Review: The Body on the T, Mike Martin (Canada, Newfoundland)

Title: The Body on the T
Author: Mike Martin

Publication: 2013/Ottawa: Baico Publishing Inc

ISBN #: 978-1-926945-45-5

# of pages: 277

Discovered when the author advised me his second book was out

Read in e-book format

Also available in paper format

Link to author’s website: http://bodyonthet.com/

One wonders at the resilience of children: they find a body washed up on the beach but RCMP Sergeant Winston Windflower’s suggestion that they deserve an ice cream for all their help puts the bad memory behind them. Windflower and Corporal Eddie Tizzard will have to work harder for their reward though. The body has no I.D. on it, has been in the water for at least a week and no one saw anything. This is just the beginning of a case that will have unexpected twists and turns.

Fortunately Windflower, transplanted in Grand Bank Newfoundland from his Cree birthplace in Alberta, likes his home of three years, especially some of its inhabitants such as the love of his life, local café owner Sheila Hillier. Tizzard still tends to be in a tizzy when he works but he is a reliable second-in-command whom Windflower will especially come to value by the end of this case.

This is the second in the Windflower series (my review of the first book) The approach is police procedural but less the gritty aspects and more “a week in the life of a small town cop”, with a fair amount of personal background and non-investigative aspects. The essence of Newfoundland is captured in the writing, from the moose in the middle of the highway to cod tongues for dinner. The author also captures the unique Newfoundland dialect without overusing it and making the book difficult to read. I enjoyed thinking about the local coroner googling to do his autopsy and learning that the Australian Museum site he googled is real!

Initially, I was pleased to see a low key reference to the previous book and its connection to this one, only to be disappointed a few pages later when the author gave away the ending of the first book. It has always seemed unnecessary and in fact counterproductive for an author to give too much detail from a previous work; it takes away from the current one and leaves little need for the reader to get the prior one. So consider reading them in sequence.     Rating: (°_°) Worth reading


Notable sentence: “Then he had a long and serene bath with Louise Penney and Gamache as his companions.”


Author Mike Martin currently lives in Ottawa, Canada but obviously leverages his Newfoundland upbringing in his work. He is currently a freelance writer, with workplace and social policy issues being his specialty. His foray into fiction includes not only the Windflower series but also a number of short stories. A third book in this series is underway.

 

 

Review: Naked Heat, Richard Castle (USA)

Title: Naked Heat
Author: Richard Castle
Publication: 201?/New York: Hyperion Books
ISBN #: 978-0-7868-9136-8
# of pages: 404
Discovered because I watch the TV show!
Read in paper format
Also available in e-book and audio
Link to author’s website: http://www.richardcastle.net/

Her morning call to a crime scene is not going well for Detective Nikki Heat. Her coffee lid broke in half, she then slammed on her brakes and spilled the coffee onto her lap, now she is staring at ……a coyote….in New York City. Not an auspicious start to her day.

But it gets worse when she is unsettled at the crime scene by none other than high-profile journalist and her ex-lover Jameson Rook. It was bad enough that his article on the NYPD turned into the “Nikki Heat” story, causing some dissension amongst her team. Now she is about to be saddled with him as a ride-along partner again. And the victim is a notorious gossip columnist so the list of possible murder suspects is bound to be lengthy.

This story is what I would describe as a great beach book – light, fluffy and fun, much like the TV show “Castle”. For show fans, it takes some effort to remember that this is not about the show but in fact the book Castle refers to writing while on the show. Jameson is of course Castle and Nikki is Kate Beckett. Her side kicks Esposito and Ryan are there as Ochoa and Raley, as is pathologist Lanie Parish (Lauren Parry). His mother and daughter are not. Guess you have to watch the show for this to make sense! But it is still a fun book for anyone. A plot with lots of twists and turns, and helpful contacts that only a high-powered journalist could reach out to.                            Rating: (°_°)      Worth reading

Notable sentence: “If a man is willing to ride with a corpse just to be with you, that’s more effort than you get from most.”

The author….well, that is a whole other story! According to the book cover and the website, it is Richard Castle. Of course, Richard Castle is really actor Nathan Fillion. So who is the real author? That remains a mystery. It is intriguing that Castle’s poker buddies on the show are real life mystery authors such as Michael Connelly. However, the evidence would seem to point to author Tom Straw as the actual writer. It’s fun to read the “in character” book acknowledgements and website though. This book is the second one in the Nikki Heat series. There is also a Derrick Storm series and several non-series books.

