The Chambermaid’s Key by Genevieve Graham (Simon & Schuster, 380 pages)
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Think Toronto’s history is boring? Alberta author Genevieve Graham, a writer who loves and understands the dynamics of historical fiction, has brought a city and an era to life in this brilliant book spanning the 20th century in my favourite city.
With two timelines, we have a murder, lots of twists and turns and a plot that brings two very vivid women to life.
The setting is the Dominion Hotel, where, in 1929, Rosie Ryan is a newly employed chambermaid. It’s a big step. Rosie comes from the Ward, Toronto’s roughest neighbourhood, and the elegant Dominion is a step up and a step out. Best of all, there’s a handsome waiter who gets Rosie’s attention. But there are plenty of things happening in the Dominion that no one wants revealed and Rosie, with that key and those bright eyes, is an observer of it all.
In the present day, the Dominion is a wreck. A consortium has great plans for a renovation and city building inspector Bridget Kelly is assigned to oversee the work. A routine investigation uncovers secret corridors, locked rooms, mysterious boxes and, ultimately, a clue to an old unsolved mystery that will take Bridget into Rosie’s long-forgotten world. This is great historical writing and a solid mystery with lots of asides into forgotten Toronto lore. Don’t miss it.
The Case Study by Nicole Lundrigan (Viking Canada, 336 pages)
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Nicole Lundrigan does it again. After Hideaway and A Man Downstairs, this is an excellent psychological thriller with a unique and fascinating premise. A teenaged girl with a murderous delusion kills. She is institutionalized and, ultimately, released as cured. Then something occurs and she’s once again reliving that past – and can she kill again?
The story is told through the character of Mia, who once read a magazine article about a girl with Cotard’s syndrome who committed a murder. Mia became fascinated with the case and contacted the psychiatrist who treated the girl. Eventually the two married and now, 20 years later, the case study is about to be republished. The psychiatrist decides to contact the girl, Lainey, who has her own take on the facts. Mia is hooked and begins a deep dive into Lainey’s life and past, a dangerous place for both women.
Four edgy mysteries to usher in spring
The Last Mandarin by Louise Penny and Melissa Fung (Minotaur, 390 pages)
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This global thriller is so up to date, it’s scary. Security and fire alarms are set off around the world in a scary and dangerous incident. Then, in a follow-up attack, thousands of people are killed. This is cyber warfare on a global scale but who is behind it and why?
That’s the opening and authors Penny and Fung take it to heights Tom Clancy climbed. The CIA have determined the centre of the event is in China. But is China attacking, or is it someone else? War is imminent. The government calls on its finest China expert, Vivien Li, a dissident who escaped China after Tiananmen Square and who can decode the messages in the mysterious events – if anyone can. What is very clear is that more and more people will die.
The mysterious happenings also bring Vivien’s, daughter, Alice, back into her mother’s fold. As Vivien heads to China, Alice accompanies her and so revelations, old histories and previous hurts fester between the two. While the action is the plot line of this book, it’s the relationship between Alice and Vivien that forms the heart. What keeps you reading is the depth of research into Chinese history, mythology and culture.
Moonlight Murder by Uzma Jalaluddin (HarperCollins, 336 pages)
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Detective Aunty is back and if you loved her debut, you’ll adore this sequel. Plot, characters, setting, it’s got it all. This promises to be one of the best Canadian series since the much-beloved Murdoch Mysteries.
After her successful investigation of her first mystery, Kausar Khan has moved back to Toronto and is settling in. Regardless of the comforts, she’s reminded of the tragic death of her son 20 years before. Still, home is home. But death is following Aunty, and another death of a young man in her quiet neighbourhood opens a lot of old wounds. Turns out Kausar’s teenaged granddaughter, Maleeha, knew the victim. The police are happy to put it down to an overdose but Maleeha says that can’t be true. So Detective Aunty is on the case. You won’t put this one down until the last page and you’ll love Aunty and her family especially with the additional back story. Can’t wait for the next instalment.
Art historian believes he has uncovered the identity of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring
A Deadly Episode by Anthony Horowitz (HarperCollins, 370 pages)
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I love this series. In fact, I love all Anthony Horowitz’s writing, including his TV work. I’ve watched and rewatched all of Midsomer Murders and Foyle’s War and I’ve binged Magpie Murders three times. So when I get the sixth book of the Hawthorne mysteries where a bumbling fictional Horowitz is the sidekick, I devour it with joy. The plot is clever, the setting delightful, the characters suitably drawn and, as always in a Horowitz book, there are outright laughs mixed into the snappy dialogue.
We begin with the setup. Horowitz and his detective, Hawthorne, are in Hastings. Their first novel is being filmed as a miniseries. Horowitz has not been asked to do the script. The director is an art-house devotee and the actor portraying him is an alcoholic has-been. Add to this a pair of feuding stars, an-eco-warrior scriptwriter who hates crime novels, and assorted other tensions and there’s no surprise when a production assistant charges into the set screaming that Hawthorne is dead.
Horowitz slickly cuts to events preceding and takes his sweet time revealing that it’s the actor portraying Hawthorne who is dead, but who was supposed to die? The detective or the actor? And, in either case, why? That permits Horowitz the author to dig up an old Hawthorne cold case and provide not one but two whodunits for avid readers. Save this one for the weekend. You won’t put it down.
Venom Lake by Emma White (HarperCollins, 275 pages)
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This is a very stylish debut from Emma White, a Toronto lawyer. It’s smart and witty and introduces a nifty new talent into Canadian crime fiction.
Four friends, members of a true-crime book club, head for a weekend retreat on Snakebite Island. There’s plenty of wine and treats and everyone looks forward to a pleasant time. That all ends when one of the quartet ends up dead on the beach. It’s obvious one of the three remaining women is the killer. For many and varied reasons the group doesn’t want to get caught up in a police investigation, so they use their information from true-crime cases to cover up the death. A murder becomes an accident.
As all readers know, murderers seldom stop at one and secrets don’t stay buried. White skilfully takes us through the twists as eventually the killer is found. This is an author to watch.