8th Canadian Book Challenge Roundup (Part II)

Earlier this week I posted a list of the 19 books I had read for the 8^th Canadian Book Challenge which ended on June 30. There were 18 books of fiction and one work of non-fiction.

Of the 18 there were 13 set in Canada, 2 in China, 2 in the U.S. and 1 in Europe. Of the Canadian locations there were 5 different provinces. I am glad that 3 of the books were set in Saskatchewan.

The non-fiction book, Tough Crimes, is close to my heart as it features stories from top Canadian criminal lawyers of memorable cases in their careers. I continue to believe it will be a good resource for Canadian fiction writers in the next decade.

From the fiction list my favourite for the year is Cool Water by Dianne Warren. It is not a work of crime fiction. It is a wonderful evocation of contemporary life in rural Saskatchewan. I could relate to the characters, the setting and the plot. All were credible. As well the book was special as it was given to me by a young lawyer, now practicing in Vancouver, who is from rural Saskatchewan. I chose to write my review in the form of a letter to him.

Second on the list would be Silver Totem of Shame by R.J. Harlick. Since it was No. 1 on Bill’s Best of 2014 it would be hard to exclude from the top 3 of the Challenge. Set in B.C. the plot involved an iconic Canadian image, the totem pole, and wove a fascinating mystery from the death of the carver.

Third will be The Long Way Home by Louise Penny. The 10^th Armand Gamache was a return to the form of earlier books in the series. I was relieved the series no longer involves the story line of internal Surete corruption and violence. In The Long Way Home the sources of inspiration for artists are explored as Gamache and Clara Morrow search for Peter, her separated husband.

While I was glad to see the return to brilliance of Penny I was disappointed in Michael Redhill and Ian Hamilton.

I have thought Hazel Micallef a powerful character but Redhill’s book, A Door in the River, had her embark on a strange unbelievable quest that involved an underground manmade cave in a farmer’s field. It ventured into the bizarre.

I continue to have high regard for Hamilton’s sleuth, Ava Lee, but I was unhappy with the direction of series. I summed up my thoughts in my review of The Red Pole of Macau:

I do regret that Ava has moved from a skilled forensic accountant who must occasionally use her martial arts training to a predictable hero using violence to right wrongs.

I expect to read another in the series this year with the hope Hamilton returns to Ava relying on her mental skills. There are enough violent action heroes.

Of the newcomers I thought Sam Wiebe is off to a fine start with his book, Last of the Independents. I think the crime fiction world will be seeing him as a talented new writer.

The 8^th Challenge is behind me and I am off to a good start on the 9^th Challenge.

8th Canadian Book Challenge Roundup (Part I)

July 1 is best known as Canada Day when our nation celebrates our land becoming a country in 1867. In the mystery blogging world it marks the start of a new Canadian Book Challenge which is hosted each year by John Mutford at his blog, the Book Mine Set. On June 30 I completed the 8th Canadian Book Challenge.

I read the following books for the Challenge during the year from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015:

     1.) The Devil's Making by Seán Haldane;

     2.) The Wild Beasts of Wuhan by Ian Hamilton;

     3.) The Glass House by David Rotenberg;

     4.) The Long Way Home by Louise Penny;

     5.) Red Pole of Macau by Ian Hamilton;

     6.) Night Game by Alison Gordon;

     7.) A Door in the River by Inger Ash Wolfe;

     8.) Bones to Pick by Suzanne North;

     9.) Silver Totem of Shame by R.J. Harlick;

     10.) Cool Water by Dianne Warren;

     11.) By Book or By Crook by Eva Gates;

     12.) Last of the Independents by Sam Wiebe;

     13.) Tough Crimes edited by C.D. Evans and Lorene Shyba;

     14.) 12 Rose Street by Gail Bowen;

     15.) Cold Mourning by Brenda Chapman;

     16.) None So Blind by Barbara Fradkin;

     17.) Swedes' Ferry by Alan Safarik;

     18.) Killing Pilgrim by Alen Mattich; and,

     19.) Sing a Worried Song by William Deverell.

During the 7th Canadian Book Challenge I read 18 books and thought I had reached my maximum Canadian content. I manage to add another for the 8th Challenge. I have read 2 books for the 9th Challenge.

