R.E. Donald is the author of the Hunter Rayne highway mystery series. Ruth
worked in the transportation industry in various capacities from 1972 until
2001, and draws on her own experiences, as well as those of her late husband,
Jim Donald, in creating the characters and situations in her novels.
Ruth attended the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C., where
she studied languages (Russian, French and German) and creative writing to
obtain a Bachelor of Arts degree.
She currently lives on a ranch in Lone Butte, B.C., where she and her
partner, Gilbert Roy, enjoy their Canadian Horses (Le Cheval Canadien) and other
animals.
R.E. Donald 
October 16, 2021 at 2:41 PM
I enjoy your Hunter Rayne books and especially appreciate they’re not full of foul language, sex and violence. I also like the Canadian content. Keep up the good work!
BTW, I just looked up your webpage to see if you have more books and see you are a Canadian Horse lover. And then I looked up Gilbert Roy. Sounds like you have a lot of life experience to pull from for your books!
October 16, 2021 at 3:00 PM
Thanks so much for your comment. (Funny how much like Gilbert one of my characters is!)
January 15, 2021 at 5:40 PM
Many thanks for the kind words, Sylvia! I do have an audiobook in production (the first in the series) but don’t have an estimate yet on when it will be finished. The narrator is about 2/3 of the way through at this point, but it’s not a full time thing for him so his schedule is unpredictable.
January 15, 2021 at 2:00 PM
Hi Ruth, I love your books! The characters are interesting and it is so good to travel with Hunter through Canadian landscapes! Will be requesting the books for our local library. Writing from Alberta. Is there a plan to make audio books? My husband has vision problems and uses audio books every day. He would enjoy your books. Thanks.
August 3, 2020 at 2:44 PM
On the last book of you series. Ofviurse I didn’t read them in order of release. I am now reading ice in the grapevine. Very good books indeed. Will there be more?
August 3, 2020 at 4:11 PM
Thank you so much for the kind words! I’m working on the 6th book in the series. It won’t be done this year, but my goal is to have it ready for release in the first half of 2021. I’ll let everyone know via my blog (you can subscribe), Facebook, and Twitter when I get closer to finishing it.
February 28, 2018 at 6:28 PM
I surely hope you’re writing more Hunter Rayne mysteries. I love them!
March 3, 2018 at 3:27 PM
And I love that you love them! Thank you, Elizabeth. And I am writing more of them, slowly.
April 23, 2017 at 5:58 PM
I started off by reading Sundown on Top of the World. I absolutely loved it. I found that the pacing, the vivid characterizations and the ability to make the locations come alive (with just the right amount of description) reminded me of one of my favourite authors, Tony Hillerman. Now I will be starting at the beginning with the first book!
April 23, 2017 at 6:41 PM
Many thanks for the great compliment, Karen! I really appreciate you taking the time to get in touch with me. I am a fan of Tony Hillerman’s novels myself, and was fortunate enough to meet him in Seattle when he got the Lifetime Achievement Award at Bouchercon in 1994. I hope you’ll enjoy the other books in the Highway Mysteries series as well.
November 13, 2015 at 10:07 AM
Still looking for the new one on Highway 16. Any date for coming out? I absolutely love your books. GW
November 13, 2015 at 11:53 AM
Thanks very much, Gary! I wish I had better news for you (and me!) but I’ve fallen quite behind on my next novel. My French Canadian cowboy had to have open heart surgery and my life suddenly became very complicated, not to mention busy. He’ll be out of commission for a couple of months, so one way or another I’ll have to take on much of the heavy work on our ranch that he usually does. (Fortunately, our stepson will be helping out when he can.) I’m still hoping for the release of book five in the first half of 2016.
September 6, 2015 at 12:02 PM
Yesterday I downloaded one of your books free for Kindle…today I bought the other three in the series. The perfect series for a Bowen Islander mystery lover in Buenos Aires. Many thanks! Anne. PS I’ll definitely be ordering the paperbacks as Xmas presents for my friends, both in Canada and in Argentina and Brazil.
September 7, 2015 at 9:55 AM
Thank you, Anne! I tried to reply yesterday but it looks like it didn’t go through, so my apologies if this is a duplicae. I grew up in West Van, so have visited Bowen Island (a very charming part of BC) a few times over the years. There must be an interesting story behind how you came to live in Buenos Aires. Thanks so much for sharing the Highway Mysteries with your friends!