Review: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, Alan Bradley (Canada: British Columbia)

Title: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
Author: Alan Bradley
Publication: 2009/Canada: Doubleday Canada
ISBN #: 978-0-385-66582-7
# of pages: 292
Discovered at mysteries in paradise
Read in paper format
Also available in e-book and audio formats
Link to author’s website: http://www.flaviadeluce.com/
 

A girl is tied up, gagged, and locked in a closet….by her older sisters. Such is our introduction to precocious eleven year old Flavia de Luce. She, Ophelia and Daphne wage a never-ending war of revenge and counter-revenge. The ace up Flavia’s sleeve is her in-depth knowledge of poisons and her well-equipped home chemistry lab and she sets to work with Ophelia’s lipstick to get even for the closet.

 Once done, Flavia heads for the kitchen where the housekeeper Mrs. Mullet is about to leave, after assuring Flavia’s father that lunch is ready.  As Mrs. Mullet opens the door, she shrieks on discovering a dead bird with a postage stamp impaled on its beak. But the reaction of Colonel de Luce is even stronger: he gasps, clutches at his throat and turns deadly pale.

This shakes Flavia profoundly; she has never seen her father so upset. She has difficulty falling asleep that evening and overhears angry voices in the middle of the night. She sneaks downstairs and spys her father arguing with a tall red haired man. Creeping back to bed before she gets caught, Flavia briefly falls asleep, only to wake up at dawn and find the red haired man dead in the vegetable patch. Could her father really be guilty of murder? Flavia sets out to discover the truth.

I had avoided this book for some time just because I didn’t like the title (still don’t). That was a mistake because this was a delightful book with a very different heroine. Flavia reminds me of Anne of Green Gables…with a twist: like Anne, precocious and curious to a fault, and (unlike Anne) vengeful, at least towards her sisters. It was great fun picturing her upstairs in her lab, rubbing her hands together and plotting poisonous plans. Her intrepid detecting gets her into some tight spots and although she seems quite grownup at times, her solutions for getting out of these spots come from a young girl’s mind. For once, the police officer is not incompetent, although perhaps at times, he is more tolerant of Flavia than many officers might be. I liked that the family is down on their luck, despite the big manor home, so Flavia isn’t just the rich little girl who everyone feels they have to help. And is there more to what happened to her mother Harriet? Can’t wait to read more of this series.                Rating: (^_°)       Intriguing

Although the story is set in 1950s England, the author was born in Ontario, worked in Saskatchewan and retired to British Columbia. Since he wrote the book in B.C., that is the province to which I have assigned it for the Canadian Book Challenge.  Bradley worked in media for many years, including a stint teaching Script Writing and Television Production. In addition to the (so far) six book Flavia series, he has written two other non-series books, one of which proposes that Sherlock Holmes was a woman (co-written with  Dr. William Sarjeant)…now added to my “To Be Read” pile!

Review: Once Upon a Time, Barbara Fradkin (Canada: Ontario)

Title: Once Upon a Time
Author: Barbara Fradkin
Publication: 2002/Toronto: RendezVous Press
ISBN #: 0-929141-84-9
# of pages: 254
Discovered at Crime Writers of Canada
Read in paper format
Also available in e-book format
Link to author’s website: www.barbarafradkin.com

 Despite the cold Ottawa winter, an old man waits in the car while his wife attends her hospital appointment. By the time she returns, he is face down in the snow, dead.

The autopsy states the death was from natural causes, an elderly person in poor health with nothing but a small gash on his forehead. Staff Sergeant Sullivan of the Major Crimes department attended the scene and agrees with this result.  But his friend and boss Inspector Green is bored, despite the stack of paper on his desk and this small gash bothers him. Or maybe it just distracts him from bureaucratic paperwork that he doesn’t want to do.

Green decides to take a small break and make a few inquiries. In doing so, he manages to upset the pathologist, the deceased man’s family and his staff sergeant. He can’t find a logical explanation for the gash and combined with a witness to a possible second person in the car, Green decides he must continue to pick away at these few threads.

He is also supposed to be helping his wife Sharon organize their son’s first birthday party but as the investigation heats up, his work time quickly eats into his personal life. Green knows he needs to better balance the two as he has already been through one divorce as a result of his singular focus on his job but the case starts to become personal and he is soon caught up in events that occurred many years before, in Poland during World War II.

