MYSTERY REVIEW - COLD MOURNING

There's always good reason to cheer when a new mystery series hits the scene. Those of us officially hooked on reading this genre are usually on the lookout for new settings, new characters, and new plots to keep us happy. Well, here's one to add to your reading list!

Kala Stonechild, an aboriginal female who is both running from and to her past, brings an unique voice to the Ottawa Police Service. On her first day on the job with the Ottawa Police, Stonechild, so new to the Ottawa area that she's staying at the Y, is made a part of a specialized police task force, a unit that feels unsupported and doomed from the start. Because it's Christmas, the detectives are handed a missing persons case that quickly morphs into a murder investigation. They're under the gun to solve it before the New Year, after which it gets passed on to Major Crimes. The future of this unit depends on the successful conclusion of this case. No pressure there.

Stonechild has been a police officer for a while but this is her first time in the big city. The missing person is Tom Underwood, a wealthy businessman. The suspect list is a long one including his business partner, his ex-wife, his current wife, his son, and possibly his daughter. Not a very happy family. The detectives are split on who is the guilty party -- the business partner or as Stonechild suspects, someone closer to home.

Stonechild is a complex person. She tries not to let feelings of loneliness and homesickness overcome her. She's left a lot behind but this is where she needs to be. She's juggling the case with her own search for her cousin, who's been moving around for several years and is now believed to be in Ottawa.

The New Year dawns and no one is in jail so Major Crimes steps in and Stonechild is sent on media relations training while the rest of the unit is solving more mundane cases. However, a chance remark sets her back on the trail of a surprising killer.

What's unusual about Cold Mourning is the multiple viewpoints which at times allow the reader to have more information than Stonechild. Chapman handles this style smoothly and it's very effective in moving the story along. She is a skilled writer with nine books already under her belt. This is her second adult novel.

If you live in Ottawa, Cold Mourning will be of particular interest because that's the setting and Chapman makes it come alive. However, you don't have to live here to enjoy the read. I hope that the Stonechild and Rouleau mysteries by Brenda Chapman have a long run. And I strongly advise readers to join in the trek, starting with Cold Mourning.

MYSTERY REVIEW - GOLD WEB

GOLD WEB
By Vicki Delany
Dundurn

Travel back in time to the days of the Klondike gold rush and meet one of the fiestiest ladies then and now. She's Fiona MacGillivray - Mrs. MacGillivray to her many customers at the Savoy Saloon and Dance Hall, which she co-owns in Dawson, 1898. And she can't seem to stay out of trouble.

In fact, trouble seems to track her down, as witnessed in the earlier three books in this series. But that shouldn't be surprising because as we find out right from the start, Fiona has a somewhat questionable past, despite all her ladylike qualities, and being far away in the north suits her just fine. In fact, in Gold Web, we find out even more about her past and how her life on the streets as a young girl contributed to the determined, clever and crafty woman who is tough enough to own a saloon in a town filled with men struck with gold fever.

All the regulars are back -- Angus, her twelve-year-old son who works part-time in the general store and dreams of being a Mountie; the handsome North-West Mounted Police Corporal Richard Sterling who has a soft spot for Fiona but can't seem to tell her about it, partly because he's too busy keeping the rowdiness of this wild town in check; and, her business partner Ray Walker.

Dawson, being a wide open town with lots of gold nuggets flowing across the bars, gambling tables and stages, attracts an equally boisterous gang of prospectors and women. This time, there's a murder out back of the Savoy and the victim calls out Fiona's name as he stumbles towards her.

The story is rich in historical references. You can see the mud on the street as Fiona tucks her skirt into her boots and trudges along; cringe at the sight of the lecherous drunks; and get a sense of the tightrope the NWMP would often walk in order to keep law and order.

Delany has added another historical layer this time, that has the possiblity of the Scottish Independence Movement taking hold in the Yukon and hints of the Fenian Brotherhood. There's also the American interest in obtaining the territory and even a plot to trade Alaska in exchange for the Yukon...well, you'll have to read it to get the whole picture.

Vicki Delany has managed to fill the pages with a different era, with history and scenery that comes alive on the pages, and with three-dimensional characters whose stories will capture you in the web. The Gold Web, that is.

MYSTERY REVIEW

THE MASTERSINGER FROM MINSK
by Morley Torgov
Dundurn Press

If you like a little history, especially of the musical variety, with your mystery, you'll enjoy The Mastersinger From Minsk, the second outing for Morley Torgov's Inspector Preiss.

The setting is Munich, 1868 and someone has threatened the eminent composer Richard Wagner with ruination at the premiere of his latest work, an opera. Fearing the worst, Inspector Preiss is called in to track down the culprit. A good thing, too because suddenly the murders start happening.

