Completion of the 5th Canadian Book Challenge

The Canadian Book Challenge was my only Reading Challenge in the past year. Hosted by John Mutford at the Book Mine Set blog it goes each year from July 1 to June 30 of the following year. John selected July 1 for the start of the challenge as it is Canada Day. In the challenge readers are to read 13 books written by Canadians over the 12 months. With 2 weeks to go in the Challenge I have completed the challenge and will finish the year having read 15 books by Canadians.

Back in March I put up a post updating the challenge. At that time I had read 9 books.

The books read to that date were:

1.) An Ordinary Decent Criminal by Michael Van Rooy;

2.) Deadly Appearances by Gail Bowen;

3.) A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny;

4.) The Mystery of the Moonlight Murder by Roderick Benns;

5.) Snow Job by William Deverell;

6.) Burnt Out by Nelson Brunanski;

7.) The Placebo Effect by David Rotenberg;

8.) The Lies have It by Jill Edmondson; and,

9.) I’ll See You in My Dreams by William Deverell.

Since March I have read:

10.) Bush Dweller (Essays in Memory of Father James Gray O.S.B. edited by Don Ward) – The only non-fiction book in the year was this collection of essays in memory of a Saskatchewan Benedictine monk, Father James, who taught me first year university English and lived as a solitary on the grounds of his monastery, St. Peter’s Abbey for 30 years while establishing deep and intimate relationships with a striking group of Canadians;

11.) TheSuspect by L.R. Wright – The first in the Karl Alberg series was a fascinating examination of the death of Carlyle Burke knowing from the first page was his neighbour, George Wilcox. It was a worthy Edgar winner;

12.) StrayBullets by Robert Rotenberg – The third mystery in the Toronto series featuring an assemble cast of lawyers and police dealt with a difficult murder. A 4 year old boy is killed in the parking lot of a Tim Horton’s coffee and doughnut shop in Toronto. Nancy Parrish faces the challenge of defending a man universally despised;

13.) Dos Equis by Anthony Bidulka – Russell Quant, in his 8^th mystery, delves into the death of a colleague, Jane Cross. The action takes him from Saskatoon to rural Saskatchewan to the Pacific coast of Mexico as Russell tracks down a ruthless killer; and,

14.) Kaleidoscope by Gail Bowen – Joanne Kilbourn appears in her 13^th mystery and it is one of the best in the series. Joanne retiring from being a university professor is looking forward to a quiet lake summer when she and husband, Zack Shreeve, become embroiled in a controversial project that would massively alter Canada’s most notorious neighbourhood.

The 15^th book will be The Taken by Inger Ash Wolfe which I am currently reading. It is the second in the series featuring Ontario police inspector, Hazel Micallef. The feisty Micallef celebrates an unusual 62^nd birthday while dealing with a macabre, even grisly, mystery. I will be writing about Inger Ash Wolfe continuing to be unidentified. The third book in the series, A Door in the River, is to be released at the end of July.

I am glad I took on the challenge. With so many books on the TBR piles I am not sure I would have read 15 Canadian books over the year. I will identify my favourite at the start of the 6^th Annual Canadian Book challenge in just over 2 weeks.

Stray Bullets by Robert Rotenberg

20. – 652.) Stray Bullets by Robert Rotenberg – Today is the publication date of a fine new legal mystery. Rotenberg presents Nancy Parish with another defence counsel nightmare. Kyle Wilkinson, 4 years old, is walking into a Tim Horton’s coffee and doughnut shop in downtown Toronto with his father, Cedric, when gunfire erupts. A stray bullet strikes Kyle in the head and he dies.

Nancy’s first and continuing client for 10 years of steady business, Larkin St. Clair, calls her. He has been present at the shooting with his best buddy in crime, Dewey Booth, who has just been released from prison. They have gone to the shop as Booth wants to speak with his ex-girlfriend, Suzanne Howett. She broke up with him while he was in prison and Booth is not happy. When Suzanne’s current boyfriend, Jet, arrives to pick her up bullets start flying.

Nancy swiftly persuades her client to turn himself admonishing him to say nothing to the police. He assures her he lives by the motto “we don’t rat, we don’t crack”. The normally loquacious St. Clair tries hard but is unable to stop himself from making a comment that sends Officer Daniel Kennacott off on the bus to Pelee Island, Canada’s most southerly point, where Booth had grown up.

Leading the investigation is Detective Ari Greene. A skilled investigator he spends the night of the killing and the next day putting together what happened.

