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DiDonovan
, May 28, 2015
(view all comments by DiDonovan)
A small-town man is shot to death in an execution-style murder in a farmer's field in rural Canada, and Detective Constable Kevin Walker must deal with his first homicide investigation. The experienced Detective Inspector Ellie March is called in to lead the investigative team. All the trappings of the typical police procedural are outlined in an introduction featuring an obvious murder, a cold Ontario morning, and a team of investigators.
In Sorrow Lake the real surprises don't lie in the investigative process: they lay in wait in the psychological twists and turns of a crime that turns all too personal when it envelopes its investigators and even threatens their careers, and in an evolving mystery that keeps readers guessing about the perp's identity and the murder's wider ramifications. And here's where Sorrow Lake becomes thoroughly engrossing.
As chapters - and characters - unfold Sorrow Lake is fleshed out both with protagonist development and in the underlying mystery. All the hallmarks of great mystery writing are here: solid, believable protagonists, secrets, the challenges of a professional charged with working with less experienced investigators, and a 'whodunnit and why' that appears to lead down a neat road, only to take some quick turns to leave readers guessing right up to the end.
Add a solid sense of place and community and you have a fine saga that may open with the ordinary but closes with an extraordinary 'bang', leaving readers both satisfied and looking for more in this evolving series.
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