For the 2nd year in a row my reading included the full shortlist for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Canadian Crime Novel. I will be putting up one or more posts on the shortlist shortly.

My next post will discuss my reading for the 8th Canadian Book Challenge.

Sing a Worried Song by William Deverell

(22. - 819) Sing a Worried Song by William Deverell – Arthur Beauchamp Q.C. (pronounced “Beecham” Arthur would prefer) is back in court. The twist is that the trial which occupies the first section of the book takes place in 1987 when Arthur, in his later prime (his 50’s), is retained by the Government of British Columbia to prosecute a murder trial mangled by the prosecutor of the first trial which ended in a hung jury.

It is a shock to see Arthur acting as Crown Counsel. He has stood for the defence through his career. He is temporarily lured to the other side by an interesting trial and the willingness of the Government to pay him $500 per hour.

Handsome well-to-do Randy Skyler came to Vancouver from Ontario with his best friend, Manfred Unger, to attend Expo ’86. While they are there Chumpy the Clown is murdered.

Chumpy the Clown is the nickname of Joyal (Joey) Chumpy, a resident of the infamous East Hastings, where he roams the streets in afternoons and evenings busking with a harmonica in his clown attire. He attracts enough donations to keep him in beer. Unfortunately, he also cruises the streets late at night seeking male companionship and is killed.

The police investigation puts Skylar in Chumpy’s dumpy apartment because of a fingerprint on a beer bottle. At the first trial defence counsel almost won acquittal when a sloppy crime scene investigator miscounted the bottles and opened the way for an argument the bottle with the Skyler fingerprint had been planted.

For the re-trial Arthur ensures the forensic evidence is handled correctly.

What he does not anticipate is that Skyler’s friend, Manfred Unger, will not testify to what he had said in his original statement to the police and at the first trial. Arthur fumes and threatens the recalcitrant witness before skilfully showing how a hostile witness is handled in court.

As with every book in the series the trials are fascinating as befits an author who spent his lifetime in the criminal courts of British Columbia.

There is a dramatic ending to the trial which leads to the second half of the book set 25 years into the future in 2012.

Arthur is continuing his retirement in Garibaldi Island in the Gulf Islands near Vancouver. While no longer stressed by the demands of criminal defence work Arthur is still plagued by worry:

He must stop continually seeking reasons to be unhappy. Maybe’s there’s a group. My name is Arthur, and I am a worrywart.

Every day Arthur finds much to worry about in his life.

The colourful residents of the island do provide distractions. One of the more unusual, if that is possible on the island, is the annual Potlatch, the Marijuana Growers Fall Fair, in which local marijuana growers meet with buyers from the mainland to negotiate the sale of their crops and compete for the McCoy Cup, “named after a local sculptor caught green-handed with a heroic half-ton of cannabis”.

In Sing a Worried Song Arthur’s wife, Margaret, spends most of the second half of the book in Ottawa tending to her duties as the leader of Canada’s Green Party.

Left alone on the island Arthur is inexorably drawn towards a return to court when a local, Dogmar Zbrinjkowitz, known to all as “Dog” is held in custody and charged with trafficking after selling an ounce of marijuana to a ludicrously disguised auxiliary police officer. “Free Dog” tee shirts are but one manifestation of the local efforts to save Dog.

I really enjoyed the first half of the book and the trial in the second half.

It is a good book but sagged a bit for me in the second half. All the distinctive personalities of the islanders and their antics wearied me. As well, while the second half is clever and often funny the connection to the first half was limited. It would have worked better for me if there had been two separate books.

The ending was predictable by the end of the first half. While an ending does not need to be startling (I dislike extra twists) it is difficult to create tension when a reader knows how a book will end. A surprise ending with real continuing tension would have occurred had Deverell drawn upon the real life ending from what happened after the actual trial that inspired the book. My next post will discuss that trial.

