Saturday, September 25, 2010

Negative Image-Vicki Delany

Negative Image
Vicki Delany
Poisoned Pen, Nov 2 2010, $24.95
ISBN 9781590587881

Along with the initial arrival of spring in Trafalgar, British Columbia comes renowned photographer Rudolph Steiner. He plans to do a shoot on mountain tourism, but has a hidden agenda. However, whatever his real reason for coming to this mountain resort town, someone shoots him in the back of his head in his room at the historic Hudson House Hotel.

Maid Rachel Kowalski finds the corpse. As soon as the body is identified, Trafalgar City police sergeant John Winters recuses himself from the inquiry as his wife former model Eliza and the victim Steiner knew each other intimately at one time. Under the antagonistic leadership of Royal Canadian Mounted Police Detective Madison, Constable Molly Smith investigates the homicide, but soon finds a horde of visitors with motives including family, employees, and rivals. There is even one local suspect Eliza. At the same time Molly’s dad goes to the hospital for surgery due to an accident, someone stalks her, and Smith considers a job in Toronto.

The latest Trafalgar Canadian police procedural (see In the Shadow of the Glacier, Valley of the Lost and Winter of Secrets) is a great whodunit as Molly works the case with her caring teacher replaced by an odious curmudgeon while facing two personal crises. The story line is fast-paced from start to finish, but the tale is owned by the town and Molly as Vicki Delaney provides a wonderful regional murder mystery.

Harriet Klausner

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