A book by Toronto writer Linwood Barclay has earned a spot on the summer reading list of the Richard and Judy Book Club, the British equivalent of Oprah's Book Club.

Husband and wife team Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan chose Barclay's No Time for Goodbye for their summer 2008 list.

Their book club, begun in 2004, is extremely influential, leading to a boom in sales similar to the "Oprah" effect in the U.S. They choose 10 titles throughout the year and issued a summer list Friday with eight book recommendations.

Barclay, a humour columnist for the Toronto Star who is now concentrating on writing fiction, has written four mysteries, a memoir and three collections of humour writing.

No Time for Goodbye is a thriller about a teenage girl who wakes up one day to find her father and brother missing. When, years later, she goes on a chat show to speak of the experience, she ends up discovering unlikely family secrets.

It has been nominated for a best novel award by both the International Thriller Writers Association and the Canadian Crime Writers Association.

Barclay told the Toronto Star he was "gobsmacked" at being chosen and that his publisher has moved forward paperback publication to take advantage of being a Richard and Judy choice.

It is not the first time a Canadian book has been chosen for the book club, which nominates about 500 books a year.

Mary Lawson's The Other Side of the Bridge was on the summer reading list in 2007 and Lori Lansens, author of The Girls, appeared on the book club's afternoon talk show,The Richard and Judy Show, earlier in the year.

The show airs on Channel 4 in Britain, but the hosts have announced plans to move to another network after summer 2008.