Richard Wagner, known for his short temper and arrogance, seems to have no shortage of possible enemies...from the rejected tenor to the beautiful Cornelia who claims to be pregnant by Wagner, even the mastersinger Schramm begins to look suspicious. Preiss, with his immense knowledge of the music wolrd is the ideal sleuth in this case but he's also frustrated by a jealous colleague and his visiting lady friend, herself a singer who agrees to help but may be getting a bit too involved.

Torgov is a writer who knows his musicians and he does a wonderful job of portraying Richard Wagner. The entire cast of the opera and those inhabiting the police world provide an added dimension to this delightful mystery. Murder in A-Major was the first Inspector Preiss mystery. I've heard this one may be the last. If that's true, it's too bad.

MYSTERY REVIEW

A GREEN PLACE FOR DYING
by R.J. Harlick
Dundurn Press

Two young native girl go missing on the streets of Ottawa. Not an unusual story but when it becomes the disappearance of 16 girls in total and four are found dead, the story takes on new significance.

It’s not an Ottawa story. It happens across the country. And often the tragedy is that the police show little interest in pursuing the cases. Until the numbers become so great that notoriety follows and then the story becomes in large part, media-driven.

This is the story Meg Harris finds herself involved with in this fifth Meg Harris Mystery. One of the girls is Fleur, the 18-year-old daughter of a friend, who fled the Migiskan Anishinabeg First Nations Reserve in Western Quebec after a fight with her mom. She ended up in Ottawa and there the trail goes cold. Meg is drawn into the search which leads to a Welcome Centre for first nations youth in east Ottawa, a place the girls had all frequented.

When Meg’s former boyfriend, Eric who is the band chief, also goes missing, his daughter and Meg track the clues that point to a connection between all the disappearances. Also comes the certainty that if both Eric and Fleur are not already dead, they will be, soon.

R,J. Harlick has taken a story we’ve read about many times in the newspapers over the years. She’s given the story a focus, Fleur, and a family that is traumatized by what has happened. We meet the friends and neighbours on the Migiskan Reserve who offer comfort and help. We feel the terror of what they are confronting. This is top notch story-telling.

Another of Harlick’s wonderful way with words, is the including of the reader in the culture and traditions. The first two chapters enfold us in the sights and sounds of a monthly ceremony to honour Grandmother Moon, with the hope that a sign will give some hope to the mothers of the two missing girls.

All of the Meg Harris books are steeped in this rich culture that adds a deeper texture to the novels. The mysteries are solidly plotted and provide new challenges to Meg. And she in turn, works through her own demons and insecurities.

It’s certainly possible to read A Green Place For Dying on its own but so much more satisfying to start at the beginning of Meg’s story and read the four books that come before. This is a series you’ll want to read from start to finish.

MAYHEM ON MONDAYS

Recently, I had a surprise: a woman reviewed a book by an author I recognized. I imagine you scratching your head at this point. Big deal, you say. But it was a big deal to me. You see the woman was Adrienne Clarkson and the book was The Affair, the latest Jack Reacher crime novel by Lee Child.

First, I thought, well, there must be more than one Adrienne Clarkson, but no, it was definitely our former Governor-General, an accomplished writer with a new book out this week.

It was an elegant and insightful review. Did Adrienne Clarkson pan the book? Turn up her nose at it? No, she did not. Turns out she liked this book a lot and it’s not the first Reacher she’s read, despite the high body count. And she says she ‘has a fondness for the loner in my fictional life’.

You could have knocked me over with a chunk of spare prose, but I was grateful to Adrienne Clarkson. Why? Because we’re subjected to so much snobbery in our discussion of reading preferences that I didn’t expect a woman who is a Canadian icon to write a straightforward review like this. She read a crime novel. She liked it. She didn’t mind saying so.

And I certainly liked that.

People (I won’t name names, although you could buy me a drink one of these days and try your luck) curl their lip at the notion of genre fiction, as though it’s not worth the reading time of any thinking person and as though only literary fiction can allow a person to gain insight or experience another person’s loss, pain or joy. Emphasis on pain, my friends.

This is, of course, a load of malarkey. People read crime fiction, dark and light, for all kinds of reasons. We read to play the game of wits with an author, to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, to travel in time and space and to other cultures, to consider issues of justice, to hold our breath in fear for the protagonist or potential victim and then enjoy the whoosh of relief when all is well. Often we want to experience the exhilaration of danger in the mean streets or elsewhere in the bad old world, from the safety of our armchair or pillow-top mattress. Sometimes, we want a chuckle too, or maybe that’s just me.

