Review of THE IMPOSTERS by Tom Rachman

4 Stars

Dora Frenhofer, an aging novelist, sees in herself signs of mental decline.  Alone in London during the pandemic, she writes what she thinks will be her last novel.  Using people from her own life (like her missing half-brother and her estranged daughter) and even people with whom she has had only brief encounters (such as a deliveryman and an immigrant hired to remove some of her possessions), she writes stories with them as protagonists.  Interspersed among these stories are Dora’s diary entries.

What emerges is a complex character study.  The diary entries might provide the most obvious insight into Dora’s personality, but the stories too reveal much about her as they suggest some of her regrets.  She admits that “What linked those chapters was one character:  a minor novelist in a minor crisis.  This was a version of herself, but with the opportunity to behave differently somehow, to solve something.”  Her relationships with her daughter and a former lover obviously weigh on her mind.  Her character Danny, an anxious, insecure novelist, seems to reflect her own concerns about her own writing and lack of success. 

Dora is not always a likeable character, but in the end it is difficult not to have some sympathy for her.  She is blunt, a trait she attributes to her being Dutch, and often dismissive of people.  She tries to be honest with herself – she acknowledges that she is a difficult and mediocre writer.  She is ambitious and selfish in her pursuit of success as a writer, neglecting others for the sake of her career.  When she meets other people she uses them to extract details she can use in her writing.  Otherwise, she has chosen to isolate herself, “gradually shedding all her companions . . . in pursuit of her writing.”  Now, having sacrificed so much for her art, she is obviously lonely.  She also fears the dementia that her father endured. 

The book is also about writing and the life of writers.  Numerous types of writers make an appearance; they write novels, magazine articles, stand-up comedy routines, restaurant reviews, and memoirs.  Most are insecure and worry about failing.  Danny comments that he is “no more an artist than all the other imposters.”  Dora’s stories show how writers can mine life experiences and transform them into fiction.  And of course there’s the question of whether novelists have a place in today’s world.  Is anyone reading books when there are so many distractions?  Dora wonders, “can this (literature) coexist with that (screens)? . . . all these writers, all yearning to create something of moment despite its near-impossibility – do they too wonder where this fits anymore?”

The lines between Dora’s reality and her imagination are blurred, so readers of this novel are required to think as they read.  Is Dora entirely truthful or is she an unreliable narrator?  Do her stories reflect more accurately the truth about her life and choices and what is most important to her?  Morgan pays a high price because of an article she wrote:  does Dora feel she has lost as much because of her choices?  Does the relationship between Amir and his half-brother Khaled tell us about Dora’s feelings/regrets/hopes about her relationship with her half-brother Theo? 

I enjoy creative, thought-provoking novels like The Imposters.  I’m sure there’s so much that I missed so I may re-read it when time allows.  Like for Dora, “books remain among my pleasures, that anticipation before opening a cover, and anything could be inside, and you’ll never quite predict it.  I’m still awed at others’ craft, how they patch together words, and produce people,” and Tom Rachman ranks amongst the best in his ability to do exactly that. 

Note:  I received a digital galley from the publisher via NetGalley.

Review of DREAMS OF ARCADIA by Brian Porter (New Release)

3 Stars

Veterinarian Nate Holub, recently divorced, moves from Houston to Hadlow, his father’s hometown in rural East Texas.  The novel details his struggles to adapt to being a country vet working more with large farm animals than family pets.  At the same time he tries to learn more about the accidental death of his father Dennis three decades earlier.  As he reconnects with family, he uncovers some family secrets.

It is obvious that the author has drawn on personal experiences in depicting the life of someone in veterinary practice.  Personally, however, I found the “intricacies of bovine obstetrics” less than appealing reading.  Having worked in a hospital, I’m not squeamish, but some of the details about surgical procedures seem unnecessary:  “After putting on surgical gloves, he picked up his scalpel and made an incision through the scrotal skin to expose the glistening white parietal tunic.  He cut through the tunic and applied gentle pressure to pop the testicle through the opening.  He isolated and stripped the spermatic cord and then crimped it with an emasculator, crushing and cutting the cord simultaneously.  ‘Made sure you don’t leave the tail of the epididymis here.’”  The description of a bovine C-section is even more detailed. 

