Winner of the 2018 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Crime Novel! When her park is threatened, warden Jenny Willson takes it very personally. Jenny Willson is a hard-edged, caustic-witted warden from Banff National Park who considers poachers and ladder-climbing bureaucrats equally repulsive and worthy of the same painful fate. Does keeping her promise to protect her park from them mean … her promise to protect her park from them mean crossing lines and putting her career at risk?
When Willson discovers animals disappearing from Canada’s mountain parks, she begins a complex investigation that follows a trail of deceit, distraction, and murder. With a growing list of victims, both animal and human, Willson finds herself in a race for justice that criss-crosses the Canada-U.S. border and pushes her to a place from which she might not return.
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I enjoyed reading this book, finishing it in three days. Thank you NetGalley and Dundurn for sending me this ebook. This is a very good debut police procedural with Parks Canada Warden Jenny Willson focused on finding a team of poachers. The author was a Parks Canada Warden and some of this book is based on an actual investigation which involved various law enforcement agencies in Canada and the US. Since the criminals are revealed early on, it is not a mystery, but a thriller, as Willson tenaciously builds a case against the poachers.
If you like the Anna Pigeon series by Nevada Barr, you will like this book.
A solid 4 star book.
Update February 7, 2018: My wife just read this book and liked it also. She commented that the investigation took about a year, more realistic than many mystery books.
Update June 1, 2018, this book won the Arthur Ellis award. The Crime Writers of Canada present the Arthur Ellis Awards (named after the nom de travail of Canada’s official hangman) to recognize excellence in Canadian crime writing.
I met the author at a mystery conference and could see that when it came to romping around in Canada’s national parks, Butler knew what he was talking about. Now we’re starting up a consortium of outdoorsy mystery writers we’re calling Free Range Writers. I learned a lot from Full Curl about the park hierarchy and investigation work in Canada and about collaboration with U.S. personnel to protect public lands and wildlife in both countries. Plus, Jenny Willson, the protagonist of Full Curl, is just the type of gutsy, relentless heroine that I adore. I can’t wait to read the next book, No Place for Wolverines.
Full Curl is the debut novel for author Dave Butler. It is loosely based on an investigation he was part of when a national park warden in Banff, Canada. It is book 1 of the Jenny Willson Mystery series. And I truly hope there are MANY more installments. His gifted wording and attention to detail for any scene makes it appear in the reader’s mind. From scenic views, a character’s mind set, creative situations and/or a clock’s subtle background sound, marking time. The main character Jenny Willson’s job is the national park warden of iconic national park Banff, CA. Her calling, the protector of it’s wildlife and natural resources. A tall, athletic woman who is brash, driven and forward. Her frienships true and long lasting. She does not suffer fools. A persistent and intuitive inspector. A case of horrific animal poaching that becomes SOOOOO much more. Developes over a year, covers Alberta, B.C. and US pacific NW, and their legal statutes. Visionary details of mountain ranges, tapestries of color and seasons, majestic animals, brazen bad guys, and heart breaking and horrific scenes. Descriptive character encounters. A well crafted story of one woman and the dedicated people who help solve these viscous crimes. This unpredictable thriller is filled with heart pounding action and suspense. The pages turn NON-STOP till the destruction of the bad guys. AND the punishment they deserve.