Top Ten Tuesday list: Mysteries with an Academic Setting

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic is a School Freebie (come up with a topic that somehow ties to school/education). I am keeping it simple, a list of my favorite books with a school setting.

And here's my list:

Murder is Academic by Christine Poulson

Poulson set her debut novel at St. Etheldreda's College at Cambridge. Cassandra James is a professor of English, and she finds the head of her department drowned in a pool, surrounded by exam papers. In Murder is Academic, in addition to the college setting, we have plagiarism, séances, and the pressures to publish research. And the characters are well-done and believable. The UK title of this book is Dead Letters. Published in 2002. She has published two more books in this series and three books in the Katie Flanagan series.

The Secret Place by Tana French

This is the fifth book in Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series. The setting is primarily a girls' boarding school in the suburbs of Dublin. The case is the death of a teenage boy who was found murdered, a year before, on the grounds of the girl's school. The action all takes place in one day. The story is told in alternating narratives. The first narrative is from the point of view of a policeman working on the case. The second narrative (in third person present tense) follows the eight girls, boarders at the school, in the year leading up to the crime. Published in 2014.

Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie

This novel in the Hercule Poirot series is set primarily at the prestigious Meadowbank School for Girls in England, but the action begins with international intrigue in the fictional country of Ramat. I loved the girls school setting, but the espionage story was a bit too unrealistic for me. Julia Upjohn and Jennifer Sutcliffe, two students at the school, are very good characters, and I liked their letters home which moved the plot along. Julia is clever and notices things, Jennifer is more focused on herself, but together they are a good pair. Published in 1959.

The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths

There are three main characters who share the narration of the story. All three are interesting, with very different points of view on life. Clare is an English teacher at a high school; a close friend at work has been brutally murdered. Harbinder Kaur is a policewoman working on the investigation of the death of Ella Elphick, Clare's friend. Georgia is Clare's fifteen-old-daughter, who is a student at the high school that her mother teaches at.  Some of Clare's sections are told via entries from her diary, which does play an integral part in the story. Published in 2018.

Quoth the Raven by Jane Haddam

Quoth the Raven is the 4th book in a 20-book series about Gregor Demarkian, retired FBI agent, living in Philadelphia. This one is set in rural Pennsylvania at a small college, where Gregor has been invited to give a lecture. Halloween is a major event at the college and there will be the annual lighting of the bonfire the same night. The story takes place in the two days before that event; thus this is the perfect book for fall and the Halloween season. I liked the academic setting, and the mix of students and faculty as characters. Published in 1991.

Publish or Perish by Margot Kinberg

This is the first book in Margot Kinberg's Joel Williams series. The setting is academia: a university in Pennsylvania. I know that the academic setting is a competitive one, although I have no first-hand knowledge of this. Williams is an ex-policeman who now teaches in the university's Department of Criminal Justice. There is a good subplot about a group of students investigating the murder. Published in 2008.

A Killing Spring by Gail Bowen

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. This story begins as the head of the School of Journalism at the university where Joanne Kilbourn teaches is found dead, in embarrassing circumstances. Then a student in Joanne's class complains of sexual harassment and stops coming to class. Published in 1996. 

The Shortest Day by Jane Langton

This is the 11th book in the Homer Kelly series. This story is set in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Homer and Mary Kelly are teaching a class at Harvard University. This is a quirky and humorous mystery in an academic setting. Mary is participating in the annual Christmas Revels when a young singer in the event dies in an automobile accident. When other deaths follow, Homer resists getting involved, even though he was once a homicide detective. The author illustrated the story with her own pen and ink drawings. Published in 1995.

Last Seen Wearing by Hillary Waugh

The story starts with the disappearance of a young female college freshman, Lowell Mitchell. The college she attends is in Bristol, Massachusetts, a fictional small town near Boston, Massachusetts. She goes missing on a Friday in early March 1950 after attending a morning class. Once the college dean ascertains that she is missing, the police are called in to investigate. The small police department in Bristol has less resources and less men to assign to the case than a big city police force. The press and the public are soon pressuring them for a solution, and Lowell's distraught parents also come to town. Published in 1952.