This type of detail left me wondering about the intended audience for this book.  Is it intended for those in veterinary practice and those interested in the field?  Some of the terminology will not be familiar to the average reader.  Of course the author tries to include something for everyone.  There’s mystery surrounding Dennis’s death, family drama, and even romance.  Then there’s the humour, which often borders on slapstick:  “Nate spit out a leaf and stumbled out of the vehicle” and “he tripped over a potted plant and landed hard, banging his knee on a steppingstone and ripping a hole in his coveralls” and “he knocked over a large bottle of vitamin B12, which fell and shattered, spilling the thick amber liquid all over the counter and floor” and “one of the other dogs jumped on his back and started humping him.  He felt the dog’s breath on his ear, drool running down his neck.”  At times, I was reminded of the James Herriot books. 

I did not find Nate an appealing character.  He has been a vet for 17 years but in so many ways he seems so inexperienced.  Would he really be allowed to go out on calls to farms if he doesn’t know “how to prepare the tranquilizer dart or load the gun”?  He claims to be haunted by questions surrounding his father’s death, but his investigation proceeds at a glacial pace.  He’s an adult, yet he never asked questions before?  There’s little to admire in the way he behaves as a father to his daughters.  He says he’ll have them visit “once his spare bedroom was furnished and the house tidied up” yet almost a year passes before he has them stay with him?  He worries about the distance developing between the girls and him, yet he does little to maintain a close relationship. 

The book could use some judicious editing.  The descriptions of the countryside, for instance, seem to include lists of flowers:  “lantana, winecups, daffodils, spiderwort, daisies” and “Indian paintbrush, evening primrose, dandelions, prairie nymphs” and “Mexican hat and Indian blankets” and “bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, phlox, evening primrose, dandelions, squaw-weed, and prairie spiderwort.”  Then there are scenes that lack relevance:  Do we need to know about Skeeter Pilat’s competitive barbecuing or the various stories told by locals in Rita’s café or that a meal at family gatherings “usually consisted of barbecued chicken and sausage, along with boiled potatoes, green beans, rolls, fruit salad, deviled eggs, and sweet tea.  For dessert, there was banana pudding, pecan pie, and kolaches – poppy seed, cheese, and pear”?  I understand the need for local colour, but some details are just tangents. 

More than once I found myself losing interest and asking where the novel was going.  It is certainly slow-paced, like Nate’s investigation, and there is little suspense.  There is no great compelling reason to solve the mystery surrounding Dennis’s death; certainly Nate does not walk around like man haunted by the past or he wouldn’t take over a year to get answers to his questions.  Yet the sole purpose of Nate’s queries seems to be so he can learn to not be “mired in the past” so he can “appreciate the present”?   No one is ever in any real danger, though some encounters with large farm animals are portrayed as possibly being dangerous.  Nate is occasionally met with animosity, but real conflicts don’t develop.  The lack of narrative tension is a problem.

The novel did not appeal to me because of its slow pace, detailed descriptions of veterinary procedures, lack of focus and suspense, and a lacklustre protagonist.  The author’s writing style is clear, and he knows veterinary medicine and is familiar with the setting, but I found reading the book a bit of an effort.

Note:  I received a digital galley from the publisher via NetGalley.

Review of KILLING MOON by Jo Nesbø (New Release)

 4 Stars

I‘ve been a longtime fan of Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole series so was happy to receive this 13^th installment. 

 Harry is in Los Angeles trying to escape his life in Oslo after the events outlined in Knife, the 12^th book in the series.  It is almost an understatement that he is traumatized, grief-stricken, and burdened with guilt.  Because he needs some money to help a new friend, Harry agrees to return to Oslo when a wealthy man, under suspicion for the murder of two young women, hires Harry to clear his name.  He puts together a team of unlikely colleagues to help him uncover the truth. 

This is a dark police procedural with definite thriller elements as is usual with this series.  There are several graphic scenes depicting torture, cannibalism, murder, and rape, so the book is not for readers who do not want gruesome details.  There are also other elements found in the previous books:  multiple points of view, including that of the killer, and the endangering of a significant character who is important to Harry. 

