Two murders, fourteen years apart, both shrouded in secrets. David McKenna lies dying in a Kingston hospital, his children gathered from across the country to say a final goodbye. But the family reunion opens old wounds. David’s only daughter, Lauren, never recovered from the unsolved murder of her high school best friend fourteen years earlier — or the suspicion that her brother, Tristan, … that her brother, Tristan, was behind it.
Before David breathes his last, Tristan’s pregnant wife disappears and the Major Crimes Unit is called in to help find her. With Kala Stonechild struggling to reconnect with her foster niece and Zach Woodhouse making trouble for Staff Sergeant Jacques Rouleau, tensions are running high on the team, but they must put their personal problems aside when a woman’s strangled body is found frozen on the Rideau Trail.
With a winter storm sweeping the shores of Lake Ontario, the team uncovers unspeakable betrayals that give more than one suspect a reason to kill …
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5 stars
David McKenna is in the hospital dying. His family has come home to see him. David and his neighbor Boris Orlov have a secret. Boris and his wife Antonia are from the war torn years of Romania. They moved to Canada in 1990 following the deaths of the brutal dictator and his wife there.
When his four-month pregnant daughter-in-law Vivian goes missing, the police in the form of Kala Stonechild and Paul Gundersund are called in to investigate. Her husband, Tristan McKenna is still under suspicion for the murder of a young girl named Zoe Delgado fourteen years earlier. Tristan and Zoe had broken up a short time before she went missing. Zoe was David’s daughter Lauren’s best friend. Lauren has never gotten over her death. Lauren has always supported her bother Tristan, but harbors a small doubt over his innocence. Lauren is her father’s favorite child, but her mother Evelyn has little tolerance for her.
Kala and another officer named Tanya Morrison go to the location where Zoe’s body was found. The come upon Vivian’s body in the snow not far from where Zoe’s body was found. The reprehensible Zach Woodhouse has been given the lead on Vivian’s case. Woodhouse is convinced that Tristan is guilty not only of Zoe’s death, but of Vivian’s as well. He gets tunnel vision and pursues on Tristan. Kala is investigating the older case of Zoe.
David McKenna passes away. Lauren intends to head straight back home when she is sidetracked and winds up staying. She meets with Kala and Tanya and tells them that her father told her that he moved Zoe’s body from behind their house to where she was found. What she doesn’t tell her is that he also found the knife used to kill her, but threw it in the river.
Lauren is worried about Antonia. She has been ill with the “flu;” so why hasn’t Boris taken her to the hospital? She goes over to see her and Antonia is in bed and lets slip that she is Boris’ sister, not his wife. She begins to obsess about the whole Boris/Antonia situation.
Meanwhile, Kala is sent to interview Vivian and Tristan’s neighbors, friends and relatives. She learns quite a lot from them. She and Rouleau go to Montreal to interview a Romanian detective who has information about the Orlovs. The police officer tells them some very important news.
Lauren is getting her own suspicions. She sneaks over to see Antonia again and learns that she has not been taking the pills that Boris used to drug her. She pretty nearly tells her some devastating news. Could it be real? Is she having a drug-induced hallucination? Boris comes home and Lauren must hide in Antonia’s closet.
The identity of Zoe’s killer comes as a surprise. The reason for the killing is a very sad one. The identity of Vivian’s murderer is another surprise. Their motive is as old as the hills.
This is a very well written and plotted novel, as are all of Brenda Chapman’s Stonechild novels. They are a great addition to the current mystery/police procedural body of literature. I truly enjoy reading these books. I like Kala, and her relationship with her niece Dawn is strengthening all the time. I appreciate the added color that having a First Nations protagonist brings to the story. I like how she gets along will her colleagues, with the exception of the rude and boorish Woodhouse. The tension in this story begins almost immediately. The reader is kept guessing who killed Zoe and Vivian. While the focus seems to be mostly on the McKenna family, there are other viable suspects as well. The characters are very well fleshed out, but not too much so. The additional background information did not detract from the story at all. In fact, it added to it by making the people more real. Very well done, Ms. Chapman! Keep writing.
I want to thank NetGalley and Dundurn for forwarding to me a copy of this absolutely great book for me to read and enjoy.