A Novena for Murder by Sister Carol Anne O'Marie

This is a very cozy mystery starring a nun as an amateur sleuth. Sister Mary Helen has retired at 75 and is sent to Mt. Saint Francis College for Women in San Francisco. Shortly after she arrives the body of a professor at the school is found, following an earthquake. The police blame the wrong person, in Sister Mary Helen's opinion, so it is up to her to find out what happened. The setting in San Francisco is nicely done, and there is an interesting subplot involving Portuguese immigrants who have been helped to enter the US and are now students or workers at the college.

Reading in July 2021

No wonder this felt like a weird reading month. I only read three mystery novels, although two other books I read were nonfiction related to mysteries. Five of the fiction books read were from my 20 Books of Summer list, the sixth was from my Classics Club list.

Nonfiction / Mystery reference

Southern Cross Crime (2020) by Craig Sisterson

This book is subtitled "The Pocket Essential Guide to the Crime Fiction, Film & TV of Australia and New Zealand," and that describes the contents pretty well. I have been hoping someone would publish this type of mystery reference for those areas, and Craig Sisterson is definitely the one to do it. 

Nonfiction / Memoir

Poirot and Me (2013) by David Suchet and Geoffrey Wansell

Having read almost all of the Poirot novels, and watched ALL of the Poirot TV episodes, I was ready to read this book by Suchet which functions as a memoir of the years that the Poirot series aired. I enjoyed all of it. He includes interesting facts about the various episodes and the parts he played in the years when Poirot was not being filmed. Also discussed is how decisions were made on the portrayal of Poirot and the time setting for all the TV episodes. I found this to be very entertaining and fun to read.

General Fiction / Classic

Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) by Zora Neale Hurston

This was my book chosen for the Classics Club Spin. It was a wonderful read, although I had misgivings before I started reading because much of it is written in dialect.

Historical Fiction

H.M.S. Surprise (1973) by Patrick O'Brian

This the third book in O'Brian's Aubrey & Maturin series. The novel was not that long but took me a while to read. I enjoyed it immensely and I am sure I will be reading all 20 of the books.

Science Fiction

Foundation (1951) by Isaac Asimov

Foundation is a science fiction classic, the first part of a trilogy. My review here.

Crime Fiction

A Killing Spring (1996) by Gail Bowen

This 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. I keep coming back because I like the setting, and they are certainly not boring. My review here.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1963) by Ian Fleming

This is the 11th book in the James Bond series, and in my opinion, one of the best in the series. There are three books in the James Bond series that feature the villain Blofeld of Spectre, and this novel was the second one, following Thunderball. I enjoyed the book. I loved it when I first read it because the heroine's name was Tracy and at the time I did not know many girls named Tracy. So it was a nostalgic read for me. The film version stars George Lazenby as Bond and Diana Rigg as Tracy; we watched it back in 2018, and now we will watch it again.

Women with a Blue Pencil (2015) by Gordon McAlpine

This novel is set in 1941, at the time when the attack on Pearl Harbor takes place. A Japanese-American man has written a novel with a Japanese-American protagonist, but after the attack, his editor can't publish it and asks him to change the story. The story is told via two parallel narratives (a version of the original story and the version suggested by his editor), interlaced with the letters from Maxine, the editor, cajoling Tamiko into continuing the new version of the novels. I loved the story, especially when it all came together. My review here.

Reading Next?

I have five books left on my 20 Books of Summer list, and I am having a hard time deciding what to read next. Possibly The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer or Way Station by Clifford D. Simak or The Turquoise Shop by Frances Crane. Those books were all published between 1941 and 1963.

The photo at the head of this post is a Rudbeckia plant in a bed in the front. The photo immediately above shows flowers from two Mandevilla plants in the back patio area, one pink and one dark red. Both photos were taken by my husband. They were planted in the last month and we will have to see how they do over the next few months.

A Killing Spring: Gail Bowen

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:

1. Deadly Appearances (1990)
2. Murder at the Mendel (1991)
3. The Wandering Soul Murders (1992)
4. A Colder Kind of Death (1995)

 -----------------------------

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.