****

(Vancouver) Deverell, William - (2011) - A Trial of Passion; (2011) - Snow Job; (2012) - I'll See You in My Dreams; (2012) - Removing Indigenous Children from Their Families in Crime Fiction; (2012) - "D" is for William Deverell; (2014) - Kill All the Lawyers; (2014) - The Lawyers of Kill All the Lawyers;

Killing Pilgrim by Alen Mattich

(21. - 818) Killing Pilgrim by Alen Mattich – (DDB) I was grabbed in the opening chapter. The Montenegrin, top assassin in the Yugoslav Secret Service, is in Stockholm in February of 1986. He is on a solo mission to kill “Pilgrim”. It has something to do with Swedish centrifuges sold to Belgrade and then sold on by the Yugoslav government. Patiently stalking his quarry the Montenegrin finds him unguarded on a winter night and kills Pilgrim on a quiet Swedish street. He has assassinated Olaf Palme, the Prime Minister of Sweden. 

Five years later Yugoslavia is breaking down. Slovenia has already broken away. Croatia has declared independence. Serbia is clinging to the concept of Yugoslavia. Serbian and Croatian nationalists are arming and forming militias. 

Western Canadian pizza magnate, Zlatko Horvat, has returned to his native Croatia where he forms an ultra-nationalist militia and is profitably smuggling arms into Croatia. Abruptly he is made Deputy Minister of Defence. 

War is coming. 

With Yugoslavia collapsing Marko della Torre is in administrative limbo. Formerly a member of the UDSB, the national secret service, his Zagreb unit is being assigned to Croatian Military Intelligence. 

Della Torre is better known within the Secret Service as “Gringo”. He spent several years of his youth in America where his father was a professor for a time.

Della Torre is still recovering from a bullet wound sustained when Bosnian killers tried to kill him in Zagreb Cowboy (a book I am going to have to read). 

To gain some money he sold some UDSB files. One is the Pilgrim file. While the documents of the Pilgrim file are sketchy and do not reveal the name of the target the sale of the file created alarm. 

Della Torre, while the new Army bureaucracy tries to find a role for him, is sent on some meaningless fact finding assignments. 

On a visit to his father he meets a stunning American researcher, Rebecca Vees, who is researching “the development of the Glagolitic alphabet” (the research involves Slavonic languages.) 

A short time later his world is jolted when Rebecca turns out to be a highly skilled American intelligence agent. It is never clear which agency employs her. Not the least of her weapons is her beauty and sensuality. 

Croatia is desperate to find international friends and none would be better than the United States. If Croatia can help America it will do anything to please the U.S. 

While it is not clear why America wants the Montenegrin, Della Torre is directed to help the American agents.  

There is the same pervasive tension of Alan Furst’s pre-World War II books. Nations are preparing for war and intelligence agencies have urgent instructions. What the spies do can have great consequences in the looming conflict. 

Della Torre is caught between a pair of killers. He knows the Montenegrin, a vicious retired killer though well connected and well protected. He is accompanying Rebecca, an amoral killer herself. 

Rebecca is a predecessor to the American intelligence agents who, after 9/11, ranged the world wreaking vengeance on America’s enemies.  

It is a complex thriller which is a rarity in my recent reading experience. Della Torre is living in dangerous times. Readers cannot help thinking of the devastation about to be unleashed in the Balkans. The plot is subtle darkness. 

Killing Pilgrim is well worthy of being on the shortlist for the 2015 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Canadian crime novel. 

Swedes’ Ferry by Allan Safarik

(20. - 817) Swedes’ Ferry by Allan Safarik – It is a rare mystery that combines the old West of America and of Canada. Swedes’ Ferry is an interesting look at life in the border country of 1894. 

Just north of the border that spring a lone rider arrives at the small ranch of Bud Quigley. Known only to Bud as Tall Bob (he had made arrangements to get a horse from Bud a couple of weeks before) the rider has pushed his horse to the extreme. Initially it is not clear if the horse which has been grazed by a bullet will survive. 

Flush with cash Tall Bob purchases another horse and directs Bud to kill the chestnut gelding with white socks to avoid complications. Unable to kill a beautiful horse and always eager to make some money Bud does his best with some dye to disguise the horse and sells the chestnut to a travelling man. 

While unsure of what happened Bud believes Tall Bob has run afoul of the law in the U.S. He is correct. Tall Bob has been to Bismarck, North Dakota where he single handily robbed the First National Bank of a payroll for the Great Northern Railway. Unfortunately, in trying to get away Tall Bob accidentally shot and killed the bank manager. 

