This latest in the Stonechild and Rouleau series picks up with the same characters a few months after the action of the last volume. The primary peoplThis latest in the Stonechild and Rouleau series picks up with the same characters a few months after the action of the last volume. The primary people are in the same places except that Rouleau is now acting head of the department. His superior essentially ran off with his mistress for an undetermined length of time so Rouleau is removed from day to day police work and is full time pushing paper.
Meanwhile, a local family has gathered from around the country as the father is nearing death. The family, mother, two sons and one daughter, are fractured and not coping but not due to this impending death. Rather it’s due to old issues that have never cleared, including a murder 14 years ago, blamed on one of the sons but ultimately never proven. The toxic family could win an award in not coping. But there are moments of connection among the siblings.
Then there is another murder in the present day. And the spite, fear and anxiety are flowing.
Once again, I recommend this book and series to mystery readers. The Canadian setting is interesting, here with the terrible winter weather, the distances, etc and differences in law from the U.S. I believe this book could be read on its own, but for full background, it would be better to read some of the earlier books. Another good series!
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review
Merged review:
This latest in the Stonechild and Rouleau series picks up with the same characters a few months after the action of the last volume. The primary people are in the same places except that Rouleau is now acting head of the department. His superior essentially ran off with his mistress for an undetermined length of time so Rouleau is removed from day to day police work and is full time pushing paper.
Meanwhile, a local family has gathered from around the country as the father is nearing death. The family, mother, two sons and one daughter, are fractured and not coping but not due to this impending death. Rather it’s due to old issues that have never cleared, including a murder 14 years ago, blamed on one of the sons but ultimately never proven. The toxic family could win an award in not coping. But there are moments of connection among the siblings.
Then there is another murder in the present day. And the spite, fear and anxiety are flowing.
Once again, I recommend this book and series to mystery readers. The Canadian setting is interesting, here with the terrible winter weather, the distances, etc and differences in law from the U.S. I believe this book could be read on its own, but for full background, it would be better to read some of the earlier books. Another good series!
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review...more
So much happens in this episode, from the emergence of doubts and new ideas about the wrap up of the case that made Jejeune’s career and fame with theSo much happens in this episode, from the emergence of doubts and new ideas about the wrap up of the case that made Jejeune’s career and fame with the MET; to the threat posed by the release of a man convicted due to Jejeune’s police work which now poses threats to his and Lindy’s happiness and safety; to the current crime, a person, male, found shot and burned with no other information available. There are so many twists and turns in this novel. Loyalties are seen fraying and tested and relationships...will they recover?
As this is a part of the birder mystery series, there are the requisite references to expected and surprising species in this north of England setting. The descriptions of the natural world are evocative of mood, place. They reflect and sometimes foretold the future. Jejeune is a detective who lives much of his life in his head. He is not an action hero but more cerebral (although the last book involved a lot of physical action in South America).
I continue to recommend this series to mystery readers. While this can be read as a stand-alone, it would likely be better appreciated if you were to read one of the earlier books, perhaps the last.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.
Merged review:
So much happens in this episode, from the emergence of doubts and new ideas about the wrap up of the case that made Jejeune’s career and fame with the MET; to the threat posed by the release of a man convicted due to Jejeune’s police work which now poses threats to his and Lindy’s happiness and safety; to the current crime, a person, male, found shot and burned with no other information available. There are so many twists and turns in this novel. Loyalties are seen fraying and tested and relationships...will they recover?
As this is a part of the birder mystery series, there are the requisite references to expected and surprising species in this north of England setting. The descriptions of the natural world are evocative of mood, place. They reflect and sometimes foretold the future. Jejeune is a detective who lives much of his life in his head. He is not an action hero but more cerebral (although the last book involved a lot of physical action in South America).
I continue to recommend this series to mystery readers. While this can be read as a stand-alone, it would likely be better appreciated if you were to read one of the earlier books, perhaps the last.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review....more
I have now read three novels written by Anne Emery, each set in a different historical context or place. All three have been good reads and interestinI have now read three novels written by Anne Emery, each set in a different historical context or place. All three have been good reads and interesting novels. In this latest, Counted Among the Dead, Emery returns to her Collins and Burke series in a historical mystery set in Halifax, Nova Scotia of 1917 and 1993.
to be continued…
Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an eARC of this book,...more
The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a novel of World War I unlike any other I have read but it captures the horrors of the trenches, the makeshift hospitals aThe Warm Hands of Ghosts is a novel of World War I unlike any other I have read but it captures the horrors of the trenches, the makeshift hospitals and the general terror of the life of the battlefield as well as any other. It opens in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as Laura Iven, a battle scarred, decorated and honored field nurse is back home, having been sent home to recover after her field station was damaged in a bombing. Not long after she came home, the infamous ship explosion occurred in Halifax harbor which left her without parents. Not long afterwards, she received news that her brother, fighting in Europe is dead.