I hope to run into Adrienne Clarkson someday (her picture is everywhere) and ask her what other crime fiction she reads and enjoys. I’m hoping there’s more than one Canadian on the list. Stay tuned.

By the way, Adrienne Clarkson’s new book is Room for All of Us: Surprising Stories of Loss and Transformation. I’m looking forward to reading that too.



Mary Jane Maffini rides herd on three (soon to be three and a half) mystery series and a couple of dozen short stories. Her thirteenth mystery novel, The Busy Woman’s Guide to Murder, which hit the bookshelves this spring, is brimming with names, no two the same.

MYSTERY REVIEW

THE WATER RAT OF WANCHAI
by Ian Hamilton
House of Anansi Press

Forensic accountant Ava Lee has a lot going for her. She's a knock-out sexy Chinese Canadian, living in a pricey Toronto condo, with both the brains and the brawn (thanks to an ancient martial art, Bak mei) to excel at her job.

Working with her Hong Kong based "Uncle", a man of many connections, some of them possibly sinister, it's her job to track down missing money and ensure it's returned. This is where the Bak mei comes in handy, but only as a last resort. She's savvy and smart enough to manipulate the situation, ensuring a favourable result.

But this time out, there's a further tie as she's tracking a missing $5 million owed to the nephew of her Uncle's friend, when a seafood importing deal goes wrong. Her efforts take her to Hong Kong, Bangkok, Guyana and the British Virgin Islands, as she tracks her slippery target. In Guyana, she's forced to make a deal with the deadly Captain Robbins,the man who controls it all -- the police, the politics, her only means of escape.

She needs his help and it's available...at a price. The stakes change as the elaborate con she's concocted races to a deadline, and all she can really hope to get out of it is alive.

Ava Lee is a Havergal grad who still maintains the close traditional family ties and all that entails. She's resourceful, attractive, and independent ... a kick-ass 'today' woman who fits the label of heroine. How she works through the ruthlessness she encounters, makes it a thrilling read. And best yet, it's the first of four.

It's Ian Hamilton's first thriller but he's long been a newspaper and magazine writer, plus his nonfiction book, The Children's Crusade, was a Canadian Book-of-the-Month selection.

This is the first in Anansi's new crime imprint, Spiderline and they've started out with fireworks. Readers who delight in international crime thrillers will be drawn into the fast pace, the exotic settings, and the gritty texture of the writing.

MYSTERY REVIEW

REVENGE OF THE LOBSTER LOVER
by Hilary MacLeod
Acorn Press

If you're a lobster lover, and I mean the kind that loves eating them, you may have a few rocky moments in reading this delightful book. But, put those reservations, so to speak, aside and dig into a mystery that features a cast of the most eclectic and eccentric folks you'll ever meet.

The location is The Shores, not far removed from The Island. Hm, wonder what PEI residents think of all this? MacLeod brings together a very wealthy but slightly odd come-from-away, who's bought a very modern A-frame in a very precarious cliff, overlooking the ocean.

Then there's Hyacinth, or Hy as she's called, free-lance writer writing from her home, at the moment an article about lobster recipes for a client's newsletter. She's from 'away' also and trying desperately to fit in. When she invites a speaker whose topic is lobsters to the Women's Institute meeting, and this woman turns out to be part of the LLL -- the Lobster Liberation League -- and proceeds to lambaste the women about cruelty to lobsters, it doesn't do much to help Hy's standing in the community.

Then the attacks start on the lobster lines and local fishermen are ready to bear arms. Everyone in town is blaming Hy but she's onto another infiltrator -- two to be exact, and now she has been ear-marked for some messy and violent threats.

As she tries to convince the LLL lady to skip town, a deadly confrontation on the seas takes place, a chef flying high on coke is electrocuted in his own lobster pool, a ferocious storm batters The Shores and all hell breaks lose.

It's hilarious and endearing, with more nefarious goings-on than a lobster stew. Not to be missed. By the way, the author divides her time between Ontario and PEI and is a bright mysterious light on the Canadian crime scene.

BOOK REVIEW

INNOCENT MURDERER
by Suzanne F. Kingsmill
Dundurn Group

Zoology professor Cordi O'Callaghan is off on another outdoors adventure -- this time on an Arctic cruise with a creative writing class. She's been roped into giving lectures on how to investigate crimes, based on her former adventure in Forever Dead, the first Cordi O'Callaghan mystery. And also, to talk about the natural biology of the Arctic. Her persuasive lab technician, Martha soon has her agreeing to do this, although with much skepticism.

The teacher turns out to be Terry Spencer, a woman who had been acquitted of murder, had written about her experiences, and is now writing and teaching fiction. Upon first meeting, it's unlikely a friendship will grow between the two.