The novel is layered since there are several subplots.  Besides the case that Harry, as well as the police, is investigating, there is a subplot around a new romantic interest for one of Harry’s friends/former colleagues.  And one other subplot, involving a store owner and his employee, is added into the mix.  This latter is the weakest since it’s intended only to muddy the waters and provide another possible suspect. 

In fact, there is a lot of misdirection.  Readers will find themselves believing one thing, only to discover that they have been misled.  There are multiple points of view with constant switches which often left me doing a double-take, as did passages which can be interpreted in more than one way.  This is the case right to the very end.  For instance, one character decides “to drop the slow torment and drive the knife right into his heart” and state, “’he’s not with me anymore.’”  This clearly suggests a killing, but that proves not to be the case. 

The perspective of the killer is given throughout.  This serves to explain motivation, though I had difficulty accepting the killer’s unusual method of luring victims.  It seems far-fetched to say the least.  Unfortunately, my scientific knowledge is not sufficient to determine if his method is credible.  I narrowed down my list of suspects to two, but both proved incorrect.  The identity of the murderer is anything but predictable, though thinking back, it’s obvious that clues are there. 

I don’t regard this as a standalone.  Many characters from previous novels reappear and their relationships with Harry are important.  Readers unfamiliar with these relationships can certainly follow the plot of this book but will miss a great deal of background.  Also, this book is full of spoilers about previous books.  I’d hazard a guess that this is not the last we will see of Harry; the ending definitely suggests at least one more book. 

Lovers of Nordic noir will enjoy this book.  It is dark and full of twists and turns.  Suspense abounds with more than one character being placed in danger.  There is little humour, though I did enjoy descriptions like “he was encumbered with the brain of a man and could only concentrate on one thing at a time, and sometimes not even that” and comments about underrating Leonard Cohen and overrating Bob Dylan. 

This is a perfect escapist book for a summer vacation.   But if you’re unfamiliar with Harry Hole, go back to the beginning of the series and you’ll find you have enough books for several vacations. 

Note:  I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Review of THE LAST PAINTING OF SARA DE VOS by Dominic Smith

 4 Stars

I recently finished Dominic Smith’s latest book, Return to Valetto, and I enjoyed it so much that I decided to read an earlier novel of his which I had been on my to-read pile for quite some time.

The Last Painting of Sara de Vos covers three time periods in three different continents.  In New York in 1957, Marty de Groot is robbed of the sole painting attributed to Sara de Vos and left with a “meticulous fake.”  Entitled “At the Edge of a Wood,” the painting has been in his family for over 300 years.  Marty hires a private detective who discovers that the forger was a graduate student of art history, Ellie Shipley.  Marty adopts an alias, Jake Alpert, to entrap Ellie.

In 1637 in Amsterdam, Sara de Vos, the first woman to be admitted into St. Luke’s guild of master painters, paints “At the Edge of a Wood” to help her cope with an unimaginable loss. 

In 2000, in Sydney, Australia, Ellie Shipley, now a renowned art historian, awaits the arrival of two paintings entitled “At the Edge of a Wood,” one the original and one the forgery she herself painted almost 50 years earlier.  One is coming from the Netherlands and one is being personally delivered by Marty de Groot. 

There is sufficient suspense to engage the reader throughout.  What will Marty do when he uncovers the identity of the forger?  Did Sara de Vos paint only this one painting?  Will Ellie’s crime be revealed and her reputation ruined and career destroyed?   

Lovers of art will certainly enjoy this book which examines one painting’s impact on people hundreds of years after its creation.  Personally I loved the parallels between a painting’s canvas and the canvas of a person’s life.  The painting process, and restoration process too, involves the layering of paints just as over a lifetime, we layer on experiences which shape our lives.  The canvases of people’s lives show layers of grime, damage, and the effects of time, so the past cannot be totally escaped. 

Ellie, for instance, after agreeing to “copy” de Vos, has worked hard to hide that choice but “The forgery didn’t stop after she’d handed off the canvas, it continued into the unfolding of years – the plush academic job, the marriage to an art dealer, the publications and curating of exhibits, none of these spoils would have been offered if anyone knew what she’d done. . . . She never stopped painting the beautiful fake.”  Marty admits that he “carries the past around like a bottle of antacids in his pocket. . . . You live among the ruins of the past, carry them in your pockets, wishing you’d been decent and loving and talented and brave.”