The author starts each chapter with a tantalizing poem, dating back to WWII. This is part of her strong character development. All the characters seem real, people who could be your next door neighbours. The book weaves the past and the present together well, leaving the motive in doubt until the end. Green’s struggles with both his work and family roles ring true, and you like him, despite his flaws.

Several interesting aspects of WWII are explored, particularly the life altering decisions ordinary citizens had to make, choices that sometimes are only horrific with the (apparent) clarity of hindsight. As one character says “No one is a saint who survived the ghettos. All the saints died."

This book caught my attention from the beginning and challenged me to the end. I can`t wait to read more of this series.     Rating: (^_°)       Intriguing

Author Fradkin was a child psychologist for many years before retiring to write full time, a pastime she had started at the tender age of six. The Inspector Green series totals nine books so far, two of which have won the Crime Writers of Canada's Arthur Ellis award for Best Novel. ("Once Upon a Time" was shortlisted for the award.) She has also written numerous short stories, started the Cedric O`Toole mystery series for reluctant or emerging adult readers, and is a member of the Ladies’ Killing Circle which edits short story anthologies.

 

 

Review: Last to Die, Tess Gerritsen (USA)

Title: Last to Die

Author: Tess Gerritsen
Publication: 2013/New York: Ballantine Books
ISBN #: 978-0-345-51552-0
# of pages: 423
Discovered by my brother who let me and my mother fight over who got it next!
Read in paper format
Also available in e-book format
Link to author’s website: Tess Gerristsen
 

Some teenagers have it rougher than others. Claire Ward just wanted to hang out with her friends but her foster parents tracked her down late one night…and almost got her killed. Teddy Clock lived in a wealthy neighbourhood with all the material benefits….and barely survived his foster family’s slaughter. Once Detective Jane Rizzoli hears about both cases, she is sure they are linked, even though they occurred in different cities. Her friend, Boston medical examiner Maura Isles, has a safe place for Teddy to stay while the two of them try to work out what is happening and determine if the events can possibly be connected.

Rizzoli also has to contend with her newly engaged mother’s wedding plans and her father (but not quite ex-husband) who is bent on derailing them. And if that wasn’t enough, the senior detective, Crowe, completely disagrees with Rizzoli’s assessment of the Clock case and will not assign her the resources she needs to explore her theory. Then a third case pops up that increases the urgency of solving the case…or more people will die.

As a keen follower of the “Rizzoli & Isles” TV series, I was curious to read one of the books in the series. It was a bit confusing at first as some of the characters are different (for instance, the mother’s fiancé in the book is Rizzoli’s ex-partner in the TV series).  This story had more substance than the TV shows; as much as I like them, they really are entertainment fluff. It was challenging trying to work out how the cases might be connected and who was behind the murders. The scenes at the special school were also interesting: even children with a major challenge in common still find a way to divide up into the “cool kids” and the “nerds”.  However, the plot was rather over the top and  the support Rizzoli gets from a senior officer is unlikely to happen in the real world. That said, I enjoyed the story, great bedtime reading.            

Rating: (°_°)      Worth reading

Author Gerritsen is a retired physician who began writing romantic thrillers while on maternity leave. Ten years later, she switched to medical thrillers, one historical thriller and finally to the Rizzoli and Isles series in 2001, of which there are currently 10 books. She is now writing full time.

 

Review: The Professionals, Owen Laukkanen (Canada: British Columbia)

Title: The Professionals
Author: Owen Laukkanen
Publication: 2012/New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
ISBN #: 978-0-399-15789-9
# of pages: 370
Discovered at Stop You're Killing Me

Read in paper format

Also available in e-book format, Dutch translation
Link to author’s website: owenlaukkanen.com 

Professionals are experts in their vocation. The best aren’t greedy, they have a long term plan and they do their research before starting a new project. Even, apparently, if they are professional kidnappers. Four unemployed university graduates, Pender, his girlfriend Marie, and his two close friends Sawyer and Mouse are disenchanted with life and blame the traders and stockbrokers who got rich while ruining the US economy, leaving them and others like them without work or hope. So why not make them pay for what they did? Kidnap them, ask for a manageable ransom, terrify them into not reporting it to the police – do this carefully and in a mere five years, the group will soon be able to retire to the Maldives. One less than cooperative victim finally reports the incident to the police. Then one research slipup results in them kidnapping the wrong man and they suddenly have more than the police to worry about.