The outing starts off badly when frayed ropes result in a mishap with the zodiac squiring the group over to the ship. After several more incidents, including Cordi almost being left behind on an ice flow and an intruder hidden in a balaclava breaking into her room, Cordi is convinced someone is trying to kill her.

Murder happens but neither of the two bodies is Cordi and she alone believes them to be murder. The unofficial verdict is accident and suicide. Or, vice versa. Terry Spencer happens to be one of the victims... and the list of her students who want her dead is a long one.

By the time they get back to the Ottawa area, Cordi has had enough of being seasick, of being pursued by an elusive murderer, and of the entire group. But the killer hunts her down and tries to torch her house.

The action is non-stop and the setting is incredible. Kingsmill gives the reader a real feel for the beauty and desolation of the Arctic. And she handles the Ottawa and Gatineau regions equally well. The plot is complex with twists and turns that keep Cordi and the reader on their toes.

BOOK REVIEW

Slow Recoil by C.B. Forrest


C.B. Forrest is back with his second Charlie McKelvey crime novel, again set in Toronto and again, a page-turner. McKelvey, now retired from the Toronto Police, is living a slow-paced life in his downtown condo, showing the ravages of his life as a cop, the brutal death of his son, and advancing age.

When Tim Fielding, a friend from his former bereavement group asks him to investigate the disappearance of his female friend, McKelvey agrees to look into it. And from that point on, he's questioning his judgment in not going to the police right form the start.

It looks like the woman just up and left town but when McKelvey is jumped in her apartment and given a beating brutal enough to break his nose, it fuels his determination to get to the bottom of it all. He suspects foul play. What he uncovers is a Bosnian killing squad, led by The Colonel, out to assassinate two men guilty of war crimes who are now living in Toronto.

Tim is abducted as the assassin is determined to tie-up loose ends, hoping to lure McKelvey to his own death. Interpol enters the chase, as an international crimes agent, a former French police officer, appears on the scene and teams up with McKelvey, albeit briefly. The suspense is torqued as McKelvey closes in on the killer.

Identities are not what they seem and McKelvey is constantly questioning motives, as well as the direction his life has taken. That softens the edges and makes him a character the reader cares about, even worries about. And, as Forrest admits, he's paying homage to Toronto, a city that enthralls him.

Slow Recoil holds the reader with solid writing, believable characters, lots of action, and did I mention, top notch writing?

His first novel, The Weight of Stones, was short-listed in the Best First Novel category of Crime Writer's of Canada's Arthur Ellis Awards last year. If this doesn't show up on the Best Novel short-list this year, I'll be truly surprised.


Linda Wiken

BOOK REVIEW

NEGATIVE IMAGE by Vicki Delany

This is the fourth Constable Molly Smith/Sergeant John Winters novel, set in the fictitious town of Trafalgar. B.C. And, if you've followed along over the years, it's a story of growth and family and policing.

A high-profile photographer, in town with his wife and assistant for a photo shoot, is murdered in his hotel room. The case takes a wrenching twist when Sgt. Winter's wife, Eliza is implicated and Winters is torn between supporting her and his job. Being ordered to stay away from the case, he throws himself into investigating a series of B&E's, while his private life crumbles.

Molly Smith is also a juggling family emergency with the job. Her father ends up in hospital, awaiting surgery, and she is also trying to decide if she should move to a larger city for greater career opportunities, which might jeopardize her romance with Mountie Adam Tocek. On the job, she's assisting Winters with his inquiries while, at the same time, being stalked by a crazed ex-con.

As the two cases entertwine and both officers face major crises at home, justice is served and each must then sort out the pieces of their own lives.

As you read Negative Image for the finely crafted mystery, you can't help but be drawn into the lives of all the characters. Delany is a master at characterization, knowing what bits of information tell us the most about each, charting their growth along the pages of the novel, and ensuring we get involved with them, wanting to know what their futures hold.

In Molly Smith, she's created a vulnerable young police officer, desperate to be taken seriously by her male colleagues, anxious to become better at her job. And, she's totally believable.

John Winters is a good cop, conscientious and clever and he's also a devoted husband, unsure of how to handle revelations about his wife. He is sensitive to Molly's insecurities and probably the best role model she'll find.

Even the secondary characters are well-rounded, each adding a vital aspect to the policing landscape.

Negative Image should be on your shelf...or under the Christmas tree...or both!

Vicki Delany has also written three stand alone psychological suspense novels and is working on the third book in her Klondike Gold Rush series. She left behind her job as a systems analyst in the high-pressure financial world, to a life of writing about crime. She lives in beautiful Prince Edward County...and there's nothing criminal about that!


Linda Wiken