I enjoyed the stories of all three characters, especially the examination of their motives.  Anger in fact connects all three:  Sara is angry at her husband’s choices, Marty is angry at “those who wronged him,” and Ellie “recognized her own recurring anger at being overlooked.”  When there are multiple main characters in a novel, I often find one of the narratives less appealing, but that is not the case here.  All three emerge as distinct characters, with both flaws and redeeming qualities, and interesting backstories.

On a personal note, I began reading this novel while on a visit to family in the Netherlands so I loved the description of the Dutch “sturdy, unflappable manner and their occasional brusqueness.”  We visited the seaside village of Zoutelande in the province of Zeeland so I enjoyed the references to “the dunes of Zeeland” where “German tourists can bunk down with their entire brood” since I climbed those dunes and discovered that German is the second language in that area. 

This is a wonderful book which touches on so many human impulses and emotions:  anger, ambition, revenge, deceit, regret.  Full of suspense and memorable characters, it is a work of both creativity and meticulous research.  I highly recommend it. 

Review of THE BERRY PICKERS by Amanda Peters

 3.5 Stars

I don’t remember how I came to hear about this book, but I’m glad I did. 

There is a dual narrative.  Joe, dying from cancer, tells the story of his sister Ruthie’s disappearance decades earlier in 1962 when he and his family travelled as usual to Maine to pick blueberries.  Joe, six years old at the time, is the last to see four-year-old Ruthie.  Her mysterious vanishing leaves Joe devastated and affects him for his entire life. 

In alternating chapters we meet Norma who grows up in an affluent family in Maine, though her father is emotionally distant and her mother is suffocatingly protective.  Norma always has a sense of disconnection from her family and is troubled by dreams that seem too real, dreams that she quickly learns no one wants her to mention.  After the death of both parents, she discovers family secrets which set her looking for the full truth.

The plot is predictable, especially because the ending of the prologue indicates what is going to happen.  As a result, there is little narrative tension.  Norma’s identity is clear, especially when she mentions having a doll which she gives a revealing name.  An encounter at a park is also important, though it is rather coincidental.

It is the book’s examination of various issues that caught my attention.  For instance, the treatment of First Nations people is highlighted.  The sheriff does nothing to search for Ruthie; he says, “’She’s not been gone long enough, and you not being proper Maine citizens, and known transients’” and adds, “’If you were so concerned about the girl, you’d have taken better notice, I guess.’”  Mr. Ellis, the man who employs the berry pickers, lets two days pass during which the workers search for Ruthie, and then tells Ruthie’s father, “’This ain’t my problem . . . if you don’t get back to work, there are lots of other Indians around that would be more than happy to work these fields.’”  And then there’s the Indian agent who threatens to remove more of the children, telling the parents,  “’You give me a good explanation for losing a child and I will consider leaving one, maybe two, in your care.’” 

The effects of trauma are also examined.  Joe is consumed by grief, the “kind of grief [that] leads people to do things they normally wouldn’t.’”  That grief and his feelings of guilt are transformed into anger:  “anger and sadness are just two different sides of the same coin.”  And that anger affects Joe’s interactions with others:  “Anger makes people say things they don’t mean.  Makes them want to hurt others like they’ve been hurt.”  It is so sad that Joe, for the most of his life, cannot let go of that anger:  “’Anger is exhausting.  Holding on to it will drain the life out of you.’” 

This is not a challenging read, but it has a positive message about the persistence of love so is heart-warming despite its many heartbreaking events.  This is a debut novel and I will certainly be looking for future books from the author.

Review of RETURN TO VALETTO by Dominic Smith (New Release)

 4 Stars

In 2011, Valetto is a nearly abandoned town in Italy.  Among its ten remaining residents are the three Serafino sisters (Violet, Iris and Rose) and their mother Ida who is getting ready to celebrate her 100^th birthday.  Hugh Fisher, a historian living in the U.S., returns to their medieval villa where he spent his childhood summers.  His mother Hazel bequeathed him the stone cottage on the family property so he decides to spend his six-month sabbatical there. 