James J. Hill, the imperious president of the Great Northern is upset, less with the death of the manager than the audacity of a crook robbing his railway. He already has the Pinkerton's on contract to help break up union efforts at organizing railroad workers.

Four months after the theft Hill summons William Pinkerton of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency from Chicago to Saint Paul to demand progress: 

“…. Let’s start moving on this matter. I want my damned money back! Damn it, I don’t care how much money I have to spend to get it back I want the same damn bills, the very same pieces of legal tender that were taken from my bank. If you have to shoot the bastard to bring him in, then shoot the smart bastard right in the forehead, just like he shot that poor soul who worked for me. Everybody concerned will be served notice that robbing me doesn’t pay and I’ll be a happy man again.” 

Directed by Hill to take a personal role in the investigation Pinkerton travels to North Dakota and gathers a team together to conduct the investigation. 

From the bullet casing found at the robbery site the Pinkerton's decide to look north as well as south of the border. 

American police and the Canadian Northwest Mounted Police confined their investigations to their country and did not venture across the 49^th parallel marking the border. The Pinkerton's see no borders in their investigations. I had not thought about how a private detective agency is not hamstrung by borders. (It was an era where no one had to be licenced to be a private detective.) It gives the Pinkerton's far greater flexibility in investigations. 

A lead takes the Pinkerton's to Regina, then a part of the Assiniboia Territory, and the headquarters of the Northwest Mounted Police. 

Where most books speak highly of the Mounties such as the intrepid Sargeant Durrant Wallace in The Third Riel Conspiracy by Stephen Legault, which takes place in 1885 and is partly set in Regina, the Northwest Mounted of Swedes' Ferry are ill-trained and barely able to patrol the plains. 

I was caught off guard by the identity of Tall Bob. 

Tension builds as the Pinkerton's gather and digest information. 

The conclusion to the book is striking and unusual for a Western, let alone a Western mystery. 

It is a good book. It does not sparkle. It is historically accurate. It is well worth reading. 

I consider it a perfect book for my blog friend, Prashant C. Trikannad, of the Chess, Comic Books, Crosswords, Books, Music, Cinema blog. Residing in urban India he has a passion for books set in the old West of America. This book will let him expand his Western experience to Canada.

****

I am glad to report that Swedes' Ferry becomes the 17^th book I have read for the 8^th Canadian Book Challenge (13 books are the Challenge) which is well beyond what I have read in any previous Canadian Book Challenge. I hope to get more Canadian books read before the Challenge closes on June 30.

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Related: The Pinkerton's and Old Bill Miner

None So Blind by Barbara Fradkin

19. - 816.) None So Blind by Barbara Fradkin – I am late to this series featuring Inspector Michael Green of the Ottawa Police. None So Blind is the 10^th book in the series.

It is a challenging book to review because to give a summary of the story is to spoil the story so I turn to an approach I use occasionally in reviews. This post will avoid spoilers. My next post will get into a discussion I want to have about the theme of the book that will involve some spoilers.

None So Blind had a slow start.

 

Green is mired in reports as a new Superintendent is insistent that she receive a “thorough briefing on all personnel, policies and procedures under her command. The three dreaded p’s of his administrative duties”. Green is not a talented bureaucrat.

In the midst of his paperwork he receives yet another letter from James Rosten who is 20 years into a life sentence for murdering Jackie Carmichael.

Rosten had been a rising biology professor when he had a personal relationship with his student, Jackie. After she was found strangled, the investigation led by a young Green, focused on proving Rosten guilty.

Rosten has staunchly maintained his innocence and has plagued Green with detailed letters over the years explaining why he was not guilty and challenging the evidence.

While in prison Rosten has been assaulted by other inmates and is now in a wheelchair.

The latest letter is one of his shortest:

                HE WINS!!!!

Rosten is referring to the death of Lucas Carmichael, the stepfather of Jackie. Rosten was convinced Lucas was the killer.

Green, as with all the letters, is unconvinced that Rosten is innocent.