Bookshelf Traveling for Insane Times No. 16

I am participating in the Bookshelf Traveling For Insane Times meme, hosted by Judith at Reader in the Wilderness. This week I have gathered a few of my books by Canadian authors. 

I am planning to join the Canadian Book Challenge at Canadian Bookworm soon and I thought I would share some books I plan to read. One of them I just bought recently; the others have been on the shelves for a while. I have listed the books in order by year of publication.

The Long November (1946)

by James Benson Nablo

Introduction by Brian Busby of The Dusty Bookcase. Reprinted by Vehicule Press as a part of the Ricochet series.

From the description on the back of the 2014 reprint edition:

The Long November is the story [of] Joe Mack, son of the grittier side of Cataract City – Niagara Falls – and his struggles to make something of himself; all for the love of well-to-do blonde beauty Steffie Gibson. It’s about rum running booze, Chicago beer trucks, Bay Street sharpshooters, the mines of Northern Ontario and fighting the Nazis in Italy.  It’s also about the women, the many women – married, unmarried and widowed – who shares Joe’s bed.

The Keys of My Prison (1956) 

by Frances Shelley Wees 

Introduction by Rosemary Aubert

Description from the book cover:

That Rafe Jonason’s life didn’t end when he smashed up his car was something of a miracle; on that everyone agreed. However, the devoted husband and pillar of the community emerges from hospital a very different man. Coarse and intolerant, this new Rafe drinks away his days, showing no interest in returning to work. Worst of all, he doesn’t appear to recognize or so much as remember his loving wife Julie. ... Is it that Julie never truly knew her husband? Or might it be that this man isn’t Rafe Jonason at all?

Originally published in 1956 by Doubleday, The Keys of My Prison is one of several suspense novels Wees set in Toronto. This Ricochet Books edition marks its return to print after fifty years.

The Stone Angel (1964)

by Margaret Laurence

This book was recommended to me by Patricia Abbott of pattinase.

Description from the University of Chicago Press website:

In The Stone Angel, Hagar Shipley, age ninety, tells the story of her life, and in doing so tries to come to terms with how the very qualities which sustained her have deprived her of joy. Mingling past and present, she maintains pride in the face of senility, while recalling the life she led as a rebellious young bride, and later as a grieving mother. Laurence gives us in Hagar a woman who is funny, infuriating, and heartbreakingly poignant.

Set in the fictional town of Manawaka in the Canadian province of Manitoba, based on Laurence's hometown, Neepawa.

A Necessary End (1989)

by Peter Robinson

This is the 3rd book in the Inspector Banks series. The author, Peter Robinson, is Canadian (born in the UK, but emigrated to continue his education in Canada) but the series is set in Yorkshire, England. Five of the novels in the Inspector Banks series have been awarded the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel.

From the description at Goodreads:

A peaceful demonstration in the normally quiet town of Eastvale ends with fifty arrests—and the brutal stabbing death of a young constable. But Chief Inspector Alan Banks fears there is worse violence in the offing. For CID Superintendent Richard Burgess has arrived from London to take charge of the investigation, fueled by professional outrage and volatile, long-simmering hatreds.

A Killing Spring (1996)

by Gail Bowen

This is the 6th book in a mystery series about Joanne Kilbourn, a political analyst and university professor who gets involved in criminal investigations. Set in Saskatchewan. Family and relationships play a large part in these mysteries. There are now 19 books in the series, published between 1990 and 2020.

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 harrassment and then stops coming to class. Joanne looks into the student's disappearance.

City of the Lost (2016)

by Kelley Armstrong 

I first saw mention of this book at Cath's blog, Read-warbler. I love books set in  cold, isolated areas. Don't know why.

Two women have problems that they need to escape. People are looking for them and threatening them. They escape to a town in the Yukon wilderness. Per the book's description: "You must apply to live in Rockton and if you're accepted, it means walking away entirely from your old life, and living off the grid in the wilds of Canada: no cell phones, no Internet, no mail, no computers, very little electricity, and no way of getting in or out without the town council's approval."