Most of the characters appeared in Old City Hall and The Guilty Plea. Added to the ensemble for this book is Ralph “Ralphie” Armitage, the new head Crown Attorney in Toronto. A proud member of a wealthy distinguished Toronto family Ralph enjoys the prestige of his new position. Well aware he is perceived as most skilled at making plea bargains Ralph assigns himself the prosecution of what has swiftly become known as the “Timmie Murder”. It is his chance to add luster to the family name and become respected as a trial lawyer.

In Canada, the Tim Horton’s chain is popularly known as Timmie’s. That nickname results in a twist on the usual identification of a prominent murder. Where most cases are known by the name of the accused or of the victim it is the location which provides the public name of this murder.

Once again Rotenberg may be drawing on a well known Toronto event. A few years ago on Boxing Day a teenage girl was killed on Toronto’s main street, Yonge Street, by a stray bullet fired in an exchange between a pair of gangs. As with the fictional Timmie’s case the public was outraged.

Shortly after Booth is captured Ralph is approached by Booth’s counsel, Phil Cutter, with a proposal that would save his client and aid the prosecution of St. Clair. Though the police investigation is incomplete Ralph makes a deal with Booth through Cutter. Making a pact with the devil can have expensive consequences. I thought of Marlowe’s brilliant play, Dr. Faustus.

Ari can barely contain his rage over the precipitous agreement but pursues the case. He is frustrated as they cannot find a baker at the shop who was outside when the shooting took place. It is clear he is an illegal immigrant seeking to avoid coming to the attention of immigration authorities.

Nancy undertakes the grim task of preparing the defence of an accused child killer. The public demands a conviction.

To the detriment of her personal life Nancy puts in the long hours necessary to go through each piece of evidence and determine its reliability. She cleverly prepares demonstrative evidence to strengthen the defence. At the same time she realizes she faces enormous public pressure for a conviction. She is a true defence counsel willing to represent a publicly despised accused.

When Robert answered some questions from me concerning The Guilty Plea he said that he loves his judges. He has created another unique jurist in Justice Rothbart, a former child star who reached Broadway as a cast member of Camelot and still treasures his time in the theatre.

A decade into her career Nancy is spending most nights alone too busy to establish relationships.

The narrative draw reminds me of John Grisham who keeps a reader flowing through the book.

Rotenberg manages the almost impossible task of respecting the deceased, a young child, while preserving the principle that the accused is always presumed innocent. I admire Rotenberg for achieving that balance.

The trial was great. To say more would be to spoil the fine writing.

On Wednesday I will put up a post of Questions and Answers with the author Robert Rotenberg. Friday will have a post of my thoughts on those Questions and Answers.

The Suspect (1985) by L.R. Wright

(16. – 648.) The Suspect (1985) by L.R. Wright – George Wilcox, 80 years old, stands stunned in the living room of his 85 year old neighbour Carlyle Burke. He has just killed Carlyle by smashing a WW II shell casing on Carlyle’s head. George sits down on the chesterfield and leans back. He looks around the room and reflects on what he has done:

“Gradually, as he sat thinking, it occurred to George that to give himself up was pointless. Even stupid. When they caught up with him, fine. He’d go to trial and prison without complaining, with dignity, even, if he could manage it. But to spend any more time locked up than was absolutely necessary – it made no sense.”

The author had captured me and I had to know what happened to George.

The investigation is led by Staff Sergeant Karl Alberg of the Sechelt Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). He has been recently transferred to the quiet seaside town on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast, a lovely area a ferry ride from North Vancouver.

Alberg is a thorough dedicated lonely police officer. His marriage has just collapsed. His daughters are both in university in Calgary 1,500 km away. Evenings in his small house are long.

Local librarian, Cassandra Mitchell, is 41 and single in a town with few male options in which she is interested. Taking action she takes out personal ads in a major daily, the Vancouver Sun, inviting suitable men to contact her. She travels into Vancouver to the paper’s office to pick up the envelopes in reply. The results of the first ad produced some dates but no relationships. The responses to the second ad include a letter from Alberg.

Mitchell and Alberg commence a halting relationship amidst the murder investigation.

As Alberg and his officers patiently assemble information the reader learns more about George and Carlyle. They become real persons. Both had come to British Columbia from Saskatchewan.

The tension is subtle but incredible. Will the RCMP be able to determine that George is the killer?

George maintains his life going to the library and working in his lush and beautiful garden. He responds to police inquiries. He thinks constantly about what he has done.

Wright has challenged the reader. Do I want Alberg to solve the case? I found myself in conflict. George committed murder but he is a good man. It has been a long time since an author created a killer I found as interesting as the deceased and the sleuth.

