The Taken by Inger Ash Wolfe

30. – 662.) The Taken by Inger Ash Wolfe – The second Hazel Micallef mystery opens with Hazel flat on her back in bed in the home of her ex-husband, Andrew, and his new wife, Glynnis. Any reader thinking it reflects some kinky relationship will be disappointed. She is recovering from back surgery and her home was unsuitable for recuperation. Her mother, the feisty Emily, has moved with her to provide not so tender nursing care.

Hazel is a poor patient. She dearly wants out of Andrew’s home. She is bored of looking at the walls. She is starting to like too much the little white Percocet pills. Time is passing too slowly in a house filled with clocks.

Officer James Wingate drops by occasionally to update her on the Port Dundas OPS detachment and seek some guidance on files. Hazel remains in charge of the detachment while on sick leave.

It is the start of summer in cottage country and the local paper, The Westmuir Record, is running its traditional work of summer fiction in several installments. It is a creepy story of a pair of fishermen hooking a body in the lake.

Her return to the office is accelerated when a pair of tourists hook and then lose a body in a local lake. When the police return they find the body but it is a headless mannequin. It has been weighted down to lie on the bottom of the lake.

Hazel and other officers are puzzled by anyone going to that much effort with a mannequin. It is equally a mystery why the story in the paper and the incident mirror each other.

As Wingate looks into the mannequin he finds it has been subtly altered. When the police figure out what has happened they are led into a bizarre spooky scheme.

As they solve one puzzle another one is set before them. Hazel is very frustrated as the police are manipulated. I was reminded of Lincoln Rhyme mysteries of Jeffery Deaver where Lincoln is often trying to unravel mysteries of manipulation.

During the investigation Hazel must travel the two hours to Toronto to get information. Toronto City Police are barely civil to the visitors from the country.

At home Hazel is not looking forward to her 62^nd birthday. Between growing older, getting divorced, having major health problems and a troubled grown up daughter she has many personal issues. Mainly she is lonely. The book does have a birthday present for Hazel I will long remember.

Hazel does not direct the investigation but is fully involved. At one point there is a fight. It has been a long while in the crime fiction world since I can remember reading about a woman in her 60’s mixing it up physically.

Wolfe has some finely written passages. Wingate responds to Hazel’s question on how he, her temporary replacement, is being treated:

            “They resent me with a smile.”

I thought the book was long in the middle. As the conclusion nears the pace becomes far more compelling.

Hazel remains an intriguing and inviting character. I acknowledge a bias towards liking a sleuth within a couple of years of my own age.

I appreciated that the book is far different from The Calling where she dealt with one of the most unusual serial killers in crime fiction.

The 3^rd book in the series, A Door in the River, is due to be published this summer. I will be interested to see if Hazel remains a member of the OPS. She is of an age that police forces do not favour for serving officers. In The Taken she is referred to as a dinosaur.

Next week I will be writing about the effect upon me of reading a book by Wolfe who has remained a pseudonym while knowing the identity of Alix Bosco, a former pseudonym while reading Slaughter Falls. (June 16/12)