That concept intrigues me, although it is possible the story will be too over-the-top for me or too violent and dark. But definitely worth a try. There are now five books in the series.

In the Dark (2019)

by Loreth Anne White

The premise of this book (eight guests invited to a luxury vacation in an isolated location) sounds very similar to two other books I have read recently: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie and The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley. In fact, Agatha Christie's book under the name The Ten Little Indians is mentioned in this book. This story is set in northern British Columbia.

See this review at Mysteries and More from Saskatchewan.

A Colder Kind of Death: Gail Bowen

Gail Bowen is the author of an 18-book series featuring Joanne Kilbourn, a Canadian political analyst and college professor who lives in Regina, Saskatchewan. I recently read the fourth book in this series, A Colder Kind of Death, which won the Arthur Ellis award for Best Novel in 1995.

In the first book in the series, Joanne is a widow with three children, the oldest nearing college age. By the third book, she had adopted a fourth child, the daughter of an old friend who died. Most of the books focus in some way on her family and her family life is prominent in the stories. This story involves events related to the death of her husband, a subject that has haunted Joanne for years.

First paragraphs:

Three minutes before the Hallowe'en edition of “Canada This Week” went on the air I learned that the man who murdered my husband had been shot to death. 

A technician was kneeling in front of me, adjusting my mike. Her hair was smoothed under a black skull-­cap, and she was wearing a black leotard and black tights. Her name was Leslie Martin, and she was dressed as a bat. 

... I glanced at the TV monitor behind her. 

At first, I ­didn’t recognize the face on the screen. The long blond hair and the pale goat-­like eyes were familiar, but I ­couldn’t place him. Then the still photograph was gone. In its place was the scene that had played endlessly in my head during the black months after Ian’s death. But these pictures weren’t in my head. The images on the TV were real. The desolate stretch of highway; the snow swirling in the air; the Volvo station wagon with the door open on the driver’s side; and on the highway beside the car, my husband’s body with a dark and bloody spillage where his head should have been.

The face on the screen was Ian Kilbourn's killer, Kevin Tarpley, and he had just been shot and killed while in prison. Several days after that, Tarpley’s sinister wife, Maureen, is discovered dead wearing a scarf that belongs to Joanne, which puts her under suspicion. The investigation into both recent deaths lead to old secrets and surprises for Joanne.

This book does not have a holiday theme but it begins on Halloween and continues through to the days before Christmas. Gail is more actively involved in looking for the murderer than in some of the earlier books. There are many characters, and, as usual, I had trouble keeping track of them.

For me, this was the best book in the series so far. The pacing is good and the story never bogs down.

Links to my reviews of the Joanne Kilbourn series, so far:

1. Deadly Appearances (1990)
2. Murder at the Mendel (1991)
3. The Wandering Soul Murders (1992)

 -----------------------------

Publisher:   McClelland & Stewart, 2011 (orig. pub. 1995)
Length:       228 pages
Format:      Trade paperback
Series:       Joanne Kilbourn #4
Setting:      Saskatchewan, Canada
Genre:        Mystery
Source:      I purchased my copy.

Reading Summary, October 2018

I read eleven books this month. One book was a re-read. One book was a fantasy, the rest were crime fiction. About half the books I read were vintage mysteries. I started one new (to me) series, and continued a few more recent series that I am glad I returned to.

FANTASY FICTION

The Halloween Tree (1972) by Ray Bradbury

This book is described as being both as fantasy and horror fiction. I would  categorize it more as spooky, not so much horror. I was initially attracted to this book because of it cover. It is a  charming children's book that I can see myself re-reading every Halloween. My thoughts are here.

CRIME FICTION reads in October:

Behind That Curtain (1928) by Earl Derr Biggers

My first book in October was a return to the Charlie Chan series. Although there were many Charlie Chan movies released in the 1930's and 40's, there were only six novels in the series. This one is set in San Francisco, and Charlie meets a retired Inspector from Scotland Yard, Sir Frederic Bruce, who has come to the US to continue the investigation of a case he was never able to solve. My husband and I are both fans of this series.  

