2016 Manitoba Book Awards' Michael Van Rooy Award for Genre Fiction - Winner
Secrets are lurking behind the proper exteriors of Winnipeg's turn-of-the-century houses.
In June 1899, the Reverend Charles Lauchlan's industrious life as a young Presbyterian minister is knocked off the rails when he learns that his former university roommate has been arrested on murder charges.
The chief of police says it's an open-and-shut case, but Sergeant Setter - labelled as a misfit by his fellow officers - disagrees. Lauchlan and Setter become uneasy allies in a search that takes them from the sleaziest bars to the most sumptuous drawing rooms of turn-of-the-century Winnipeg. On the way, Lauchlan uses his pastoral skills in ways never anticipated in the seminary. As time runs out he must risk everything, even his heart, in order to find the real killer.
Publishers Weekly,Archivist Macdonald's affecting first novel, a mystery set in Winnipeg in 1899, is filled with fascinating, though occasionally superfluous, period details. Peter McEvoy, an old school friend of the Rev. Charles Lauchlan, is accused of the murder of a well-connected businessman. Charles is shocked that his artistic and misunderstood friend has become a down-and-out "drunkard," but he believes Peter deserves justice and a proper defense. His spirited young friend Maggie Skene insists that they do everything to help Peter, and one of her friends offers to pay for Peter's lawyer and bail. Charles winds up in the middle of the action as he tries to help Peter find the killer. As the mystery unfolds, so does a budding romance between Charles and Maggie. Macdonald's pleasing narrative voice and dialogue ring true to the era, but the book would have benefited from some reordering: The first two chapters, which open with police sergeant Setter and photographer Rosetta Cliffe working at the crime scene, lead the reader to expect that they will be the main characters. The pacing of the action is sometimes slowed by the author's meticulous attention to detail, but the book is, nevertheless, an engaging read. (Dec.) ��� Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