He learns, however, that a woman named Elisa Tomassi has arrived to claim the cottage.  During World War II, Elisa’s mother Alessia was a child refugee given shelter at the villa where she and Hazel became best friends.  Meanwhile, Aldo Serafino, the family patriarch, left to join the Resistance and was helped by Alessia’s parents.  He never returned home after the war, but Elisa tells of his death and his bestowing the cottage in gratitude for the family’s helping to keep him safe.  Ida asks her grandson Hugh to investigate to determine the truth.  He ends up learning about some family history involving his mother Hazel. 

There’s quite a large cast of characters, but everyone emerges as a distinct personality.  I worried about being able to differentiate the three sisters, but that proved not to be an issue.  Each has her own quirks:  Violet loves watching pro wrestling on television; Iris devotes her time to missing persons’ cases; and Rose sponsors children worldwide.  Even minor characters like Milo and Donata, the villa’s staff, are memorable. 

The author’s vivid descriptions transport readers to Umbria.  The landscape and flora are detailed so that it’s impossible not to have a clear visual of the region.  I understand it is possible to buy an abandoned house for €1 as part of an ongoing scheme to revitalize Italy's many sleepy towns with small, ageing populations.  Reading this novel left me wanting to relocate to a rural Italian village.

A major theme is the effects of suppressed trauma on generations.  There’s a wonderful description of actions flowing “across the decades like a tidal bore coming upriver.”  At one point, Elisa speaks about the burden of silence:  “’Silence kills us from the inside.’”  It is only through exposing secrets that they can be confronted and healing can occur.  Hugh, for instance, always felt that he never knew his mother; twice he refers to her as a cipher.  When he learns about what happened to her, a secret she shared with no one except Alessia, he is able to understand some of her behaviour.  Once he has made peace with his mother, Hugh too seems willing to stop wallowing in the past and re-engaging with life. 

Of course it takes courage to speak out.  But it is only when people open up about traumatic events that guilty parties can be made to bear responsibility.  Regardless of how much time has passed, people have a need for justice. 

Though much of the book is serious in tone, there are touches of humour.  The eccentricities of the sisters, the feud between Iris and Violet, and the preparations for Ida’s birthday dinner provide some light-hearted moments.

This is my first book by Dominic Smith.  His novel The Last Painting of Sara de Vos has been on my to-read pile for quite some time, and I think it’ll be moving to the top.  I hope it’s like Return to Valetto which is an example of excellent story-telling, balancing an interesting plot and memorable characters. 

Note:  I received a digital galley from the publisher via NetGalley.

Review of LADY TAN'S CIRCLE OF WOMEN by Lisa See (New Release)

 4 Stars

In this novel, Lisa See imagines the life of Tan Yunxian who lived during the Ming dynasty and wrote a collection of medical cases.  Her Miscellaneous Records of a Female Doctor is the earliest known book written by a female doctor in China and is still available.  See used actual cases from this book as a type of framework:  she creates events to explain how Tan Yunxian might have been able to treat women from various social classes. 

We first meet Yunxian in 1469 when she is eight years old.  Born into a wealthy, educated family, she is taught the principles of Chinese medicine by her grandmother, one of the very few female doctors in China at that time.  The focus of her instruction is the health issues of women since “A male doctor may not see or touch a female patient.”  Yunxian’s grandmother encourages her granddaughter’s friendship with Meiling, a midwife-in-training.  Since a doctor should never touch blood but a midwife is in regular contact with it, the two can work together, especially when a woman is in labour. 

Once Yunxian is married, her mother-in-law forbids her from practicing medicine or seeing Meiling.   Confined within the walls of family compound, she is expected to give birth to sons.  She struggles to free herself of these restrictive traditions so she can help women.

The reader learns a great deal about the lives of women in elite families.  Restrictions on their activities are numerous; unlike women like Meiling who belong to the lower classes and have considerable freedom, privileged women are not allowed to leave the women’s areas in the family compound.  Of course the tradition of footbinding limits the mobility of women.  (The descriptions of the process will leave the reader cringing.)  Hours are spent mastering feminine skills like embroidery.  I loved how Yunxian mentions that many of women’s conditions “’are affected by the different types of anger we women must hide from our husbands, mothers-in-law, and concubines.’”  Considering the obedience and sacrifices required of women, this anger is understandable. 

