Pain Wainscott III, convicted of criminal harassment of a young woman hockey player, is going there as part of his sentence. Pain does not care:
He'd been named after bread because when he was born, his mother imagined he was going to “nourish the world …. He ended up being a “right little sadist”, according to the testimony in his trial.
Yana Heppler, A righteous climate advocacy prig is going because there was "someone in her online climate action group who wasn't able to attend”. She is ready to engage in “revolutionary action”.
Wayne Krupke is another kind of activist best reflected by his description of the masks worn during Covid days. He describes them as face diapers. His sister hopes his attendance will bring about a change in attitude.
There are two other participants who are also ill-fitting in society.
They are Madison who is consumed by her phone and her image and Tom who is associated with white nationalists though he is not really a member.
Helen Thorpe and her employer Benedict Levine are going to be there under assumed names, Hetty Thorpe and Scooter Bruin respectively, to assist Levine's son, David Levinson, who is in charge of the retreat. (I will refer to Helen and Benedict by their real names as that is how the chapter headings refer to them.) Helen is not happy because she had been going on vacation. In the best traditions of butlers she accommodates her employer.
Helen is to be the spiritual advisor in this group of clashing egos. Even for a person as mindful as herself I felt she faced a daunting task.
A schedule going from six in the morning until nine at night is demanding for the participants are accustomed to time freedom.
An exercise on telling the group of an unexpected skill is moving. Scooter explains his skill is what colours look good on people. Madison can remember the names of plants in English and Latin. Pain is good at drawing pigs. Wayne can back up vehicles into tight spots. Yana is strong. Suddenly they are listening to each other.
The plot shifts dramatically when Benedict and David are kidnapped. Helen is to be the go-between and arrange the ransom.
Aided by her butler classmates, Gavin and Murray, and new butler Nigel she engages by phone with the kidnappers who have disguised their voices. She regrets not having taken the kidnapping course at butler school.
Revealing her real name Helen forms one of the most unusual team of sleuths from the participants and the butlers. They set up a white board just like T.V. detectives.
The band of the marginalized and butlers start searching the island.
Helen applies her logical mind to the facts. I found her illogical, for the first time, in not calling in the police because Benedict told her not to call them.
In a surprising twist Benedict is not a terrified kidnap victim. He applies his business experience in negotiations to discussions with the kidnappers.
The key deduction is so clever, well worthy of the intelligence of the butlers. It leads to a conclusion that is both humorous and suspenseful.
Juby manages to make the participation of a dragon boat and a motorized bathtub credible. (The bathtub with an outboard motor had been an entry in Nanaimo’s Annual Bathtub Race.)
Juby has a talent for the right amount of detail in scenes - always enough to see them but not descending into minutiae.
Juby directly, but not confrontationally gets readers to reflect on differing perspectives in politics and culture because Helen listens to everyone.
While Helen’s composure was shaken by the kidnapping she never panics. She is a great character and a credit to the butlers of the world.
The first book in the series, Mindful of Murder, was one of my favourite books in 2022. Contemplation of Murder will be a contender in 2025.
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This sounds like a really interesting book, Bill. And the premise - a group of disparate characters having to be in close proximity - is intriguing. Anything can happen, and it appears that it does here. The setting sounds appealing, too. Even if the book wasn't perfect, it sounds engaging. This is one of those books I'm quite curious about, so I'm glad you highlighted it here.
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