Agent Kirk Stevens of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is used to paperwork and everyday crimes, easily solved murders from robberies, drug deals and marital issues. A kidnapping that is not drug related sounds like a true investigative challenge. When the case crosses state lines, he now has to share the excitement with a driven FBI agent Carla Windermere. Will they get to the kidnappers first?

Can you empathize with bad guys? After all, they are kidnapping people who have questionable ethics and no apparent concern for the ordinary person. This was an interesting aspect of the book, a grudging regard for the kidnappers, at least before things went off the rails. Would any one of these four have become a criminal on their own? When do group dynamics take things to an unexpected level? Would you stay true to your friends, no matter what? These are just some of the questions this novel explores. It was engaging and (mostly) believable although some of the group’s escapes required a healthy dose of good luck. I particularly enjoyed how the lead detectives found the reality of the chase became more exciting than the actual resolution. Having been involved in some interesting fraud investigations, I have a sense of this feeling and can only imagine what it’s like in this level of case. Not quite a stay up all night book but I certainly wanted to see how it would end.                   Rating: (^_°)  Intriguing

After graduation, author Laukkanen struggled to find work and finally answered a Craiglist ad which led him  to covering international poker tournaments for a poker website. After three years, he turned back to the creative writing he had studied at the University of British Columbia. This is the first in a series for detectives Stevens and Windermere. The second book, “Criminal Enterprise”, was released this year and two more instalments are in the works.

Review: Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn (USA)

Title: Gone Girl

Author: Gillian Flynn

Publication: 2012/New York: Crown Publishers

ISBN #: 978-0-307-58836-4

# of pages: 415

Discovered by my niece

Read in paper format

Also available in e-book format, audio format, Spanish

Link to author’s website: http://gillian-flynn.com 

There are two sides to every story. Usually two very different sides and that is what Nick Dunne and Amy Elliot Dunne share with the reader, the two very different perspectives of their life together. Nick is telling us in real time but Amy is talking to us via several years of diary entries. This is because Amy is missing and Nick seems very nervous about that. He’s nervous when he looks at the nearby Mississippi River, when his cell phone keeps ringing, when he keeps lying to the police.

It quickly becomes clear that Nick is a self-absorbed, spoiled, bitter thirty-something, a man you just want to grab by the lapels and shake and shake. Amy has her weaknesses too and has made mistakes in their marriage but she recognizes them and tries to improve. She is patient with Nick and tries to see his point of view. When they both lost their upscale New York City careers, Amy agreed to move back to his small Missouri hometown and even used her inheritance to set him up in a new business, a bar. It doesn’t help that his twin sister and business partner Margo is not overly enamoured with Amy.

Nick’s account begins the day of Amy’s disappearance, which also happens to be the day of their fifth wedding anniversary. Amy has set up her annual anniversary treasure hunt. Nick hates these hunts at the best of times but this year’s just seems to increase his nervousness. His neighbour calls him at the bar, concerned that Nick’s front door is wide open. He heads home to find a burning tea kettle, a plugged in iron and signs of a struggle, and calls the police. Detective Rhonda Boney and her partner Jim Gilpin are suspicious of the scene and of Nick, and they begin to dog his every move. What has he done? Will he get away with it? Will his sister stand by him, no matter what?

This was a book I could not put down. I am often suspicious of very popular books and I expected this one might be light and perhaps a bit too modern for my tastes but when my niece said she couldn’t put it down, I thought I should try it. I was quickly absorbed in the varying versions of Nick and Amy’s life. The twists and turns – even when you think you see them coming – were excellent. The characters of Nick and Amy are so well drawn, I could picture them in my mind’s eye. The background was particularly poignant, a sad depiction of the last few years in the USA: high flyers brought sharply to earth with the economic crash, new but mostly empty housing developments sitting like ghost towns, individuals left embittered by larger forces. I’m not sure how I feel about the ending though, perhaps because one true innocent will have a future too horrible to consider. Rating: (°o°)! Up all night to find out what happened!

Notable sentence: “I just wanted to make sure I got the last word.”

 Author Gillian Flynn has written two other books to date, “Sharp Objects” and “Dark Places”. She, like Nick, lost her New York job as a pop culture writer during the downturn and recently celebrated her fifth wedding anniversary. Her lawyer husband, Brett Nolan, crops up in each of her books, this time as an anagram, lawyer Tanner Bolt.  One can only hope that is where the similarities with this story end!

