from eight years earlier. That summer, four women trekking in the exact same area vanished without a trace. Why did Gerald go there? Are all these incidents somehow connected?

Calista, under enormous pressure, realizes too late that someone is betraying her—and it could destroy her life.

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New! Missing in the Dark

Blood on an ax in the snow. A blood-spattered manuscript on the table.  

From a lonely cabin in the woods, a writer vanishes without a trace. Her latest book is about a true crime case: the cruel death of twelve-year-old Becca, still unsolved after twenty-three years. Does the writer know the killer?

Detective Sergeant Calista Gates is haunted by the case. Becca was her best childhood friend. When Becca was found lifeless, gagged and tied to a tree in the searing summer heat of British Columbia’s interior, the girl’s suffering shook the public. And it devastated Calista.

Now it is winter and Calista wants to lure the killer back to the crime scene in the snow-covered hills around the city of Kamloops. She’s convinced he’s hiding near where Becca’s body was found. And not far from the missing writer’s cabin.

This time, Calista wants to catch him with bait he won’t be able to resist: her. A risky and dangerous experiment that nearly destroys everything she has believed.

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“I’m as much a reader as I am a writer.”






Welcome to my website!

Writing is my passion and my bread and butter. Sometimes it is a flirt with danger.

Twenty-three years ago, I emigrated from Switzerland to Canada in order to work here as a foreign correspondent for newspapers and other media in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Most of my murder mysteries are set in Canada. As an author, I get inspired by my trips to remote locations. I love wild rugged Northern regions. My travels to the Arctic left me wanting for more.

I was born and raised on the shores of Lake Lucerne in Switzerland. Later I lived and worked as a journalist in Zurich. This is why I write the original copies in German. Eight novels were translated into English and one into Dutch.

The female characters in my books, although sometimes reluctant at first, learn to love risk and adventure as much as I do. I think my readers do, too!

“A racy blend of trapper romance, self-discovery and classic crime novel – inspired by Bernadette Calonego`s real-life experiences in the Canadian wilderness.”Annabelle magazine, Zurich

“The gripping plot is written convincingly and the wild setting of the Canadian wilderness breathtakingly beautiful.” Aviva-Berlin.de

Latest Blog Posts

Renewed Strenght

Renewed Strenght

I can walk again! What an awesome feeling. My ankle has healed well and every day means progress. There is progress with my latest book, too. The paperback of “Cold Dread” is published and the e-book will come out December 27. You can pre-order the e-book for only 99 cents Read More

A summer break that wasn’t

A summer break that wasn’t

Hello lovelies, you haven’t heard from me for a while, at least in this blog (if you have subscribed to “Bernadette’s Letter” – there is a button on the homepage – then of course you have read about me, and I am also active on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok). I Read More

My Vancouver

My Vancouver

For many of my European friends, Vancouver is the most beautiful city in the world. For them it is a dream destination, and they cannot stop praising its stunning setting between the ocean and the mountains. Those who have already been here, want to come again, and those who haven’t, Read More

Battle Island

Battle Island

Currently I’m looking at some photos I took some time ago while visiting Battle Island. It’s off the coast of southern Labrador, and I don’t know anyone who hasn’t succumbed to the magic of this place. In the past, Battle Harbour was the salt fish capital of the world, as Read More

Crime Scenes

Crime Scenes

DS Calista Gates is back! This time, with volume number 4 “Missing in the Dark”. The story is mainly set in British Columbia’s interior. For those who don’t live in Canada or have never been to British Columbia, I will show you some of the locations that play a crucial Read More

Up and down

Up and down

At the end of August, I took a break from working on my manuscripts (I use the plural because not only a new German crime novel is coming out, but also an English translation). I flew to St. John’s, Newfoundland’s capital, to meet my friend Ruth. We had planned to Read More