I found myself thinking about the characters of killer, deceased and police officer differently from most crime fiction. Wright’s approach is completely different from Michael Connelly with whom readers usually know little, if anything, of the killer until late in the book. Having the killer known from the first page brings readers into the heart and mind of George.

The book was comparable to the experience I have reading disclosure in a real life criminal case. I know what the accused has told me before I read what the police have done. In the disclosure I follow how the police investigation has unfolded and how they put the case together that has produced the charge against my client.

While I have never been to the Sunshine Coast the sense of the place is beautifully evoked by Wright. Barely touched by Canadian winters the area is a warm inviting part of our country.

It was no surprise at the end of the book to learn it had won an Edgar in 1986 for Best Novel. I will return to the Sunshine Coast to read more of Karl Alberg. (Mar. 31/12) (Possible Best of 2012)

Update on Canadian Book Challenge

Back in the middle of 2011 I signed up for the Canadian Book Challenge. It is the only Reading Challenge in which I am participating this year. It is hosted by John Mutford at the Book Mine Set blog. John, a resident of Yellowknife in the North West Territories, runs the challenge each year from July 1 to June 30 of the following year. He chose the middle of the year for the start of the challenge as July 1 is Canada Day. The challenge asks readers to read 13 books authored by Canadians over the 12 months.

The Challenge has gone pretty smoothly for me. I have read 9 books since July 1 and have 3 more ready to be read by the end of April.

The books I have read in the 5^th Canadian Book Challenge are:

1.) An Ordinary Decent Criminal by Michael Van Rooy – It is the most unusual of the 9 as it features a criminal seeking to go straight after moving into a Winnipeg, Manitoba following release from prison. The transition does not go smoothly mainly because of the local residents;

2.) Deadly Appearances by Gail Bowen – My second book in the challenge was the first in Gail’s series featuring University of Regina English professor, Joanne Kilbourn. It is unique in featuring as victim, the province’s Premier, who is obviously patterned after an actual Premier;

3.) A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny – The Armand Gamache series has reached international status and I expect will become the best known mystery series from Canada this decade surpassing the mysteries of Kathy Reichs. In this book Louise returns to Three Pines in Quebec with a vivid exploration of the world of painters;

4.) The Mystery of the Moonlight Murder by Roderick Benns – I rarely read Young Adult fiction but could not resist a mystery featuring the only Saskatchewan born Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker, solving a mystery while a young boy living on the family homestead near Borden;

5.) Snow Job by William Deverell – Arthur Beauchamp is struggling, essentially with boredom, while living in our nation’s capital, Ottawa, with his politician wife. He gets involved in the bizarre assassination of Central Asian politicians visiting Canada. I know of no other Canadian mystery writer whose book was also nominated for a national humour prize;

6.) Burnt Out by Nelson Brunanski – The small town Saskatchewan series holds a special place in my heart as it is set in a town 80 km away from Melfort. With each book I enjoy Nelson’s deft portrayal of life in rural Saskatchewan;

7.) The Placebo Effect by David Rotenberg – It is an unusual thriller in that it moves between the United States and Canada featuring a character who is an synaesthete with the talent of being able to tell if someone is telling the truth. It struck me as a somewhat frightening skill to possess. We all are probably better off not always knowing if we are being told the truth;

8.) The Lies have It by Jill Edmondson – Jill continues to improve in each mystery of the Sasha Jackson series. There are not a lot of hard boiled sleuths in Canadian crime fiction. Sasha is even more special as a female hard boiled detective. Her wit rivals the humour in the Arthur Beauchamp novels; and,

9.) I’ll See You in My Dreams by William Deverell – It takes an author of great skill to blend stories taking place 50 years apart involving the same characters. It is an impressive book with Beauchamp remembering his first murder trial in 1962. It makes me feel alittle old as I well remember 1962.

I have 3 mysteries I am looking forward to reading in the next two months.

The first will be Stray Bullets by Robert Rotenberg. It is his third legal mystery and will be published at the beginning of May. I have greatly enjoyed the first two in the series.

The next two are books by my favourite Saskatchewan authors, Gail Bowen and Anthony Bidulka. Each has a new mystery being published in April.

I have not decided what book will be my 13^th book for the Challenge.

I’ll See You in My Dreams by William Deverell

I’ll See You in My Dreams by William Deverell – Arthur Beauchamp is back in a murder trial. The publication of a biography of Beauchamp by Wentworth Chance has prompted Beauchamp, now in his mid-70’s, to reflect on his first murder trial 50 years ago in 1962. At 25 he was assigned to represent a young Indian, Gabriel Swift, from the Squamish Band near Vancouver who has been accused of murdering his employer, University of British Columbia professor Dermot Mulligan.