The letter does prompt Green to visit Marilyn Carmichael who had fiercely campaigned to have Rosten convicted. Marilyn finds her grief over the death of her husband extending back to the never ending sense of loss from Jackie’s death.

Upset when he finds Rosten has written to Julia, Jackie’s sister, Green travels to the penitentiary to visit Rosten. Green finds a broken man, physically and mentally, who is ready to change. He tells Green:

“You’re right, time to let it all go. I’ve done what I could do, to no avail, for myself or for them. I won’t bother them anymore, if that’s what you came about.”

Unlike many police officers, Green wants Rosten to have a future. Green believes Rosten has served his time and he urges Rosten to seek parole.

The story takes off when Rosten makes the application to be released. Marilyn’s appearance at the parole hearing and her letter to the parole board are startling.

What happens because of the parole application challenges Green and will be the subject of my next post.

None So Blind is a thoughtful book with a fascinating sleuth. Green is the child of Holocaust survivors. His aged father, Sid, is still alive. Green is in the midst of a successful second marriage. He has a 20 year old daughter from his first marriage and two young children from his second marriage. Not enough mysteries have a sleuth wrestling, while solving crime, with the domestic issues of pre-school children and an elderly parent whose health is in decline.

By accident I have read consecutive mysteries that are police procedurals involving Ottawa Police Services. None So Blind happened to be the second book in the pile of 5 mysteries on my table that make up the shortlist for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel in Canada. As set out in my last post listing the winners None So Blind did not win the Award.

Cold Mourning by Brenda Chapman

18. - 815.) Cold Mourning by Brenda Chapman – It is but a few days before Christmas when Kala Stonechild arrives in Ottawa after a long drive from northwestern Ontario. She has left the North to join the Ottawa City Police. Staff Sergeant Jacques Rouleau is her superior.

Rouleau leads a small group that has been created from Major Crimes with an ill-defined role within the department.

The unit is assigned to investigate the murder of prominent Ottawa businessman, Tom Underwood. He has frozen to death after being drugged and dumped into the trunk of his car. He had come to and attempted to claw his way out of the trunk but succumbed to the cold. It is a vicious form of murder that is all too realistic to Canadians. (Whatever verb of reaction I think of appears a pun. I had thought of the murder sending a “chill” through me or “shivers” up my spine.)

Kala is the first female indigenous sleuth in my reading of Canadian crime fiction. She is a slim, good looking woman. Her difficult past, including foster homes, has left her reserved.

She misses the North:

They were deep in the new subdivision named Chapman Mills on Haileybury Street. The houses were so close together, people had to walk single file to get between them. It was hard to believe anyone liked living in a place where they couldn’t see the stars at night.

Rouleau is divorced and almost a generation older. He is on good terms with his ex-wife. He speaks to Kala about his life:

“I had my chance. If I could pass on any advice, it would not to let the job take over. You can lose too much.” He smiled wryly although his eyes were sad. She found herself liking him at that moment, a wounded man who didn’t wallow in it.

Would that more crime fiction sleuths “didn’t wallow”.

The investigation proceeds through Christmas with the officers being human. They work but not obsessively and do take time off for the holiday.

Underwood appears to have been ready to make some major changes in his life providing a large pool of suspects. Both business associates and family members have motives for murder.

While doing her duty in the murder investigation, Kala has actually come to Ottawa to search for her cousin, Rose, who has disappeared from her life. Kala is anxious to find Rose.

Beyond the murder being quintessentially Canadian the weather plays a constant role. Canadians are always conscious of winter weather. Whether it is the special crunch to the snow of real cold or the extra time needed to get vehicles going and warmed up Chapman seamlessly works weather into the story.

The author also effectively uses Ottawa and area geography. There are many walking trails around the three rivers that flow through the city. Cross country skiing and hiking is a short distance away in Quebec.

It is a solid, not spectacular, police procedural.

I appreciated that Kala and Rouleau neither leap into bed together at the beginning nor the middle nor the end of the book. It was nice to read a book where a woman and a man have a solid professional relationship and can spend time together without sexual involvement. I expect there will be more books in the series. How their relationship progresses will be interesting. Should it become personal it will be more credible for having taken time to develop.

