“He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. ‘You’re wild, not broken.’’’
A perceptive horse metaphor lopes through Book 2 of Kades’s Alberta Hearthstone series. The hero, Colt Tanner, is a gallant bull-rider and horse trainer who prefers to “start” a horse rather than “break” it. Truly chivalrous, the tall, sexy, Tanner sweeps disgraced MI6 war correspondent and courier, Lillian Kensington, off her feet when she arrives in the Canadian Rockies with PTSD, a fearsome past, and her nineteen-year-old niece, Sophie, in tow. In the beginning, I had trouble relating to this wealthy privileged Brit who travels with an elite troop of bodyguards, but I was struck by her intelligence and independence, as was Tanner. There is a reason for this protection—though her testimony has just sent him to prison, Lillian’s ex-lover, double-agent Fernando Martinez, has vowed to kill her.
Kades says she writes “eco-thrillers” but this book lands squarely in the romantic suspense genre, as she offers readers a sexy, sensitive romance in contrast with an insane escaped terrorist seeking revenge; RCMP officers; Colt’s brother who received a near-fatal gunshot while working in the Canadian Security Intelligence Service; a top notch special force who guard the wealthy and elite Miss Kensingtons; Martinez’s thugs; plenty of suspense and murderous threats.
Strong women feature. Lillian’s Scottish grandmum, Dame Maighread Evans Coille Kensington is a “ballsy political force” and runs the British estate with an iron fist. I was hooked early on by the promise of a historical mystery when Lillian discovers her great aunt’s seventeen-century fur-trading journals and shares Obedience’s leather-bound tomes with us—one of which is a “grimoire” of women’s knowledge. Lillian is intuitive and has been experiencing visions since her teen years. Though she can feel the energy pulsing through the book, she was struck blind by love in the case of Martinez; a truth that makes her distrustful of men and herself now.
Streaks of feminism color the pages. It’s grandmum who sends the women to the Rocky Mountains, Sophie to train as a biathlete, and Lillian to read the journals and discover her past. Kades has taken the concept of ecological restoration known as re-wilding and re-branded it to mean “returning to the core of who you are, the real you, where your identity is you, not your career, or what others think you should be.”
A Calgary archaeologist and Indigenous Knowledge study facilitator turned fiction writer, Kades is a two-time Energy Futures Lab Banff Summit storyteller. She lands her characters in a world of leather and horses, sunsets and mountain vistas, rodeo clowns and fierce bulls, and brings life to such classic Alberta scenes as the Calgary Stampede and trail rides in the Rocky Mountains. A strong writer with a flair for description, she sneaks in a few allusions to icons such as Gretsky, and the odd Canadian joke. If you’ve never been to Alberta, trust me, you’ll want to go cowboying after reading this book; perhaps even find your own cowboy.
Wild Not Broken is a standalone novel but, as with all series, could be a richer read after reading the first, Kiss Me in the Rain. Book three, Not an Easy Truce is scheduled for a June 2022 release, which leaves you time to catch up on the first two, and still enjoy what promises to be a delightful summer read.
Rockton is a town built on secrets. Everyone comes to this camouflaged Yukon haven with a colourful past and something to hide, be they victim or perpetrator, sociopath or healer. But what happens when the deepest of secrets are at risk of being revealed? Someone in Rockton is playing a deadly game and it’s up to Sheriff Eric Dalton and his partner, Detective Casey Duncan, to find out who it is and stop them, before fear and judgment rip this fragile town to shreds. With a population of 171, everyone has a secret, and only Sheriff Dalton has knowledge of them all.
We Rockton fans knew that one day there would be an end to this thrilling crime fiction series. When she released book six, New York Times best-selling author, Kelley Armstrong, told us she had a seven-book-contract. Big sigh. This is book seven and, yes, the people of Rockton have been given the word from their elusive governing council in the south that this is it. Their beloved Yukon hideaway is about to be dismantled; worse still, the townsfolks are tasked with the dismantling.
The story begins in the midst of this chaos with an unusual moment of calm—three peaceful days have merged into a friendly game of Dungeons and Dragons. It’s a beautiful July evening until the peace is shattered by a sign—a literal sign hanging in the street. “Will Anders is a killer. He lost his marbles and killed his army commanding officer and escaped to Rockton before they locked him in a loony bin.” Could it be true? What would you think if you saw a sign that revealed your town’s deputy sheriff was a crazy killer? This revelation triggers an escalating action that leaves scarcely a moment to breathe until the final page.