As Louise Penny did in Bury Your Dead, Deverell is working with three plots. Unlike the Penny book they all deal with the same subject.

In the book, Deverell is simultaneously writing Beauchamp’s current reflections on the old trial, excerpts from the somewhat pompous biography and Beauchamp’s experiences five decades earlier in representing Swift. He does it very well.

Beauchamp is initially challenged because Dermot had been a mentor and hero when Beauchamp was a student at UBC a few years earlier. There is an underlying issue on what happened when Dermot was principal of an Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan two decades earlier. My next post will discuss, through a look at crime fiction in several countries, the terrible problems arising from how indigenous people were educated in past generations.

What is most striking in the book is the relationship between Beauchamp and Swift. His client is a very bright man, mainly self-educated, who speaks several languages and is a Communist.

To the RCMP of the day he is a lippy Indian. He does not fit their stereotype image of what is a good Indian. The same attitude was set out by Arthur Upfield in The Will of the Tribe.

Ordinarily the lack of a body would be a major challenge for the Crown prosecutor but there is significant circumstantial evidence of murder. Beauchamp is convinced his client is being framed.

Adding to the challenge of defending Swift is the charge of capital murder. If Swift is convicted he will be hung. (The trial, set in the early 1960’s, takes place near the end of the capital murder charge in Canada.)

Beauchamp is weighed down by the consequences of losing the trial. He forms a close bond with his client and can hardly bear to think about him being executed.

Beauchamp faces a dilemma constantly encountered by defence counsel but at its most intense in capital cases (death penalty cases in the U.S.). Should he attempt to reach a plea agreement that will save his client’s life but send a man, he is sure is innocent to jail?

Eighty years ago Saskatchewan’s most prominent criminal lawyer, John Diefenbaker, was representing a young man charged with capital murder. It appeared that his client could have pled guilty to manslaughter because of drunkenness. Diefenbaker, confident of an acquittal, urged a trial. He was wrong. His client was convicted and hung.

The issue of whether to plead guilty was the subject of another Canadian mystery last year, The Guilty Plea by Robert Rotenberg. No longer was the client’s life at stake but the hard decision of whether to make a deal was well explored.

Compounding the situation is Beauchamp’s age. I was also a young lawyer at 25 doing some criminal defence work. I was not ready for a murder trial. Beauchamp is equally unready.

In defending someone the decision whether to recommend a guilty plea is often the most important decision to be made by defence counsel.

While the subject matter is very serious Deverell has not abandoned the comedic touch so evident in the previous Arthur Beauchamp legal mystery, Snow Job. The young Beauchamp has a sexual fetish I have not encountered in crime fiction.

I also appreciated the interactions between the lawyers. They are more sophisticated than the totally adversarial descriptions of many legal mysteries.

It is a book that made me grateful on many levels we no longer have capital murder in Canada.

Deverell has provided a wonderful picture of a lawyer in his mid-20’s and his mid-70’s. (Feb. 12/12)

Bush Dweller – Essays in Memory of Father James Gray, OSB edited by Donald Ward (Part II)

On Monday I began my review of Bush Dweller – Essays in Memory of Father James Gray, OSB edited by Donald Ward, a collection of short essays remembering Father James. I start the second part of the review with personal memories of him.

Forty-one years ago I was a first year university student at St. Peter’s. Father James was my English professor. At 18 I was too young to appreciate the depth of his knowledge. Father James was devoted to and a master of words – the Word of God, the words of great writers and poets, the meditations of monks and mystics. I was old enough to understand his love of fine writing.

I had already spent 3 years in high school at St. Peter’s where my English teachers expected far more than simple summarization of what we had read. As set out by contributor, Dennis Gruending, Father James continued the process in university challenging us to delve into the novels, short stories, poetry and plays we read during the year. As with the best teachers, he wanted us to think about what we were reading and be not afraid to express those thoughts.

Until that class I had thought of Huck Finn as an entertaining Disney movie. That winter I came to appreciate the richness of the relationship between Huck and Jim.

Gulliver’s Travels had been a comic book fantasy. It shifted to a sophisticated satire upon the society of its time.

Reading Lord of the Flies pushed me to look into my adolescent heart and consider whether savagery lurked there merely waiting opportunity.

I did not maintain a personal relationship with Father James after that year. We would occasionally see and greet each other at College events. He became a bush dweller after I left St. Peter’s.

It was during those years from 1972 to 2002 while he was living his solitary life that he formed relationships with most of the contributors to the book.

It was striking to read in so many essays how the relationships concluded in the last days of his life. A majority of the essayists wrote of special memories from his closing days when all, especially Father James, knew the end was near.