Cold Mourning is one of the five books on the shortlist for the 2015 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Mystery Novel in Canada. I am going to work my way through the five books as I did last year. I wanted to complete them before next week’s awards but it will be into June before I am done the shortlist. (May 21/15)

12 Rose Street by Gail Bowen

16. - 813.) 12 Rose Street by Gail Bowen – Joanne Kilbourn returns to her political roots in the 15^th book of the series. Her husband, Zack Shreeve, is running for mayor of Regina and is in an uphill battle against the incumbent mayor, Scott Ridgeway, a favourite of the developers and business community.
 

In the first book of the series Joanne had been at a summer political rally for Andy Boychuk, a former Premier of Saskatchewan, when he is poisoned. Her deceased husband had been a cabinet minister. While the provincial party is never exactly stated Joanne is well left of centre in her politics. She had been an eager and active participant in provincial politics including elections. 

Now Zack has chosen her to be his campaign manager and she is savouring the chance to challenge the conservative establishment a generation after Boychuk’s death. 

In an effort to build momentum a slate of “progressive” candidates for City Council has been assembled. Leading this group is Brock Poitras, the aboriginal gay former Saskatchewan Roughrider player (Canadian football), who has been working with Zack on community development. 

Joanne draws in her old political mentor and ex-Premier, Howard Dowhanuik. Long retired and living a quiet life Howard is energized by being involved again in an election. 

The campaign is fiercely contested. It turns nasty as the book opens with a threat of child abduction at a social event for Zack’s campaign. The information comes from an unlikely source. Cronus, a former criminal client of Zack, is a slumlord operating by the principle of “maximum income, minimum maintenance”. He is also fond of rough sex with consensual partners. 

Joanne pleads with Cronus to do anything he can to prevent an abduction. He sends a text message to an unknown recipient from his phone. It is composed of a few numbers and an attached photo of himself standing between Zack and Brock. No child is taken. 

A couple of days later Cronus is brutally murdered. In her usual quiet way Joanne tries to figure out what happened. 

As the bitter campaign continues attack ads are run on T.V. against Zack. They feature Zack and former criminal clients who were acquitted at trial and then committed further crimes. (For American readers think of Michael Dukakis and Willie Horton.)  

Joanne knows Zack cannot maintain a lofty indifference to the attacks. With the aid of a skilled hired political operative she counter-attacks. Joanne has an aggressive aspect to her personality seldom seen in the series. She is fierce in defending Zack and embraces going on the offensive. 

As a part of the campaign battles Joanne and her family face a stunning revelation that left me shocked for a moment. It is credible and leaves them reeling. How Joanne copes shows the depths of her character. Few authors can bring forward a compelling personal story 15 books into the series that deeply affects each of the major characters and how they view their lives over the past 25 years. 

While Joanne is deeply involved in the election there is time in the story, as in real life, for personal life. One of her best friends is coping with the death of a daughter at 38 from pancreatic cancer. 

I always admire how Gail works into every book a development in the lives of Joanne’s family that shows how children and grandchildren are maturing in their lives. In 12 Rose Street it is Joanne’s step-daughterTaylor, approaching 16, who has begun a dating relationship with 18 year old Declan. Gail delicately handles the emotions of first love. 

12 Rose Street does focus on Joanne. The previous book, The Gifted, concentrated on the artistically gifted Taylor. This book is about Joanne with Zack having a major role. 

Adding to the story are social issues. Few mysteries address the dynamics of the interactions between the well intentioned well-to-do (Joanne and Zack) and the desperately poor and struggling residents of a rough neighbourhood. 

12 Rose Street is a good mystery with a striking personal revelation and a challenging look at important social issues. Last, but not least the election has set up further story lines for future books. Joanne Kilbourn is never going to spend her retirement sitting at home in her rocking chair. The series remains strong. (Apr. 30/15)