For an alternative review, check out The Book Smugglers   Note: it does have several plot spoilers in it, so it is best to read it after you have read the book.

Review: Gold Digger: A Klondike Mystery, Vicki Delany (Canada: Yukon)

Title: Gold Digger: A Klondike Mystery
Author: Vicki Delany
Publication: 2009/Rendezvous Crime, Toronto
ISBN #: 978-1-894-91780-3
# of pages: 293
Discovered at Crime Writers of Canada
Read in library e-book format
Also available in paper format
Link to author’s website: Vicki Delany 

Fiona MacGillivray was raised in Scotland and lived in London, entertaining wealthy men who kept her in the lifestyle to which she had become accustomed. Then things went sour and she moved her talents and her young son Angus to Canada, first to Toronto and ultimately to Dawson, in Yukon Territory. Being independent, self-assured and feisty will be character traits that any woman would need to survive the middle of the gold rush in 1898, in the far wilderness of Canada. Fiona is thriving: part owner of the Savoy saloon and dance hall with her partner and head bartender Ray Walker, she has the best dancers in town.

A weekend visit to the saloon to look at the books changes everything. She and Angus practically trip over the body of Jack Ireland. Constable Richard Sterling of the North-West Mounted Police is quickly brought in to investigate but will any of the townspeople cooperate? Ireland, an American reporter, had been in town for only a few days yet had managed to alienate just about anyone he came across.

Graham Donohue, another more likeable American reporter, seems to know more than he is saying. Fiona’s headline dancer Irene was beaten up by Ireland and since Ray is sweet on Irene, he was not happy about it. Fiona has to fend off suitors while trying to figure out who the murderer is in order to protect her business. Meanwhile, Angus has decided he can help his hero Constable Sterling solve the mystery.

As an historical novel, this book was quite interesting. It paints a human picture of Dawson and living on the frontier: the many bars open virtually all day, the street of prostitutes, the tired dusty miners who will pay for a dance just to bring some cheer to their lives. There are many nice background touches, such as the horse whining in fear in the street while Fiona converses with someone upstairs, and the bartenders leaving their fingernails long so they could catch some of the gold dust which was used as payment. As a mystery though, it is rather lightweight. The murder is discovered on page one and it is almost 100 pages of scene setting before the investigation gains momentum. The suspects are predictable however the final scenes are exciting.

Rating: (°_°) worth reading

Notable sentence: “Her teeth were good for a woman of her age and class…”

Vicki Delany is an Ontario writer who started writing only on Sundays and after publishing three books, was able to retire from her bank system analyst job and write full time.  This book is part of the Klondike Mystery series: Gold Fever, Gold Mountain and Gold Web (due out 2014). Delany has also written the Constable Molly Smith series and several standalone mysteries.

Review: The Walker on the Cape, Mike Martin (Canada, Newfoundland)

Title: The Walker on the Cape
Author: Mike Martin
Publication: 2012/Baico Publishing Inc, Ottawa Canada
ISBN #: 978-1-926945-97-2
# of pages: 252
Discovered by Crime Writers of Canada
Read in paper format
Also available in e-book format
Link to author’s website: http://walkeronthecape.com/

Old Elias Martin walks the nearby stretch of Newfoundland cape regularly every morning, so regularly the local Grand Bank residents set their clocks by him. So when Mavis Emberly’s soup pot boils dry, she knows something is wrong. Elias has been found dead on the path, an apparent heart attack victim.

RCMP Sergeant Winston Windflower and his Constable Eddie Tizzard hope the doctor will help them to wrap this up quickly but when it turns out Elias was poisoned, Windflower starts to wonder if he is in over his head. Usually, his police work involves getting drunken teenagers home without upsetting the Mayor and his friends. Soon he is uncovering long simmering disputes in this normally quiet little rural outpost while dodging his interfering Inspector.

This is a simply written book, more filled with descriptions of small village living than with high crime drama. Windflower’s work day is nicely offset with his personal life and budding romance with Sheila, owner of the local coffee shop. There are a few good twists and turns along the way. Windflower is an entertaining character and the author does not make him into a super hero but just a regular cop who calls in help when he needs it.    Rating: (°_°)  worth reading.