Many reached out for a final connection. All knew he did not dread death. He had told writer Anne Strachan:

I asked if he was afraid. He responded that for him, death held no fear. “Strange, in monasteries,” he wrote, “death seems more ‘comforting’ than ‘sorrowing’ …. Knowing God’s loving forgiveness, why should we fear death? Dying itself may be less than pleasant, but how else is one to ‘make the crossing over’ to a better condition of life?!”

How many people have such a group of friends seeking to ease final days and to share a few more moments of conversation? Father James, a contemplative monk, was a remarkable man to bring forth such love.

Two years ago a slender volume, Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, had a profound impact upon me as I dealt with cancer treatment. This winter Bush Dweller has equally moved me. It is a book to savour and a life to reflect upon as I rush into another day.

This summer when I sit upon my deck I will think of Father James. I resolve to become a little closer to the birds of my yard. (Feb. 9/12)

http://mysteriesandmore.blogspot.com/2012/02/bush-dweller-essays-in-memory-of-father_22.html

Bush Dweller – Essays in Memory of Father James Gray, OSB edited by Donald Ward (Part I)

Father James feeding a chickadee

(8. – 640.) Bush Dweller – Essays in Memory of Father James Gray, OSB edited by Donald Ward – In his introduction Don presents an indelible image of Father James standing in the bush at St. Peter’s Abbey in rural Saskatchewan with arms outstretched as chickadees he had befriended flutter around and land upon his hands to eat freshly shelled peanuts.

How many of us take the time to let birds know us, to stand quietly, wait patiently, allow trust to come? In a world where life moves at a frantic pace, who slows their existence to become intimate with the birds around us? I have come to treasure summer mornings on the deck eating breakfast with birds chirping and singing in the trees of my backyard. Yet I have but a passing acquaintance with them compared to the relationship developed by Father James.

For 30 years of his life he lived in a small house in the bush of the abbey. He spent those 10,000 days and nights connecting with God and with people. While he retreated from the community he remained a vital part of the monastery. He taught first year university English, he made weekly visits to the nursing home in Humboldt, he celebrated the Eucharist with his fellow Benedictine monks. Most of all he welcomed friends to Marantha (Come Lord Jesus), his home in the bush. He was a solitary rather than a hermit.

In this slender volume 21 of his friends – writers, poets, singers, teachers, administrators, priests and bishops – eloquently describe their individual relationships with Father James for each had a special personal connection with him. I know almost half of the contributors and they are a diverse collection of persons.

A chickadee eating nuts at St. Peter's

They recount powerful conversations over years, even decades of visits. Just as Father James took the time to build relationships with the birds he developed friendships with his visitors. He had the gift of creating close personal relationships. Where he drew the chickadees to him outside with peanuts he used tea, and sometimes single malt Scotch, inside to nurture his human friends.

These friends write of his skill in assisting them on their spiritual journeys less through direction than by questions and encouraging prayer and reflection.

Jeanine Loran, a teacher, said:

His instruction centred on stillness and breath, allowing the spirit of Jesus Christ to rest in the heart of my being. His mantra was “Abba” as the breath came in, and “Jesus” (pronounced as in French) as the breath was released. No matter what difficulty or joy, I was experiencing, the solution was always the same: rest in Christ. Be still and let God be within you.

He saw inside poet Jane Munro:

I felt he saw and celebrated my soul – encouraged me to become fully myself – and hoped that I might live a soul-based life.

Trevor Herriot, a prairie naturalist and writer, spoke of receiving inspiration:

Funny how going off into the woods teaches us how to recognize and welcome angels. I swear that was a big part of what Father James learned and then tried to pass on to those who arrived at the doorstep of Maranatha. Go to your dwelling place, your “cell” in the woods of your lonely soul, where God has sown the seeds of your great promise into the darkness. Wait there for the Lord who always comes in disguise.

It is no surprise many traveled hundreds of kilometres each year to visit Father James.

(On Wednesday I will conclude the review by recounting personal memories of Father James and discussing how the contributors dealt with his dying days.)

The Lies Have It by Jill Edmondson

 (6. – 638.) The Lies Have It by Jill Edmondson – In her 3^rd mystery Sasha Jackson is in fine form roaming Toronto by public transit, taxi and foot. She is a rare North American sleuth in failing to drive around the city.

The book immediately grabbed my attention with Sasha tending bar in the private meeting room of the Pilot Tavern for an S & M party sponsored by the group, Bound for Glory. It is a wonderfully apt name for a gathering of role playing fetishists.