****

Bowen, Gail – 2011 Questions and Answers with Gail; 2011 Suggestions for Gail on losing court cases; The author's website is http://www.gailbowen.com/ - (2011) Deadly Appearances; (2013) Murder at the Mendel; The Wandering Soul Murders (Not reviewed); A Colder Kind of Death (Not reviewed); A Killing Spring (Not reviewed); Verdict in Blood (Not reviewed); (2000) - Burying Ariel (Second best fiction of 2000); (2002) - The Glass Coffin; (2004) - The Last Good Day; (2007) – The Endless Knot (Second Best Fiction of 2007); (2008) - The Brutal Heart; (2010) - The Nesting Dolls; (2012) - "B" is for Gail Bowen; (2012) - Kaleidoscope and Q & A on Kaleidoscope; (2013) - The Gifted and Q & A and Comparing with How the Light Gets In; Hardcover

  

Tough Crimes edited by C.D. Evans and Lorene Shyba

12. - 809.) Tough Crimes edited by C.D. Evans and Lorene Shyba – C.D., who has practised criminal law in Calgary for over 40 years, and Lorene, a writer / editor / researcher, have assembled a collection of “true cases by top Canadian criminal lawyers”. They approached the lawyers requesting they write about a case that was “perplexing or disquieting, had weird or surprising turns, or presented personal and ethical issues”. Each of the stories sets out the personal recollections of a lawyer about a memorable case in which they appeared.  

The book is divided into groups of cases on a theme. The headings are wrongful conviction, homicide, reasonable doubt, collateral damage and community.  

The cases are all from my contemporaries who have practised law during the past 39 years I have been a lawyer. I know almost all of the lawyers by reputation. Two I personally know well. One, Brian Beresh, was a classmate with me at the University of Saskatchewan and another, Mark Brayford, is a colleague in Saskatchewan. My next post will focus on the stories they wrote for the book. 

What makes the collection unique is that readers get a chance to read how lawyers thought and reacted to memorable cases that span our far flung nation. 

Readers accustomed to legal mysteries in which the featured lawyer, whether prosecutor or defender, wins the case will be surprised that several of the cases chosen were cases lost by the lawyer. 

The most notorious case discussed was the Paul Bernardo murder trial. Bernardo and his wife, Karla Homolka, killed a pair of teenage Ontario girls and their sexual assault of Homolka’s sister ended with the sister’s death. Bernardo was also identified as the Scarborough rapist. He had committed a series of rapes in the Toronto suburb before turning to murder with Homolka.  



John Rosen acted for Bernardo with regard to the murder charges. In his opening paragraph he says: 
 

“….. what makes Bernardo and Homolka so infamous is that, outwardly, they appeared entirely normal. As a young, attractive, seemingly normal, white and upwardly mobile couple, they appeared to represent everything middle class Canadian society strives to be. But when his crimes came to light, to the general public Bernardo became the Devil Incarnate. Does that make me, his trial lawyer, the Devil’s advocate?”

Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo

Rosen is a good story teller. Effective trial lawyers must have that skill. To hold the attention of juries and convince judges you have to tell the story of your client well.



As he took over the defence from Bernardo’s first lawyer Rosen was provided with videotapes that police searches had never found in the Bernardo home. The tapes showed the teenage girls being sexually and physically abused and raped.

Rosen discusses his reaction to the tapes:

In truth though, the images depicted shook me to the core. At one point I needed to stop and excuse myself for a few moments. The images were deeply disturbing and the implications were obvious. How was I going to defend this case in the face of these tapes? What would prevent the jury from coming over the boards at me for having the gall to advance any defence for this accused? Moreover, I am a father myself – what would my own family think of me? How was I going to survive a trial with my health and reputation intact? …… After a moment’s hesitation, I decided to put aside my personal feelings and interests and get on with the job at hand.

Another showed a defence lawyer, John Vertes, working with the Crown prosecutor and the judge to adopt a special approach in the Arctic in the late 1970’s to achieve a just result. His 18 year old Inuit client, Henry Suviserk Innuksuk, was guilty of setting several fires in his small community on the distant northwestern shore of Hudson’s Bay. At the same time Henry was severely mentally challenged. No one thought sending him away to jail would be good for Henry but a punishment was needed.

When Vertes arrived for court there was a special meeting:

Upon arrival, I immediately went to the Hamlet office where I was greeted by a large throng of people including the mayor and the Council members, all of whom were Inuit except for one. Also in attendance were Dr. and Mr. Williamson; Henry’s elderly father, two of his older brothers, as well as many community members. One by one, they spoke to me about Inuit traditional ways and about their concerns for Henry. The mayor said that he and every member of the Hamlet Council would be willing to act as surety and supervise Henry in the community if that would mean Henry’s avoidance of a jail term. They felt sad that they had not paid more attention to Henry in the community, previously knowing his limitations. And now they wanted to take responsibility for his future conduct.