September 25, 2015 at 8:08 PM
I noticed you have ties with Teulon, Man. My grandparents lived there for years. David and Mary Laskey. I loved your books and hope to enjoy more!
September 26, 2015 at 12:43 PM
Thanks for the encouraging comment, Melodie. I don’t know if you’ve been to Teulon, but Dr. Hunter House was where my father and his siblings grew up and is now a museum. Dr. A.J. Hunter is my grandfather, although he died before I was born. I sometimes stayed with my grandmother in that house (in the 50s), and for a child, it was a fascinating place! My grandfather was, among other things, an entymologist and had a big collection of insects in glass-covered trays. I believe the collection was donated to the U of M, but I don’t know if it still survives. The Hunter Memorial Hospital in Teulon is named for him as well. (There have been many Hunters in my life!)
July 17, 2015 at 9:45 AM
I have just finished all four of your books. I am a avid series reader and I downloaded your first book “Slow Curve on the Coquihalla” free from BookBub. What first caught my attention was the Coquihalla part as I also watch some selective reality TV and my husband and I loved the show about the Tow Truck drivers on the Coq. Reading such a terffic series by a Canadian author is great! I love a good murder mystery and Hunter Rayne is a great character. I look forward to the next book in the series.
July 17, 2015 at 11:32 AM
Thanks so much for letting me know! I love to hear from readers who are enjoying the series. I’ve enjoyed watching “Highway Thru Hell” on Discovery Channel as well. They even mentioned “Slow Curve on the Coquihalla” on their Facebook page!
June 22, 2015 at 10:04 AM
Thank you Ruth, I would love to stop by and see you!
June 22, 2015 at 8:53 AM
I am half way through Slow Curve and am loving it. The detail of places you describe are incredibly accurate and familiar as I grew up in Burnaby. I wanted to know more about you and was shocked to see you live in Lone Butte. I am at Watch Lake! Thank you for a wonderful novel, I look forward to reading more!
June 22, 2015 at 9:50 AM
Thank you, Penny! I’ve lived in Burnaby, West Van, Kitsilano, Richmond, Surrey and Langley over the years (and Winnipeg). I’ll be chatting with visitors and signing books at “Lone Butte Rocks!” next month. If you are there, please make sure you come by my table to say hello!
April 8, 2015 at 4:24 PM
Busy working my way through all four of the Hunter Rayne Highway books – I’m reading Sea to Sky right now. I love to find books located in my own backyard of BC and so rich in location detail. Congrats on doing such a great job of doling out the back story of so many of your interesting characters. I just want more. Keep them coming.
April 8, 2015 at 8:26 PM
Thank you very much, Francis. It made my day to hear from you! I’m so glad you are enjoying the series. I’m working on another set mostly in BC which I hope will be ready by early next year.
February 24, 2015 at 1:44 PM
Looking forward to the next one.
February 24, 2015 at 11:24 AM
I have just finished two of your books and they are fantastic. I can’t wait to start the next one. Great writing. Also being set in Canada is fab my wife and I just love Canada. We are in the UK.
February 24, 2015 at 12:22 PM
Thank you, Steve! It makes my day to hear from a reader like yourself. I hope you’ll enjoy the rest of the series just as much. I’m just starting work on number five.
October 31, 2013 at 3:32 PM
Recently downloaded to my e-book “Slow Curve on the Coquihalla” from Amazon while vacationing in Arizona. As a resident of Edmonton who is quite familiar with Western Canada, I was pleased to see a tale which covers this area. Having visited the region from Kamloops to Hope and Merritt to Kelowna, this story is almost about my back yard. Furthermore, you have created here a real page turner.
July 5, 2013 at 5:13 PM
As a professional driver, I find good reading a must while out there, so I was elated to find your book, Ice on the Grapevine. I so enjoyed it and even wrote a review for it. I hope the review does the work justice.
http://voices.yahoo.com/ice-grapevine-re-donald-novel-review-12212676.html
Thanks again
July 5, 2013 at 9:23 PM
Thank you very much! Judging by your review, you’re no slouch as a writer, either. I hope you don’t mind if I post a link to your review. (Let me know if you do.) Best of luck with your own writing.
February 28, 2012 at 4:14 PM
Ruth — I am so glad you are following your passion — it is very important to do this and not let life pass us by. You have a special gift and it is to be treasured — Congratulations!!
Wishing you much pleasure and satisfaction in you new “full time” career!
Jackie