At the party there was a remarkable diversity of fetishes among the guests. The description of a party goer playing nurse in a micro mini and a “cute little nurse’s cap with a red cross on it” brought back vivid personal memories of a tour, 15 years ago, down Church Street (the heart of gay Toronto) led by a gay friend. Helping him conduct the tour was a 6’ gay man, with perfect makeup, and lovely curling lavender hair down to his waist wearing a bright white nurse’s uniform and equally cute cap. Being on Church Street we drew less attention than you might expect for our group.

I like finding a connection to characters and activities in books I read. It increases my enjoyment of the reading. While I have walked Church Street I openly acknowledge I have no relationship with the S & M role playing described by Jill. The world of domination and bondage is far beyond my life experiences.

Returning to the book, Ian, big, burly and bearded, is the host and organizer of the party. His party attire is limited to a “black leather ‘kilt’ and black lace-up boots”. After he is found dead the next morning, still in his party clothes, Sasha enters deeper into the kinky world of S & M to find the killer.

When his lover, Mimi the sculptor by day / Minerva the dominatrix by night, is interviewed Jill creates a perfect tabloid headline – “I Gave Ian His Last Whipping”.

Most S & M participants lead dual lives. Ian is a leather clad weekend submissive and a finishing carpenter with a young daughter by week. Through the book Sasha weaves her way through the two worlds of Ian’s life.

While investigating the murder Sasha has another case searching for a runaway teenage girl. It is a gritty dangerous life on the street.

Sasha continues her quirky life. What other hardboiled, 30 something detective, still lives at home with her father and brother? I was glad to see her relationship with a downtown lawyer, Derek, is proceeding nicely.

In the book Jill deals with three different lifestyles outside mainstream society - the fetishists, young homeless street people and Sasha, the tough talking solo private detective.

I did figure out the killer rather quickly. Still the plot was strong enough to sustain the story. With Jill's steady progression as a writer I expect a stronger mystery in the next book.

I really enjoy Sasha’s conversations. In her directness and wit I was reminded of the Spenser books. Robert B. Parker created sharp interesting dialogue. Sasha remains a caustic observer of the world but her hardest edges, especially with regard to swearing, are alittle less sharp. Sasha is an intriguing character. I found myself reading swiftly through The Lies Have It in the same way I move rapidly through a Spenser mystery.

With each book an improvement on the book before I think the 4^th in the series could be a break out book for Sasha. Edmondson has found her mystery voice. (Jan. 31/12)

(On Saturday I will be posting Questions and Answers with Jill. She is as lively the second time as she was the first set of Questions and Answers from 2011. I will finish the trio of posts involving Jill on Monday with my thoughts on the Questions and Answers.)

The Placebo Effect by David Rotenberg

        62. – 623.) The Placebo Effect by David Rotenberg – Decker Roberts is a synaesthete. His innate gift is the ability to tell if someone is telling the truth. When he hears a statement he can close his eyes and the patterns he sees tell him if the statement is true. It is a gift sought after in the business world and he is well paid to see and listen to job applicants. His talent works best when he can see the speaker.

Decker is a resident of the Junction area of west Central Toronto. When not determining the truth he is a film / theatre director and acting teacher. He lives with considerable personal sorrow. His wife has died of ALS. He is estranged from his 19 year old son, Seth.

Another synasethete, Michael Shedloski, has a gift for balancing items creating unique sculptures from ordinary items. His gift extends to determining the ratios that provide balance in many other circumstances.

Cincinnati pharmaceutical manufacturer, Henry-Clay Yolles, is struggling with the cost of production of a new anti-depressant, Calatrex. He hires Shedloski to work out a new ratio between placebo and active drug. When Shedloski provides an increased ratio that makes the drug feasible he is dumped by Yolles.

Yolles is interested in calling on Decker’s truth telling talent. A resentful Shedloski publicly protests his dismissal and decides to warn Decker that Yolles will take advantage of him.

In Washington D.C., the National Security Agency (NSA), is very interested in Decker as a means of evaluating information from those who threaten America. Yslan (pronounced “island” without the “d”) Hicks, studying synasethetes, is carefully observing Decker. The NSA becomes ever more involved as it wants to protect a potential asset.

Narrowly escaping death when his house burns down Decker initially does not even realize it was attempted murder. After realizing someone is trying to kill him Decker searches for his attacker. The pace accelerates as Decker is both pursued and pursuer. The book is at its best following Decker in his quest. There is a startling twist with regard to his son, Seth.

There are touches of the supernatural throughout the book. I am not found of the supernatural in thrillers or mysteries but it t never becomes dominant in the book.

Decker is a unique hero. I had never heard of synaesthetes before reading the book. Ordinary synaesthetes have a crossing of senses such as seeing letters of the alphabet in colours.