I appreciate how Armstrong provides a solid introduction to this book where she explains Rockton and the rules. “Residents come here under false names and false identities, and they must stay a minimum of two years.” Rockton is not new. It was created as a kind of commune in the 1950s, so it has its own history. The residents know the end is coming as the population has dwindled and no new folks have been admitted to this off-grid town in months. I’m going to miss Rockton. I’m going to miss these characters. I’ve followed Eric and Casey’s relationship from the very beginning, smiled through the introduction of their comical Newfoundland pup, Storm, and gritted my teeth through all the bizarre cases they’ve solved. This end is as tough for me, the reader, as it is for the residents of Rockton.
Also, in the introduction, Armstrong names the key characters and reminds us of their talents, skills, and jobs, many of which have nothing to do with each other. For example, Mathias, the town butcher, is a “psychologist with an expertise in criminal pathology.” Both skills come in useful in Rockton where every story involves at least one slightly bizarre murder. This book is no exception.
The stories for the most part are plot-driven. They’re crime novels so we spend most of the story inside Detective Casey Duncan’s head as she gathers clues and deciphers what they mean. Casey’s narration in first person present tense creates a sense of immediacy and illustrates how this brilliant woman’s brain fires. It’s taken seven books but we’ve come to know her, through her relationships with her dog, her partner, her sister, and her friends. Each book can be stand alone but I always find it’s richer to read a series in order and watch the character development.
Armstrong’s clear, tight prose is peppered with colourful vocabulary. I found myself looking up new words—slavering, moue, feminazi, tangentially. If you’re searching for an intelligent crime series steeped in nature and popping with psychopaths, look no further. The town of Rockton may be finished but the books live on forever.
This is a wonderful article for any writer, and especially an author of historical fiction. Sharpen your quills. You’ll be inspired. I promise. Thanks to Deborah L. Williams for her expertise.
What do you get when you cross an emergency-room doctor with an award-winning novelist? An insanely-twisted thriller that’s more connected than the vascular system.
White Lightning is book nine in the Hope Sze medical thriller series but reads like a standalone. It was my first Yi read but won’t be my last. The premise is simple—the complications are not.
Think of small things that pack a punch, and you’ve got Dr. Sze. Self-described as “five foot two and a quarter because of her ‘Asian genes’,” Hope is anything but diminutive. (And I have to wonder how much of Melissa Yi runs through the fictional veins of Hope Sze). She refers to herself as an “idiot savant sleuth” and definitely shows off her skills in this story.
When Hope and fellow doctors, Tori Yamamoto and John Tucker, take a weekend away from interning in Montreal, Hope’s platinum-haired fiancé, Tucker, insists they stay at the Rumrunner’s Rest, a historic inn in Windsor, Ontario. The Detroit River was once known as “Hooch Highway” as opportunists took to transporting alcohol across it from Canada into the United States during American Prohibition.
Right from page one, we know something’s up when the pragmatic Tori sees a ghost.
I love blended genres and that’s what’s brewing here—a murder mystery/thriller, with a dash of history, and a supernatural twist. Oh, and spiked with Rogue Con – a motley collection of theatrical villains, a stalker, the appearance of Hope’s recent ex-boyfriend (whom she still loves) AND the gruesome discovery of bones in the basement chimney.
But it’s not all fun and games.
Interwoven into the narrative is the story of orphan Edwin Jenkins, a six-year-old English chimney sweep, forced into servitude and early death. Edwin’s tragic tale is one of horror and exploitation. Later that theme replays with the introduction of a teen prostitute from Rogue Con.
Yi is a witty, playful writer who doesn’t shy away from spiking the text with expletives, sexy innuendos, and shots of pop culture. Her reactions to seeing her ex-boyfriend, in the basement at the unveiling of the mysterious bones, are priceless; in fact, the whole scene, wild rogues and all, is a comic tour-de-force. Twisted riddles on the title, White Lightning, are endless (I’ll let you sleuth them out) and the connections make for a meticulous mind-map. We even read a first-person interview with the original White Lightning who worked with the infamous Al Capone.
Technically the works of a medical crime writer, Yi’s Hope Sze thrillers have been recommended by The Globe and Mail, CBC Books, and The Next Chapter as some of the best Canadian suspense novels.
In this high voltage thriller, Yi weaves a tragic tapestry of exploitation, murder, mayhem, and revenge, spiked with comic relief. Don’t miss it.
This book starts halfway through the ten-book Marc Edwards Mysteries series. I chose to read it first because it’s set in Upper Canada 1838, and I’m sliding into that time myself to do some historical research for a family history. Published in 2013 by Touchstone, the series is written by poet, author, and Western University professor emeritus, Don Gutteridge.
The story is set at a key historic moment when two Canadas are struggling for power: predominantly French Lower Canada (Quebec) and very British Upper Canada (Ontario). Rebellions have disturbed the peace in both.
A Little Political Background
Louis-Joseph Papineau, a French-Canadian reformer born in Montreal, led the rebel Patriotes in a rebellion in November 1837. They opposed the power of the Catholic Church, the British Governor, and his advisors, the Chateau Clique. After the Patriotes were defeated, many French-Canadian settlements were burned to the ground, and Papineau fled into exile in the United States. Fleeing to the USA is a popular theme especially in the old days when borders were a little less guarded.