The Case of the Weird Sisters (1943) by Charlotte Armstrong

I picked up quite a few books by Armstrong at the 2017 Planned Parenthood book sale, but I had not read any of them. Colm Redmond's review at Clothes in Books motivated me to read this one. I remember Armstrong's books as being just a bit more creepy and weird than I like but this one was "pleasantly creepy" as described on the cover.

The Book of the Dead (1944) by Elizabeth Daly

I remember Elizabeth Daly as one of my favorite authors from the 1940's, but it had been a long time since I had read one of her books. I was glad to find that I still enjoy her writing. My review here.

The Mirror Crack'd (1962) by Agatha Christie

This is a Miss Marple mystery and I always enjoy a visit with that elderly sleuth. This time Miss Marple is really feeling her age, which made me sad. But her wits are just as sharp as ever and I liked the picture of the changing times in St. Mary's Mead, with a new housing development and more modern shops.

The Water Rat of Wanchai (2011) by Ian Hamilton

This is the most current book that I read this month. Ava Lee is a forensic accountant who works for a family friend, Mr. Chow, who she calls Uncle. Ava is Chinese-Canadian, living in Toronto, but Uncle is based in Hong Kong. Together they track down large sums of money for their clients. I found this story to be a bit over the top but it engaged me so much I will be coming back for more. A book by a Canadian author with a setting initially in Toronto, but later the action moves to many other parts of the world. 

And Be a Villain (1948) by Rex Stout

This book, the 13th in the Nero Wolfe series, is the first in a trilogy that features Wolfe's archnemesis, Arnold Zeck. This is a re-read for me, of course. In this case, the characters are a radio talk show host, Madeline Fraser, and her entourage. A guest on the show dies from poisoning, and Wolfe investigates. An enjoyable read, as always.

His Burial Too (1973) by Catherine Aird

This is the fifth installment in the Inspector C.D. Sloan book series by Catherine Aird. The novels are set in the fictional County of Calleshire, England, and also feature Sloan's assistant, Detective Constable Crosby. Although Sloan usually tries to avoid working with Crosby because he is generally inept. There is always an element of humor in the stories, although it is not prominent. I must mention here that this is a locked room mystery, since I forgot to say that in my review.

A Colder Kind of Death (1994) by Gail Bowen

The fourth mystery in the Joanne Kilbourn series. This book won the Arthur Ellis award for Best Novel in 1995. At this point in the series, Joanne is a widow, with older children, but now raising an adopted child, the daughter of a close friend who died. She is an educator who is deeply involved in politics. In this book, the man who killed her husband a few years earlier has been shot and killed while in prison, and the fallout from that event reveals secrets and surprises for Joanne. Another book by a Canadian author, set in Saskatchewan.

The Shortest Day (1995) by Jane Langton

The 11th book in the Homer Kelly series. This story is set in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Homer and Mary Kelly are teaching a class at Harvard University. Mary is participating in the annual Christmas Revels when a young singer in the event dies in an automobile accident. When other deaths follow, Homer resists getting involved, even though he was once a homicide detective. This book centers around the production of the Revels and an activist group seeking housing for the homeless; the author illustrated the story with her own pen and ink drawings. 

Blood and Rubles (1996) by Stuart M. Kaminsky

The Inspector Rostnikov series began in 1981 when Russia was still part of the USSR; the 16th and  last book in the series was published in 2009. I am now at book 10 in the series. The protagonist is Moscow detective, Chief Inspector, Porfiry Rostnikov. Per the book cover: "Crime in post-communist Russia has only gotten worse: rubles are scarce; blood, plentiful. In the eyes of Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov and his metropolitan police team, newfound democracy has unleashed the desperation that pushes people over the edge, and has emboldened those already on the path to hell. ...A trio of nasty cases confirms their worst fears."

12th Annual Canadian Book Challenge

I am joining the 12th Annual Canadian  Book Challenge. I participated in the 6th Canadian  Book Challenge in 2012-13, the 7th in 2013-14, and the 8th in 2014-15. Now I am back to read more of the Canadian books on my shelves. And now the challenge is hosted by The Indextrious Reader.

What is the Canadian Book Challenge?