The book is unusual in the plot shifting back and forth between cities in the United States and Toronto. Few mysteries and thrillers move between the countries.

It is the first book in The Junction Chronicles. There are lots of unexplored threads to the lives of the primary characters. I enjoyed the book. I did find it disjointed at times. It is a thriller seeking to meet the challenge of balancing action in the mind and physical action. I have high hopes for the second book in the series.     
        The Placebo Effect is my 7th book of 13 to be read in the 5th Canadian Book Challenge. I have now reached the Lac Mistassini level.    
        (The Placebo Effect is being published on February 7, 2012. I am following this review on Wednesday with Questions and Answers with David as part of the Simon & Schuster blogger tour for the book. I will conclude the trio of posts on Friday with my thoughts on David's answers.)

Burnt Out by Nelson Brunanski

Burnt Out by Nelson Brunanski – The third Bart Bartkowski mystery is the best in the series of small town Saskatchewan mysteries.

            After a successful spring season and a short break Bart is getting ready to return to his fly-in fishing lodge to get it cleaned up. Back home Crooked Lake (the town of Wakaw in real life) is getting ready to celebrate its 100^th anniversary.

            Dominating the Saskatchewan summer is a heat wave that has left the whole province tinder dry. Up north forest fires are being ignited after every thunderstorm.

            After flying his float plane up to the lodge Bart and trusted employee, Charlie McKenzie, make a good start on the cleanup. That night Bart suddenly awakes to find the camp in flames. While a water bomber contains the fire the lodge is totally destroyed. While examining the devastation Bart stumbles over a charred body.

            RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) investigators fly in to deal with the murder and what was clearly arson. Close attention is paid to Bart.

            The consequences of the fire are multiplied for there was no fire insurance. Bart, to save high premium costs, had discontinued insurance coverage a year ago. His wife, Rosie, is crushed as she contemplates them looking at starting over again.

            Trying to figure out what to do with the destroyed camp Bart is approached by a mining company, Uranium Inc., which wants to buy out Bart’s lease.

            Adding spice to the mystery is the return of Janine Kincaid to Crooked Lake. A few years younger than Bart, she had gone unnoticed by him while in high school. Now a stunning single woman she makes very clear her interest in Bart.

            Crooked Lake celebrates the centenary in classic small town fashion. Rosie contributes her design skills to the float being put in the parade by the Junction Stop, a local gas station.

            Within the book there are legal proceedings that grate upon me as a lawyer. They do not take place in the right court, they proceed in a manner different from our Criminal Code and they have a decision that would not occur in Canada. I wish authors set out legal procedures accurately. The drama of the story does not have to be compromised by accuracy. When errors are made it makes wonder about the other research done by the author.

            I did appreciate the skilled legal assistance needed was provided by a Saskatchewan lawyer residing outside Saskatoon or Regina.

            The book has a deft little twist. Several names of people or places in the book are plays on real life names. You would have to be familiar with Wakaw to pick out these names.

            In previous reviews of Crooked Lake and Frost Bite I had expressed admiration for the faithful picture of rural Saskatchewan but regretted the quality of the mystery. This time the mystery matches the portrayal of Saskatchewan. I was not fond of the ending but the series has improved dramatically. As always the cover is striking and will jump out in a bookstore. I look forward to the 4^th in the series. My 2012 reading is off to a fine start.
           The book is the 6^th book I have read in the 5^th Annual Canadian Book Challenge hosted at the Book Mine Set blog. I have reached the Williston Lake level. My goal is to read 13 books to reach the highest level of the Challenge. (Jan. 1/12)

Snow Job by William Deverell

55. – 615.) Snow Job by William Deverell – I have never read a mystery / thriller / satire where war is declared on Canada. Deverell manages to find a reason for our peaceable nation being at war with the fictional Central Asian country of Bhashyistan. The father of Igor Muckhali Ivanovich, National Prophet and Ultimate Leader for Life, was assassinated in Canada 15 years earlier. When several members of the Bhashyistan Cabinet are killed by an IED on a visit to Ottawa Mad Igor is enraged. Shortly thereafter, several representatives of a Calgary oil company in Bhashyistan are caught on tape discussing a bribe for the rights to a major oil project and making disparaging remarks about Igor’s Revered Mother. Igor imprisons the Canadians and declares war.