The author was born in St John’s, Newfoundland and although he now lives in Ottawa, he visits Grand Bank and other parts of Newfoundland every summer. He is a freelance writer and workplace wellness consultant. His second book in the Windflower series, “The Body on the T”, will be published May 2013.

Review: Murder in a Cold Climate, Scott Young (Canada, Northwest Terrorities)

Title: Murder in a Cold Climate
Author: Scott Young
Publication: 1988/Random House of Canada, Toronto
ISBN #: 0-449-21746-9
# of pages: 238
Discovered when cleaning out my bookshelves
Read in paper format

Canadian Mountie Matteesie “Matthew” Kitologitak is suddenly very busy. Seconded to the Department of Northern Affairs and currently in Inuvik, he is preparing for an exciting trip to Leningrad for a meeting of northern countries. The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) commissioner is on the phone though, asking a favour. Before he leaves, would he please look into a missing plane piloted by the son of the finance minister? As an Inuk who has lived most of his life in the Northwest Territories, he knows the region well and figures this will only take him a few days.
He boards the next plane to Norman Wells. One of the other passengers is Morton Cavendish, notable local power broker, who has suffered a stroke and is being transported to Edmonton for treatment. The plane’s first stop an hour later is Norman Wells and before Kitologitak can disembark, a gunman has boarded and shot Cavendish three times before escaping on a waiting snowmobile. Kitologitak is more interested in solving this murder than finding the missing plane, and he just has to figure out how to do both while ignoring his boss’s order to leave the murder to the local detachment.

As a story about the Canadian Arctic, this is a very interesting book. The characters of the north, the outdoor survival tactics, the scenes of travelling by dog team and snowmobile all bring the North to life. However, for me, the voice of Kitologitak the Inuk did not ring true. It sounded more like what a white person would expect an Inuk to think.  I also did not find the mystery particularly engaging. If you are interested in the Canadian Arctic, add it to your reading pile.            Rating:    (-_°)  

Notable sentence: George No Legs discussing what animals he’s trapped: “You get out here with no legs and a 150-pound wolf stuck in a trap, you might just wish you was back in town, drawin’ welfare.”

Author Scott Young was a Canadian journalist and sportswriter for many years. He wrote a number of short stories, books of fiction (including a second book about Kitologitak, “The Shaman’s Knife”) and nonfiction. One of the latter was “Neil and Me”, about his famous musician son Neil Young. Scott Young died in 2005 at the age of 87.

For an alternate review, read Bill Selnes' at Mysteries and More from Saskatchewan

Review: Outcast, Jose Latour (Cuba)

Title: Outcast
Author: José Latour
Publication: 2007/Toronto: McClelland& Stewart
Original Publication: 1999/USA: Akashic Books
eISBN #: 978-1-55199-198-6
# of pages: 246
Discovered at Mysteries in a Foreign Land Mysteries in a Foreign Land
Read in e-book format from the library

Also available in paper format

Link to author’s website:http://www.joselatourauthor.com/

 

In 1994, Elliot Steil - Elio to his friends - is a relatively satisfied 44 year old English teacher at the Polytechnic Institute in Havana. Having a Cuban mother and an American father has meant that life has not always been easy and in many ways, this has made him an outcast. So far though, he really hasn’t wanted to leave Cuba, he just wants his blacklisting to stop. He likes his homeland, he has friends like Sobeida who gets him cakes on the black market, an ex-wife with whom he is on satisfactory terms, and a girlfriend whose company he enjoys.

Everything changes the day an Americano called Dan Gastler comes looking for him. He says he is a private investigator and friend of Bob, his long departed father. Bob recently died and in his last days, begged his friend to find his wife and son and smuggle them out of Cuba.

Elio is about to become an outcast yet again and the events leading up to this will start him off on a year long search for answers and revenge.

This is a rather unusual mystery because it is not really about missing persons or dead bodies but about unanswered questions. The more Elio pursues the answers, the more questions arise. This approach was quite intriguing. The story also provides interesting insight into everyday Cuban life: city blackout timetables, using Coke cans as water glasses because the stores don’t have any, watching American television on a Russian TV set via pirated Cuban signals. Here is a 1990s adult who has never held a credit card in his hands. It also provides an interesting insight into the lives of Cuban rafters in Florida. Worth reading both for the mystery and the glimpse at Cuba.     (°_°)

The author has also led an interesting life. Originally a supporter of the Cuban Revolution, Latour began writing novels in the ‘80s, while working in the Ministry of Finance. He quit and became a full time writer in 1990 however, his 1994 book “The Fool”, based on a true corruption case, was branded counterrevolutionary, leading to his being classified as an enemy of the people. Believing his books would not be published in Cuba, he decided to write a book in English and “Outcast” was the result. Five more books have followed. He and his family finally decided to leave the repression in Cuba, moving first to Spain and finally settling in Canada.