The following month, a Scottish newspaper publisher, William Lyon Mackenzie, and his radical followers attempted to seize control of the government in Upper Canada and declare the colony a republic. As in Lower Canada, an elite clique of pro-British businessmen called the Family Compact, ran the colony through a system of patronage. The rebels wanted democracy. Many of them were American farmers who’d moved north following the War of 1812. For four days, Mackenzie and his rebels gathered at Montgomery’s Tavern, then they marched south on Toronto’s Yonge Street. Guns were fired. Confusion ensued, and they dispersed. Perhaps spending four days convening in a tavern was not the wisest plan? Mackenzie and his group eventually fled to the United States where they joined with American rebels and wreaked havoc along the border.
By the following summer, Britain still ruled from across the sea, the cliques still ran both Canadas—one French, one English—and problems still hung in the air.
What About These Bloody Relations?
Enter Lord Durham. John George Lambton Durham was made governor general to both Upper and Lower Canada, and sent abroad to sort things out and write a report. The earl was nicknamed “Radical Jack” because he swayed to the liberal side of the Whig party. In the end, Durham recommended union of the Canadas, assimilation of French Canadians, and the introduction of responsible government—an elected assembly responsible to the people, rather than a top-down monarchy. The real Lord Durham was a somewhat sickly character. Gutteridge says: “Lord and Lady Durham did visit Toronto for a day and a half in July 1838, their stay cut short by the earl’s suffering a recurrence of his migraine and neuralgia.”
http://uppercanadahistory.ca
It’s during Lord Durham’s visit to Toronto in July 1838 that Bloody Relations takes place. I mention the political background because it is important to the plot of the story and Durham’s report changed Canada forever.
As I said, this is a murder mystery, so early on a sort of “locked-room murder” occurs in a brothel in Irishtown. Lord Durham’s shy, inebriated, nephew, Handford Ellice, is discovered snuggled in bed beside poor dead Sarah McConkey. He’s still unconscious, though she’s been stabbed through the neck. And, he’s holding the knife in his hand. Madame Renee had barred the outside door after Ellice was admitted and then gone off to bed along with the three other women who worked for her. So, inside the locked brothel are three prostitutes, the madame, and Ellice. The key questions? Who done it? And why are there no blood trails if it wasn’t Ellice?
While on patrol, Constable Horatio Cobb is called to the bloody murder scene by one of the distraught prostitutes. When he realizes who the alleged perpetrator is related to, he suggests that Marc Edwards handle the rather sensitive investigation. Marc and his wife, Beth, have just been to a soiree the previous evening with Lord and Lady Durham and met Ellice; in fact, Beth danced with the shy Ellice and befriended him. Now, he’s accused of murder and the Edwards are determined to get to the truth. Edwards feel that Ellice may have been set up to derail Lord Durham’s task.
It’s a brilliant set-up for a murder mystery and Gutteridge’s literary prose, combined with his poetic prowess and believable dialogue, brings the characters to life. The settings are vivid, especially Irishtown:
“The area was essentially a squatter’s haven. Its three dozen dwellings were ramshackle affairs at best: half-log shanties, clapboard hovels, temporary lean-tos confected out of the handiest scraps and flotsam of the town they appended, as welcome as a carbuncle on a buttock” (31).
I grew up just east of Toronto and worked downtown during my late teens so am familiar with many of the streets and locations: Yonge, Bay, Queen, College Park, Osgoode Hall. And I remember being threatened with ending up on Jarvis Street, the domain of prostitutes, if I didn’t mend my ways.
Murdoch Mysteries is set in Toronto fifty years later, but fans of the constabulary would enjoy the Marc Edwards Mysteries. There’s a similarity in the type of murders, the characters themselves, their speech, and behaviour.
My Research
I hadn’t thought about the effect of politics on my characters until reading this novel. Now, I’m left wondering what it would be like for a common French carpenter and his Irish wife and children to live in Cobourg, a small harbour town in Northumberland County, just east of Toronto, in these Tory-dominated days.
1830s Cobourg
What were their political leanings? Did they support the radicals? Perhaps, want to join the throng of three thousand who came to Queen’s Wharf to meet Lord and Lady Durham’s steamer? After all, Antoine Fusee had married his fourteen-year-old bride (Louisa McNally) in Montreal only three years prior (1835). Or would they keep quiet and submit to Tory rule? Were they merely concerned with subsistence and survival? Was it even safe to be French in Upper Canada?
As for the Marc Edwards Mysteries, I think I must read them all. Don Gutteridge is a find.
Don Gutteridge, Professor Emeritus, University of Western Ontario
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