Obituary Note: Andrew Pyper

Canadian author Andrew Pyper, "whose debut novel Lost Girls launched a career of bestselling, award-winning literary thrillers," died January 3, the Toronto Star reported. He was 56. 

Mason Coile, aka Andrew Pyper

Lost Girls won the Arthur Ellis Award for best first novel. Pyper's other books include The Demonologist, winner of the International Thriller Writers Award; The Damned; The Only Child; and The Homecoming. His books have been translated in multiple languages and acquired for TV and film development. His most recent work, William, was published this past fall under the pen name Mason Coile.

Pyper "took great delight in sharing the news that [William] had been chosen by the American Booksellers Association as well as People magazine as one of the best reads of September," the Star noted.

Daphne Durham, the Putnam Books executive editor who acquired and edited William as well as Exiles, which will published this fall under the Coile pseudonym, said he "was an inventive, surprising, and profoundly collaborative writer, who clearly loved telling stories. Everyone loved working with Andrew because he was such a pro, but he was also a delightful, warm, funny person."

His agent, Kirby Kim, added that Pyper "laughed easily and made you laugh," and as a writer he "had the rare ability to be able to both scare the lights out of you and move you emotionally."

After studying English literature at McGill University, he pursued a law degree at the University of Toronto, but ultimately decided he "wasn't cut out for it.... I couldn't imagine spending my life doing that, so I quit before I began." In 1996, his short story collection, Kiss Me, was published.

He went on to write novels "from a proudly Canadian perspective, pushing genre fiction in this country into areas the naysayers didn't think it ever could," said Edmonton author Steve Stred. "He was the living embodiment of what writing smart horror looked like."

In a tribute, Putnam noted that Pyper "was beloved throughout the industry in the U.S. and in Canada, and heartfelt remembrances celebrate his selflessness, loyalty, and support for fellow authors and publishing colleagues."