Created by John Mutford at the Book Mine Set and hosted by him for its first 10 years, the Canadian Book Challenge is an annual online reading challenge in which participants from Canada and around the world aim to read and review 13 or more Canadian books in a one year span: Canada Day to Canada Day. Reviews must be posted online and participants are asked to share links to their reviews with other participants.

What constitutes a Canadian book?

Canadian books can include any genre or form (picture books, poetry, novels, non-fiction, plays, anthologies, graphic novels, cookbooks, etc), can be written by Canadian authors (by birth or immigration) or about Canadians. Ultimately, participants must decide for themselves whether or not something fits the description of Canadian.

See the FAQ sheet for more information.

I dithered over whether to join in, hence I am joining in the 4th month of the challenge. As noted above, this challenge does require reviews, because one of the points of the challenge is to bring  attention to Canadian books. This may be my downfall because getting a review out in a timely manner is sometimes a problem, but I hope not.

One of the nice things about this challenge is that it runs from July 1 (Canada Day) of the current year to June 30 of the next year. Thus when other challenges are ending, this one still has 6 months to go.

I have a lot of Canadian books already in my TBR stacks to read. In September, I found a Canadian book I have been looking for at the Planned Parenthood book sale, and I have already read it (The Water Rat of Wanchai by Ian Hamilton). This month I also read the fourth book in Gail Bowen's  Joanne Kilbourn series. So I have a two book start once I get my reviews written.

And the challenge gave me a push toward finding a copy of a book I have been wanting to read for two years now: The Tin Flute by Gabrielle Roy. I have ordered a copy and it is on the way to me. I have several mysteries by Margaret Millar I want to read, and three novels from the Ricochet series of vintage noir mysteries published by Véhicule Press: The Long November by James Benson Nablo, Hot Freeze by Douglas Sanderson; and The Keys Of My Prison by Frances Shelley Wees.

All of the books mentioned in the previous paragraph were recommended by Brian Busby, editor of Ricochet Books and author of the blog: The Dusty Bookcase (A Journey through Canada's Forgotten, Neglected and Suppressed Writing).

The Wandering Soul Murders: Gail Bowen

Brief introduction to this book at Goodreads:

Murder is the last thing on Joanne Kilbourn’s mind on a perfect morning in May. Then the phone rings, and she learns that her daughter Mieka has found the corpse of a young woman in an alley near her store. So begins Joanne’s chilling collision with evil in Gail Bowen’s riveting third mystery, The Wandering Soul Murders.

In the early books of the Joanne Kilbourn series, Joanne is a political analyst and a writer. Her position makes it possible for Bowen to highlight political and social issues in her books. Joanne is a widow with four children and family comes first with her. The latest addition to the family is a young girl who she adopted. Taylor was the daughter of a close friend who died. Her oldest child, Mieka, has left college to start a business, a concern for Joanne. Because she cares so much, for her family and for others, Joanne sometimes makes questionable decisions. Her vulnerability and her determination make her an interesting character.

The subject matter in these novels is certainly not cozy. The deaths in The Wandering Soul Murders are horrifying, but not graphically portrayed. The first victim was working temporarily as a cleaner in Mieka's new business. It turns out she had been a prostitute.. There are more deaths, and Joanne's searching for answers turns up hints of child prostitution.

All the Joanne Kilbourn mysteries that I have read feature murders of very close friends or the cases involve close family relationships. 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.

Setting is very important in Bowen's books. The descriptions and use of the Saskatchewan locations are interesting and contribute to the feel of authenticity. The writing and characterization pulled me into the story.

 -----------------------------

Publisher:   McClelland & Stewart, 2011 (orig. pub. 1992)
Length:       214 pages
Format:      Trade paperback
Series:       Joanne Kilbourn #3
Setting:      Saskatchewan, Canada
Genre:        Mystery
Source:      I purchased my copy..

Murder at the Mendel: Gail Bowen

Murder at the Mendel (1991) is the second in the Joanne Kilbourn series by Gail Bowen, following Deadly Appearances (review here). At this point, Joanne has moved to Saskatoon and taken a temporary job teaching at a college while she finishes a biography that she has been writing. Two of her children are in college in Saskatoon: Mieka, her daughter, and Peter, her eldest son. Peter and her youngest son, Angus, live with her.