Anyone who thinks lawyers are not affected by their cases will realize after reading this book that lawyers are not unfeeling legal robots.

It is a great book. I freely admit to a large bias. As a part of my practice I have been defending men and women in the criminal courts of Canada throughout my legal career. These stories resonate deeply with me. I can assure readers they are “real”.

I believe the book would be invaluable to any writer of crime fiction intending to write about a Canadian criminal trial. There are 20 powerful cases to inspire plots. There are an equal number of vivid lawyers whose personalities and approaches to criminal law can be drawn upon in creating characters. I would extend the worth of the book to anyone writing about lawyers and criminal cases in any of the countries whose criminal justice is based on the principles of Anglo / American justice.

I think every young Canadian lawyer should read this book and will be encouraging my sons and my articling students to read and reflect on Tough Crimes. You will not think of criminal lawyers in the same way after reading this book.

Last of the Independents by Sam Wiebe

10. - 807.) Last of the Independents by Sam Wiebe –

“The younger Thomas Kroon leaned forward on the clients’ bench and said, ‘There’s no real polite way to say this, Mr. Drayton. Someone’s fucking our corpses and we’d like it to stop.’ “

Who wouldn’t and what reader could resist being grabbed by those opening lines. Michael Drayton accepts the assignment from the Kroons to determine who has been violating bodies at their funeral home.

At the same time Drayton agrees to search for Django James Szabo, 12 years old, who has been missing for several months, after the car of his father, Cliff, was stolen with Django inside. Cliff makes a modest living purchasing, fixing and re-selling discarded or used appliances, electronics and furnishings.

Drayton, 29 years old and living with his grandmother and his dog, operates Hastings Street Investigations out of an office in the roughest section of downtown Vancouver. On his cards he has proudly inscribed:

            “Last of the Independents”

The phrase aptly describes Drayton’s business and personality.

A big strong man and former Vancouver City Police officer, Drayton reminds me of Travis McGee. He has the same physical presence and innate stubbornness against accepting advice or following rules.

His investigative approach comes from his police officer grandfather:

“When you’ve only got a hammer you treat every problem as a nail.” Sometimes your options aren’t limited by your tools so much as by the mindset you bring to them. But that doesn’t mean that mindset is necessarily wrong. Sometimes the problem really does call for a big fucking hammer blow.

Unlike many private investigators whose income is vague Drayton is very conscious of his finances. He is barely solvent. His finances are stretched by his willingness to pursue cases for little to no compensation from clients with meagre resources that he considers righteous.

While Drayton is proudly independent Katherine Hough, a student, works part-time for him.

In a nifty play on the Baker Street Irregulars Drayton is aided by the Hastings Street Irregulars. Ben Loeb is the creator/writer of successful video games and brother of another missing teenager for whom Drayton is searching.Amelia Yates-Yeats (she lets people use both spellings), a beautiful producer of music recordings.

The book is not about the rich and famous. Most characters have the struggles of ordinary people. Some exist on the wrong side of the law.

Cliff is different from the average desperate parent seeking their child. He is prickly and abrasive. He is as abrupt confrontational with those seeking to help him as he is with those he considers obstructive.

While Drayton would never acknowledge it, he is an idealist. He is determined to achieve justice in his cases. In a world of grays he lives a black and white existence. It is a lonely quest.

The funeral home investigation was unusual. I can confidently state I have never read a mystery involving either a crime in a funeral home nor the crime committed there in this book. Some experiences are best not repeated.

The book is well set in Vancouver. It describes life in a part of the city far different from the affluent environs described in Silver Totem of Shame by R.J. Harlick that I read late last year.

Last of the Indpendents is a gritty story. The cover accurately describes the book as Vancouver noir. In my next post I will discuss a unique award for the book.

Drayton is a worthy addition to the ranks of the world’s hard boiled detectives. I look forward to his next adventure.