Review: Crooked Lake, Nelson Brunanski (Canada: Saskatchewan)

Title: Crooked Lake
Author: Nelson Brunanski
Publication: 2006/Caronel Publishing, Canada
ISBN #: 0-9739121-0-3
# of pages: 254
Discovered at http://mysteriesandmore.blogspot.ca/2011/02/crooked-lake-by-nelson-brunanski.html
Read in paper format
Link to author’s website: nelsonbrunanski.com

 

What could possibly happen in the quiet little prairie town of Crooked Lake, population 1,000? Big enough to have a post office, and a regional park and golf course…and now a murder. When his lifelong friend Nick Taylor is accused of the murder and no other suspects are even considered, John “Bart” Bartowski figures he’ll nose around a bit. His wife Rosie figures he has enough to worry about at home, what with their fly-in fishing lodge at risk of losing its government lease. Bart quietly persists, even when events start to spin out of control, threatening the safety of Bart and his family.

 Although this is a first book, it did not run into too many obvious first book issues. The setting is nicely drawn, with a good portrayal of Saskatchewan, including the decades-old ethnic mix, the lifestyles. You feel the quiet rural life, with the gossiping and longstanding feuds, but without sinking to an unrealistic nasty undercurrent.  This story could happen anywhere. Bart’s life goes on, while he’s doing his snooping. He’s still weeding his garden, worrying about his children, getting his summer bookings lined up. Even the bad guys could be your own neighbours. This was an enjoyable book.        Rating: (°_°)

The author grew up in Wakaw, Saskatchewan, the inspiration for the town of Crooked Lake. He has also written two more in the Bartowski series: “Frost Bite” and “Burnt Out”, as well as two non-series mysteries, “Southern Exposure” and “Victoria Day”. I look forward to reading these.

 

Short Story Review: Next Stop, Foggy Bottom, Karen Cantwell (USA)

Title:           Next Stop, Foggy Bottom
Author:       Karen Cantwell
Anthology: Chesapeake Crimes “This Job is Murder”
Published: 2012/Wildside Press, LLC, USA
Discovered the anthology from Stop, You’re Killing Me newsletter http://stopyourekillingme.com/
Read as an e-book
Also available in paper format
Link to author’s website: http://www.karencantwell.com/

Okay, let’s be honest, who hasn’t had one of those days where you just wanted to kill your boss? The narrator of this short story has given it a lot of thought: strangle, shoot, poison?  She finally comes up with the perfect and simplest solution. Her boss, Athena Pappas, has been the perpetrator of much misery in the narrator’s life and now Pappas will get her comeuppance.

This short story really keeps you guessing and wanting to know more. Athena’s character is well developed, despite the brevity of the tale. Just what has Athena done to attract such an extreme reaction? Will the narrator get away with the murder? There is even a nice little twist in the story. Since it is short, you can then go back easily and see what clues you missed. And the clues are there.

The author Karen Cantwell not only writes short stories and plays, but also a humorous mystery series, featuring suburban mom Barbara Marr. The two titles so far, “Take the Monkey and Run” and “Citizen Insane” are now added to the reading list!

 

 

Review: The Reluctant Detective, Finley Martin (Canada: PEI)

Title:                                The Reluctant Detective
Author:                             Finley Martin
Date/Place of Publication: 2012: Acornpress, PEI, Canada
ISBN:                              978-1-894838-78-8
# Pages:                          241
Discovered at                   www.crimewriterscanada.com
Read in paper format.
Also available as an ebook.
Author's website:             www.finleymartin.ca

A new Anne for Prince Edward Island but this one, (Wilhelmina) Anne Brown, is a detective. Over the last few years, she has experienced a number of tragedies: the death of her foreign correspondent husband before their daughter Jacqui was born, the deaths of both parents in a car accident and now the death of Bill Darby, her uncle and employer. And as the book opens, it appears that Anne herself is about to find out what dying feels like. We soon learn she has inherited her uncle's detective agency and quickly garnered two customers, a mysterious package and a motorcycle gang bent on revenge.