An old friend from childhood has shown up again in Joanne's life, and Joanne is not quite sure how to take her reappearance. The friend, Sally, is estranged from her mother and her husband and child, and has shocked some citizens of Saskatoon with her latest works of art, a group of paintings titled "Erotobiography." She was also involved in a very tragic event in Joanne's life when both women were in their teens. This book is a story of relationships, family, and trust. It is very different from the first book in the series but does explore similar themes.

As in the first book in the series, the story is told in first person and Joanne is not really doing any sleuthing. But there are murders and the reader (at least this one) is interested in figuring out who the culprit is and what the motives might be.  Joanne is not the best judge of anyone's actions or motives in this case, because of her deep involvement with Sally and her family.

My take:

I enjoyed the book very much. The story of Joanne and her family and friends and how they cope with the deaths was as interesting as the investigation of the crime, which is almost in the background.

I enjoyed it so much that I went out and bought the next two books in the series before I had finished this one. I want to see how the series develops. And, the fourth book, A Colder Kind of Death, won the Arthur Ellis award for best novel.

I am not overly fond of amateur detectives in mystery novels, so I was just as glad that Joanne was not actively involved in trying to aid in discovering the murder. I am enjoying reading about real locales in Canada, and Gail Bowen does a great job of describing Saskatoon and its people.

It was also fun to read a reference to a landmark in California. Sally is describing a trip with an older man who was her mentor. The motel referenced is The Madonna Inn.

"... Once he did a class in San Luis Obispo for a month or so." She smiled at the memory. "Oh, Jo, we stayed at this motel that had fantasy rooms -- a real fifties place -- the court of Louis, jungle land, the wild west, that kind of thing."

I read this mystery for the Canadian Book Challenge 6. This is my twelfth Canadian book that I have read for that challenge.

Deadly Appearances: Gail Bowen

Andy Boychuk is a Saskatchewan politician who has recently become the leader of the Opposition party in his province. There is a picnic to celebrate, but just as he gets up to speak, he drinks some water and falls to the floor. His close friend and colleague, Joanne Kilbourn is nearby and rushes to attempt CPR – to no avail. On this hot summer afternoon, her life changes. Andy's death is clearly murder, and she wants to know who has done it.

Preparations for the funeral introduce us to the politician's wife and the other party members who were his support group. We learn of tragedies that have occurred in both the victim's life and Joanne's life. Joanne has three children, one about to move away to college. She is widowed and lost her husband three years earlier as the result of a senseless act of violence. She decides to step away from politics and campaigning for a while and write a biography of Andy. In searching deeply into her friend's past, she stumbles on secrets and clues to the reason for his death.

Joanne tells this story in first person narrative. She doesn't really function as a sleuth in this book, as she is never actively looking for the murderer. Many people suspect Andy's wife, because of her weird behavior, but Joanne does not believe she is capable of that.

I read this mystery for the Canadian Book Challenge 6. I enjoyed learning about the Saskatchewan area. The politics of that province were an element in the story, but I never caught on to the workings of politics and the government in Canada. Thus I did not understand the importance of some of the occurrences. Or maybe it is just that I have never understood politics anywhere. As in Anthony Bidulka's books about Russell Quant, also set in Saskatchewan, several of the characters have Ukrainian backgrounds.

This almost did not feel like a mystery to me. Sometimes those are the best kinds of novels. There is a death and it is clearly murder. There is an investigation, and the reader knows that long hidden secrets will be revealed. But mainly this is the story of a woman grieving for a friend and a colleague she respected, and dealing with a life turned upside down by the loss. And it was the telling of that story that was most engaging to me.

This book is the first in a series of fourteen books. It was published in 1990 and the most recent book in the series will be released in the US in August 2013. I will be interested to continue the series and see where it takes Joanne.


Links to posts at other sites:

• Margot at Confessions of a Mystery Novelist... profiles this book.
• Bill at Mysteries and More from Saskatchewan provides his insights on the book.
• Maxine’s review at Petrona.