Conflicting feelings caused by receiving some of Freddie’s effects lead Laura to question if he is actually dead. Or is this her grief directing her. She decides to volunteer to return as a volunteer to Belgium with the hope of learning more of what happened to her brother.
In an alternating narrative, we follow what happened to Freddie in the trenches. And we learn more of the ghosts in the title, for they are not figurative in this novel. They are a presence experienced by so many. The paranormal is a part of this story. If you have limited tolerance for this you might have some problems with this book, but you would be missing a very human, historical fiction novel that also can add to understanding of the time. Katherine Arden provides a very interesting Author’s Note at the end providing historical analysis of social implications of the major changes caused by WWI.
Recommended!
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC of this book. This review is my own....more
A compelling read. A confusing story full of conflicting plot lines. Interesting characters who are multidimensional but, at times, risk being unrealiA compelling read. A confusing story full of conflicting plot lines. Interesting characters who are multidimensional but, at times, risk being unrealistic. A story I had to finish once I began…I had to know what happened, and why.
The Devil’s Choir is one of a series of police/crime/thrillers written in French by Martin Michaud and set in Montreal that are now being gradually translated into English. This is, I believe, the third book of the series but the second to be translated. Victor Lessard is the detective Sargent who leads this story, a man who has extensive personal emotional baggage as well as a past within the department. He is already rundown when he encounters the “case from Hell.”
The deaths of a young family begin a case that fans out across the city and into neighboring areas as Lessard tries to make sense of what he found at that crime scene. And as he then tries to make sense of other incidents occurring nearby or that may be related. At one point in the novel, we are told: What does it all mean? One thing’s for sure: Lessard hasn’t yet found the common factor that can turn these disparate details into a coherent picture. And if Lessard can’t, neither can the reader. There are street kids and a drug culture, some sort of religious cult, a side story of a teenage girl making sex videos to get by, and other violent deaths.
While I did find the book compelling and wanted to know the how and why and who, I found some of the details just too excessive for my taste. The description of the crime scenes and deaths were horrific. The multi-linear plot occasionally became confusing. And, as I said above, some of the characters behave in what seem, to me, to be unrealistic ways even in a fictional police procedural. But, and this is a big but, the story does keep you coming back, wanting answers.
Rating 3.5* rounded down.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review....more
Home of the Floating Lily is a story collection built on tales of immigration and emigration between Canada and Bengladesh. These are multi-generationHome of the Floating Lily is a story collection built on tales of immigration and emigration between Canada and Bengladesh. These are multi-generational stories of men and women seeking new lives and dreams or perhaps finding that those dreams aren’t possible. The stories unite in a setting, an area of Toronto favored by many Bengali immigrants, that is common to or mentioned in each story.
The central theme of each story, of each life presented, is the need for and search for home. This might mean slightly different things to different characters but each wants to belong. Many want a place where they believe their children will have a greater chance for success. Some find that the traditional ways call to them more strongly than they had thought. So many different views, of course.
I enjoyed this collection very much and enjoyed reading stories from this different, to me, cultural viewpoint. Rating 4.5 rounded up to 5*.
A copy of this book was provided by Dundern Books through NetGalley in return for an honest review....more
This is the first in R.M. Greenaway’s BC Blues crime series that I have read and there is a fairly large crew of characters to absorb. Among these areThis is the first in R.M. Greenaway’s BC Blues crime series that I have read and there is a fairly large crew of characters to absorb. Among these are the various members of the local police, the RCMP, with detectives Leith and Dion in the forefront.
The novel opens with a assault outside a school building as an employee leaves work in the evening. Shortly thereafter the same answering detectives, Leith and Dion are called to a river side dwelling to investigate a reported missing child. This situation is complicated by split families, ex-husband and wife, complicated custody agreements, etc. Finding truth will be equally complex.
This is the continuation of a series which, at times, can leave the situation among the men and women investigating these crimes a bit confusing, but it does not make it difficult to read in and of itself. Perhaps the odd imbalance in the treatment of the two crimes and the use of coincidences are my biggest issues with the plotting. Still it has been exciting to read with some well done action scenes that had me wondering about possible outcomes.
3.5* rounded to 4*
A copy of this book was provided by Dundurn through NetGalley in return for an honest review....more
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