The reader gets a good feel of what Charlottetown and Summerside are like. In particular, the drive through Summerside brought back memories of the area. Details about the main characters are revealed over time, a more enjoyable process than having everyone described fully when first introduced.

However, the setup for a key part of the story doesn't ring true. Anne is remarkably calm about a major loss. Her casual approach leading up to the event seems unrealistic. Initially, this may throw the reader off but the author successfully draws the reader back into the story, with some cliff hanging chapter endings that are not immediately resolved. The last third of the book picks up, with a good series of twists and turns. An enjoyable book.

Review: Your Friendly Neighbourhood Criminal, Michael Van Rooy (Canada: Manitoba)

Title:                                  Your Friendly Neighbourhood Criminal
Author:                               Michael Van Rooy
Date/Place of Publication:    2008: Winnipeg, Turnstone Press
ISBN #                               978-0-88801-339-2
# of pages:                         324
Discovered by searching for Canadian authors at the Saskatchewan blog http://mysteriesandmore.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/2012-alphabet-in-crime-fiction-roundup.html
Read in paper book format.

Another anti-hero! Or perhaps a role model for ex-cons trying to go straight. Montgomery "Monty" Haaviko is having a bad day when the book opens, as he is caught in the middle of an armed robbery at a Winnipeg bank. However, this doesn't begin to compare with the past few months of his life.

He has been busy helping a friend set up a human smuggling route into Canada while at the same time, trying to figure out how to shut down the crack house in his neighbourhood and keep the children he babysits in line. Certainly a quirky story line. A former bad ass, Monty has his own moral code, a twisting of the ways cons operate so that he can fit as much as possible into his new straight life. It is not  necessarily a code with which most of us would be comfortable but strangely, it makes sense in his world.

His real estate agent wife Claire is no shrinking violet either. Most of the time, she is a typical working mother but she always has Monty's back, even if that means lurking in the shadows with a crowbar. It will be interesting to get the first book in this series, "An Ordinary Decent Criminal", to learn how Monty and Claire met.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable book. Often, you are on the edge of your seat, waiting for the next bad thing to happen, and it's the kind of book you finally have to sit down and finish because the suspense is so great.

It was so exciting to discover this Canadian author and a shock to learn he had died suddenly two years ago (2011), aged only 42. He was promoting his third book in this series, "A Criminal to Remember". According to the Quill and Quire obituary, "At 21, Van Rooy was convicted of armed robbery and served nearly two years in federal penitentiary. He has always maintained his innocence and told the Winnipeg Free Press last year that he had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time." No doubt this jail experience assisted his development of the character Monty.

Review: Trust Your Eyes, Linwood Barclay (Canada: Ontario)

Title:                                 Trust Your Eyes
Author:                              Linwood Barclay
Date/Place of Publication:  2012, Doubleday Canada
ISBN #:                            978-0-385-66957-3
Number of Pages:             498
Also available in:               Kobo ebook, Kindle ebook
Discovered by a friend who recommended it

Thomas Kilbride visits cities throughout the world every day, taking in the sights, memorizing the streets but this visit - to New York City - is different. This time, he sees a murder. He's not sure what to do about it but he will think it over during dinner. The only person in whom he might confide is his brother Ray. However, even Ray has trouble believing him because Thomas is schizophrenic. Ray is also trying to sort out the estate of his recently deceased father so he is not inclined to indulge his brother's flights of fancy. But as Ray is about to find out, life is not always under our own control.

Just when you think there is a dangling plot thread or obviously incorrect statement by a character that the author has overlooked, there is yet another twist.The prologue is the first of many times when your preconceptions may trip you up and you find yourself  re-reading a section - including the ending.

Barclay does an excellent job of weaving several different plot lines together, with a quiet dose of humour tossed in from time to time, and he has you sitting on the edge of your seat throughout the book. The characters are very human: for instance, Ray's friend Julie feels he treats his adult brother Thomas like a child while Ray recalls the challenges of growing up with a brother like Thomas, who still can't look after his own basic needs.

The book blurbs compare "Trust Your Eyes" with Alfred Hitchcock's movie "Rear Window". Since this is one of my favourite movies, I was prepared to be disappointed...but I wasn't.