Stephen Legault

Holt City, Alberta, 1883. The railroad is under construction to unite Canada from sea to sea. A foreman on site has been murdered, and the North West Mounted Police send Sergeant Durrant Wallace to investigate. Wallace is desk-bound after having lost a leg and the full use of his right hand to frostbite, so with the help of an assistant he sets out from Calgary to investigate the case.

I liked the setting and the fact that Wallace is an actual police detective. (My tolerance for amateur sleuths has dropped significantly… give me a copper any day). However, I stopped reading and then couldn’t be bothered to find out whodunnit. I do now want to read The Last Spike, by Pierre Berton, and of course none of the Berton books are available in my library’s electronic catalogue :(… (mere)

The pace starts off fast and then slows down. The murder takes place in the prologue but it isn’t until 160 pages in that Blackwater decides he should do what he can to help the environmentalist charged with the murder of Mike Barnes. This is the beginning of a series so this can be overlooked. Legault has a lot of back story that ties into getting to know Blackwater. It’s essential knowledge to this story when a person from Blackwater’s past appears to report on the murder. The reader is given clues to the murderer’s identity but it’s still a surprise when the reader finds out who it is.

Full review available at http://www.amberstults.com/?p=2026 as part of the Green Books Campaign.… (mere)