A major theme is the importance of female friendships.  Yunxian’s grandmother says, “’”Friendship is a contract between two hearts.  With hearts united, women can laugh and cry, live and die together.”’”  In a male-dominated world, “’It’s important for women – and girls – to find friendship and steadfastness where they can.’”  Though they are from very different backgrounds, Yunxian and Meiling become life-long friends.  They have times when they are separated by physical and emotional distance, but in the end, both would agree that “’”Life without a friend is life without sun.  Life without a friend is death.”’”

Readers of well-researched historical fiction will certainly enjoy this book; it entertains as it provides information about cultural practices unknown to many.  The addition of a mystery will also appeal.  I especially enjoyed the death investigations, as will anyone interested in forensics.  There is much to recommend this novel.

Note:  I received a digital galley from the publisher via NetGalley.    

Review of THE MEMORY OF ANIMALS by Claire Fuller (New Release)

3.5 Stars

I’ve read three of Claire Fuller’s previous novels (Swimming Lessons, Unsettled Ground, and Our Endless Numbered Days) and enjoyed them so I looked forward to reading her latest.  This dystopian novel didn’t impress me as much as the others.

During a devastating global pandemic, Neffy, a 27-year-old marine biologist, has registered for an experimental vaccine for a disease which in its latest iteration causes edema, memory loss, and sensory damage before leading to death.  The vaccine test is suspended when staff abandons the medical facility in London where the test subjects are housed.  Neffy finds herself safe from the chaos in the outside world but confined with four other young people:  Rachel, Leon, Yahiko, and Piper.  The five must figure out how to live together; fragile alliances are formed and shattered, and interpersonal conflicts arise.  Neffy feels that the others are keeping secrets from her.  Since she is the only volunteer who actually received the vaccine, pressure gradually builds for her to leave the facility to restock food supplies. 

Neffy spends time writing in a journal addressed to H; in it she writes about her love of octopuses.  She also becomes interested in a technology invented by Leon which allows users to intensely re-experience memories.  She is increasingly drawn to the machine which allows her to revisit her childhood, a love affair, and her work with octopuses. 

Though described as a novel about survival, it does not develop as expected.  Danger, action, violence, and survival struggles are minimal.  The middle section in particular is slow paced.  The five test volunteers manage quite well, though food supplies are limited.  The only real suspense revolves around if/when Neffy will venture out.  The conclusion, on the other hand, feels hurried.  Twice near the end there are major time jumps so much is skimmed over.  After the day-to-day structure, these time gaps are jarring. 

Neffy is the most fully developed character.  She has not made the wisest of life choices.  It didn’t occur to her that when she took a job at an aquarium she would be working with captive sea animals?  When faced with difficulties, her tendency is to run away, to escape.  Revisiting the past, therefore, is something she cannot resist; she becomes addicted to the experience, though she tries to justify her behaviour by asking whether people “’can learn from the past?  See things differently, or let it help us decide what we do in the future?’”  Her watching a piece of litter begin blown around foreshadows her personal growth:  “Its meandering journey is a tale of doubling back and indecisiveness, while all the time having no choice but to be pushed forward because the invisible wind says to go back is only an illusion.”

The other test volunteers are only sketchily developed.  I found it difficult to distinguish Rachel from Piper.  Their coping mechanisms are interesting.  Some seem to be in state of shock; some dream of rescue and happy reunions; some hoard objects from the world they knew; and some endlessly scroll through photos from their earlier lives.

Neffy’s obsession with an octopus held in captivity is obviously intended to suggest parallels between the animal and Neffy’s situation.  Both are confined and subjected to experiments.  Captivity affects an animal’s psychological and physical health, as does confinement affect the humans within the medical facility.  Neffy even asks, “Does freedom win over containment, even with all its risks, including death?” 

There are some elements that bothered me.  Neffy’s journal, written in the form of letters intended for H, is strange, especially once H’s identity is revealed.  These entries seem to serve little purpose but teach us about octopuses.  There’s a mystery surrounding the reason for Neffy’s dismissal from her job and the reason for her debt, but the solution is not surprising in the least.  The novel lacks cohesion; the three narrative threads (present, past, and the journal for H) don’t work together to develop theme.  Perhaps a commonality is an examination of our ethical obligation to help others if doing so endangers our lives, but the scattered, unfocused approach means the reader has to try very hard to find connections. 

I was disappointed in the novel.  It’s not bad, just not as polished as the author’s other books. 