Distinguished B.C. lawyer, Arthur Beauchamp, who has escaped the turbulent world of a Vancouver litigator for the rural pleasures of Garibaldi Island, finds himself in the middle of the turmoil because of marriage. He has joined his former antagonist and now wife, Margaret Blake, in Ottawa where she is the leader of the Green Party and an MP for Cowichan and the Islands. (Deverell is prescient in that the current real life leader of the Green Party, Elizabeth May, was elected to Parliament three years after the book was written as the member for Saanich-Gulf Islands which is the same area as Margaret’s fictional riding.)

Arthur is a reluctant resident of Ottawa and consort of a well known politician. He longs to return to his acreage on Garibaldi.

The governing Conservative Party is in turmoil over how to deal with  a war with a landlocked dictatorship many thousands of kilometers away.

The day before the IED explosion Abzal Erzhan who had been found not guilty of killing the Ultimate’s father disappears from his quiet life in Montreal. Arthur is gradually drawn into the storm because of his firm’s connections with Abzal. A member of Arthur’s firm, Brian Pomeroy, had gained the acquittal at trial for Abza. With Pomeroy having disappeared into the Arctic it is up to Arthur to advise Abzal’s family back in Montreal.

Complications abound when CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) is tasked by the Government to investigate what has happened to Azbal and the connections with Arthur and Margaret.

Adding to the mix is a Saskatchewan connection which I appreciated. A trio of rural Saskatchewan women, on tour in Central Asia, get stranded in Bhashyistan after the declaration of war and must go into hiding with opponents of the Mad Igor’s regime.

Deverell has a fine time with the follies of the political processes and politicians of Canada. That satire strongly reminded me of the duet of books by Terry Fallis – The Best Laid Plans and The High Road - on the machinations of Federal politics. It is a rare legal mystery that is nominated for Canada’s Stephen Leacock Humour Award.

With wit and insight Deverell keeps the plot moving forward.

Arthur barely gets into a courtroom in the novel but he is a skillful counselor fulfilling another traditional legal role. The problems on which he provides counsel are as challenging as any criminal defence he has undertaken.

It is an entertaining book. Once again it is not a conventional legal mystery with the absence of a trial but I will list it under Legal Mysteries because Arthur uses his legal skills throughout the book. I am looking forward to getting the next in the series I’ll See You in My Dreams which has been published this fall.

This book is the 5^th book I have read in the 5^th Annual Canadian Book Challenge hosted at the Book Mine Set blog. I have reached the Lake Claire level. My goal is to read 13 books to reach the highest level of the Challenge. (Oct. 10/11)

My Experiences with John G. Diefenbaker

As set out in my review below of The Mystery of the Moonlight Murder the Diefenbaker homestead near Borden was about 200 km west of our family’s homestead at Meskanaw.

When I was growing up on the farm John G. Diefenbaker was a mythic figure. When I started school he was Canada’s Prime Minister. He remains the only Prime Minister to have come from Saskatchewan.

He was fondly referred to as “Dief the Chief”. The Mystery of the Moonlight Murder sets out his close connection with the Indian peoples of Canada.

While he was Prime Minister, Dief was remembered in our community as a talented criminal defence lawyer. One report says he represented 18 people charged with capital murder. He was successful in defending many of them but at least one of his clients was convicted and hung. An interesting article on his legal career is available at http://ecommons.usask.ca/bitstream/handle/10388/242/Whiteway_Diefenbaker_manuscript.pdf?sequence=3.

Diefenbaker’s first law office in 1920 was in Wakaw which is 85 km down the highway from Melfort. He traveled for court cases through our rural area. A photo of a replica office is to the right.

By time I reached university in the early 1970’s he was no longer Prime Minister or even leader of the Progressive Conservative Party but he remained a Member of Parliament (MP) for Prince Albert. Through changes to riding boundaries Meskanaw became part of the Prince Albert Constituency.

I had finished first year law and was back home for the summer when a federal election was called. Dief, in his late 70’s chose not to travel by car or bus while campaigning but hired a helicopter. He descended out of the sky one afternoon and I was one of the community members to have a chat with him. We talked about law school. We each had gone to the College of Law in Saskatoon.

When I graduated he was Chancellor of the University and conferred my law degree upon me. His class, 50 years earlier, had 20 students while there were about 100 in my graduating class.

While his health was in decline he was determined to remain an MP. In 1979 he was in ill health and 83 years of age but he ran again and was the winner. He had reached the stature of winning elections no matter his personal circumstances.

A short time later he died in Ottawa. A showman to the end he orchestrated his return to be buried in Saskatchewan. He arranged a train trip for 2,500 km journey home. People across Canada came out to watch the train go by and say farewell to the Chief. Our province deeply mourned Dief.

He is buried at the Diefenbaker Centre in Saskatoon beside his second wife, Olive.

The website for the Centre is http://www.usask.ca/diefenbaker/.