A Killing Spring is the 5th book in a mystery series about Joanne Kilbourn, a political analyst and university professor who gets involved in criminal investigations. The setting is Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Family and relationships play a large part in these mysteries. There are now 19 books in the series, published between 1990 and 2020. The twentieth book will come out in September of 2021.
This story begins as the head of the School of Journalism at the university where Joanne Kilbourn teaches is found dead, in embarrassing circumstances. Further misfortunes occur in Joanne's life, including a student who complained of sexual harassment and then stops coming to class. Joanne looks into the student's disappearance.
As in the earlier books in the series, the story is told in first person and Joanne is not really doing any sleuthing. The first death occurs early and appears to be accidental. There are questions about the death throughout the book but there is no evidence to point in the direction of murder.
My thoughts:
All the Joanne Kilbourn mysteries that I have read feature death and intrigue within Joanne's circle of close friends or even family members. It seems that it is dangerous to know Joanne. This is one of the problems I have with amateur sleuths. Yet her close involvement with the victims does lend validity to her decision to strike out on her own to find out more about the victims and the crimes. When Gail determines that her take on the sexual harassment accusation was mistaken, she ventures out into dangerous territory, unknowingly, of course.
The stories are well written, gripping, and keep me turning the page. I like getting to know Joanne's family. She is a widow with four children between the ages of six and twenty five. The youngest was adopted. Setting is very important in Bowen's books. The descriptions and use of the Saskatchewan locations are interesting and important to the story.
Links to my reviews of the Joanne Kilbourn series, so far:
- Deadly Appearances (1990)
- Murder at the Mendel (1991)
- The Wandering Soul Murders (1992)
- A Colder Kind of Death (1995)
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Publisher: McClelland & Stewart, 2011 (orig. pub. 1996)
Length: 257 pages
Format: Trade paperback
Series: Joanne Kilbourn #5
Setting: Saskatchewan, Canada
Genre: Mystery
Source: I purchased my copy.
24 comments:
Thank you for the review, as well as the links to the other books.
If there wasn't 14 books waiting for me at my library, I would be tempted. Why do they all come in at once.
Joanne's university may become the Canadian equivalent of Midsomer County or JB Fletcher's Cabot Cove--the most dangerous place in the country to live!
There's something about that university setting that's always a draw for me, especially when there's a mystery to solve. And I like the sound of Joanne, though if I don't know if I'd want to be her friend seeing as how people around her keep dying. ;D
Lark, I am glad you mentioned that. The academic setting also adds to the mystery. These books don't always focus so much on that side of her life, but this one had a good mix of students and other teachers featured.
Mystica, this is an interesting series. I don't always like so much of the personal life included in a mystery, but this one works for me.
Patti, fourteen books! Well that means that there are bound to be some good ones in there.
Marty, I love that comparison to Midsomer County. We were just watching one of the early Midsomer Murders episodes last night.
I'm glad you enjoyed this one, Tracy. I have to admit, this is a series I really really like. I like Joanne Kilbourn Shreve's character a lot, and, like you, I do enjoy following her family's doings. It's an excellent series, in my opinion.
Have you read all of the books in the series, Margot. I do worry that I will not ever get to all of them.
I’m glad you’re enjoying this series, Tracy. For me: too many books for available time! As appealing as the academic setting is, I’ll pass. By the way, beautiful weather but so dry, and the wildfires are scary.
I am glad you have plenty of books, Rick, and hope your reading is going well. This series is good but I read them at about a book every year (or two).
We always have dry weather this time of year, but I am worried about next year and having to ration watering. The fires in both Oregon and California are scary.
This sounds like a very good series Tracy. I like the setting and overall sound of this series. For some reason it has the appeal of the Louise Penny series. I may check out the first of this series to try. Happy you posted as it's new to me.
Diane, I hope you enjoy Gail Bowen's book if you try the first one. That was my favorite, although a bit different from the next four books.
I have read nine books in Louise Penny's series, and need to find the next one to read soon.
Sounds like an interesting series, you don't come across many books set in that part of Canada.
That's true, Cath. I am going to do the Canadian Reading Challenge, even though I did not do very well on the last one. Seven books out of thirteen. But that is better than none, and I still have a lot of them on my shelves. So this is the first one for 2021-2022.
I still have the first one to get to at some point. Can they be read as standalones? With some of the focus on family, it seems like it might be an issue dipping in and out of the series.
The first book in the series is still my favorite, Col. After I read A Killing Spring, I thought that one would work as a standalone. Enough backstory is included to make the story clear and I don't read them frequently enough to keep up with the story line really well. At least in this one, the family is kept well enough in the background so that you feel like the protagonist is a real person but not that it overtakes the story. Some of the stories have had more personal life involved.
You have a spammer, suggest you delete the above comment.
Thanks, Rick. That spammer showed up on a couple of other posts this morning. I got a late start to the day after a trip out in the morning for grocery shopping and such.
Thanks for the review. As you know I have read all of the books in the series. The author is also a friend. I have become deeply involved with Joanne's family and read the books as much for the latest family events as for the mysteries. Not many series draw me so deeply into the lives of the characters but Gail has succeeded. I admire her having her sleuth and family age with good times and bad times. I wish more authors would take advantage of having their characters grow older in their series.
Bill, that is one reason I want to continue the series. I think it will be interesting to see Joanne getting older. In this book she is 50 and has already been through a lot in her life.
new novels by Louise Penny and William Kent Krueger come out August 24. Can't wait!
The end of August will be a good time for you book wise, Rick. I will be looking for the next Louise Penny that I haven't yet read, which is THE LONG WAY HOME, and I already have a copy of PURGATORY RIDGE, Krueger's third book in the Cork O'Connor series.
In other good news, my son found his copy of the FOUNDATION trilogy, so I will be reading the second book in that series following my summer reading also.
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