Note:  I received a digital galley from the publisher via NetGalley.

Review of LIVINGSKY by Anthony Bidulka (New Release)

3.5 Stars 

Merry Bell, after years away and after gender-affirming surgery, decides to return to her hometown of Livingsky, Saskatchewan, where the cost of living is lower than exorbitant Vancouver.  Because of her experience as a private investigator, she decides to start her own private investigating business in Livingsky.  Her first case comes from her potential landlord, Gerald Drover, who wants her to uncover who started a fire in one of his rental properties.  That investigation brings her into contact with shady characters from both sides of the tracks that divide the city.  To complicate matters, Merry herself is considered a suspect in the murder of the Vancouver doctor who performed her surgeries. 

Merry is an engaging character.  It is impossible not to like her.  I loved one character’s description of her as “’brave and wonderful.’”  Her Louboutin designer boots are a perfect symbol for her attitude.   She has flaws which make her realistic, though I did find that at times she is not totally convincing as an investigator.  She never considered that she’d have to have two months’ deposit in order to rent an apartment?  She doesn’t investigate Peter Wells before meeting with him?  Only afterwards does she “take a deep dive into the life of Peter Wells”?  She has a tendency to make assumptions, often incorrect ones.  And she is always being surprised by the unexpected:  “He was not what Merry expected” and “Merry was jerked out of her wah-wah-poor-me stupor by the unexpected question” and “The house was nothing like what Merry expected” and “This was not going as expected” and “She hadn’t expected to hear back from him so soon” and “This was not at all what Merry expected to hear” and “The door was opened by the last person she expected to see.”

The book gives readers an understanding of the struggles of a transgender woman:  “the prices she’d paid, physically, financially, emotionally . . . all the surgeries – genital, facial feminization, tracheal shaping, implant.”  Of course, a transgender woman would be worried about sex:  “’Imagine, if you can, waking up one day to find that the sexual organs you’d always hoped for, the ones you should have been born with, are suddenly right where they were always supposed to be.  It’s like having a brand new toy you have no idea how to play with, and there’s no one around to show you. . . . Finding partners is not an easy thing, especially partners who know and care about what you’re going through.’”  Then there are the concerns like clothing, hair, and make-up.  Initially I wondered why Merry didn’t reconnect with any family or friends in her hometown, but then it makes sense that such reconnections might not be easy:  people might not be accepting of her.

There are other interesting characters.  I especially enjoyed Gerald Drover, the happy gopher.  The description of him when he first appears is so perfectly detailed:  “He was very tall, six-and-a-half feet at least, and slender as a streetlight.  He wore a Heavy Metal band t-shirt, skinny jeans that still required the assistance of a belt to say up, one of those wallets with a chain that hooked onto a belt loop, and crusty cowboy boots that’d seen one too many rodeos. . . . Atop Drover’s perfectly oblong head was a full-on mullet, ginger red.  His cheeks were puffy, his chin pronounced, his ears and nose super-sized.  . . . The eyes were like nothing she’d seen before, the colour of an aquamarine sea sprinkled with specks of sand, rimmed with lashes so thick Merry wondered if he was some kind of mutant with double sets on each lid.  Like many of his other features, Drover’s lips were far too big for his long, narrow face, but they were so pleasantly plump and cherry-pink they looked like a chewy chunk of double bubble.”  And he has the over-sized personality to match that physical appearance. 

It’s been a while since I’ve visited Saskatoon but I think Livingsky is modeled on that city.  I certainly remember walks along the South Saskatchewan River.  Isn’t Alphabet City an actual area of Saskatoon?  But the Holodomor memorial described reminds me of the one in Regina.  I imagine using a fictional setting allows the author more freedom so he can change details to suit his purposes.   I must say I do love the name chosen – a reference to the slogan “Land of the Living Skies” which I believe appears on Saskatchewan license plates?

The book has something for almost everyone.  There’s mystery, though the killer of the Vancouver doctor is obvious almost from the beginning.  There’s humour, often at Merry’s expense.  I love that she’s not above laughing at herself.  And there are also hints at a possible romance, or two, for Merry. 

Like several of the chapters, the book ends with a teaser so I’m assuming that this is the first in a series featuring Merry Bell.  I will certainly look out for the second installment.