RM Greenaway

'Cold Girl' was a debut novel and the first book in what is now a six-book crime series by R. M. Greenaway. I picked it as one of the books for my 'Cold Comfort Reads' challenge because I wanted a book that would take me back to winter in the mountains. 'Cold Girl' certainly delivered on that, the story has a strong sense of place. I could feel the cold and sense the endless woods pressing in in the dark.

I found 'Cold Girl' to be a strange but compelling story. The story is framed around an RCMP investigation into the disappearance of a local woman in a rural BC town but it is written less as a whodunnit and more as an exploration of the character, motivations and limitation of two of the RCMP officers investigating the case and to display the lives of a small group of friends in their local habitat.

I loved the writing. R. M. Greenway has a gift for taking the reader right inside the main characters' heads without dropping into the first person. After a couple of paragraphs of sharing a character's thoughts, I had a clear view of who they are and some empathy for their situation.

She uses this talent mostly to take us inside the minds of the two investigators, neither of whom is typical. The RCMP lead, a detective called Leith, is convinced of his own mediocrity. He's a plodder who knows he can't see the big picture but who gets results by working the details rigorously. He has an ambition to move to a homicide unit in Vancouver but doubts that he has the political savvy to get there. Dion, one of the Constables assigned to help with the case, is not who he seems to be. Even he is not sure who he is anymore. He is recovering (probably recovering - he's not sure how to tell) from a brain injury that has turned him from a hotshot detective to a man who has to take notes to remember the names of his colleagues but who still has moments of deep insight and an uncanny knack for ending up at the centre of things.

I enjoyed seeing the case from the eyes of these two men and seeing them misunderstand and clash with each other.

The secondary characters - police chief, an ambitious but ruthless local constable and band members from the missing woman's band, are all well drawn. I felt as though I was meeting people not just suspects or plot devices.

The plot surprised me a few times. I didn't see the ending coming but I believed in it when I got there. What I liked most was that the people powered the plot. This investment in the people meant that R. M. Greenaway could give a realistic portrayal of how much of a grind an investigation can be without becoming dull.

It looks as though future books also feature Leith and Dion, although, based on how the first book ended, I'm not entirely sure how that will come about. I'm going to read the next book in the series, 'Undertow' to find out.
… (mehr)

Well, that’s a new one. When it comes to murder weapons, for some reason I never considered a Porky the Pig whirligig. Who knew…and much more efficient than I would’ve guessed 😱

(short recess while you visualize the above)

Done? Good. This is how we meet Beau Garrett, a cranky OAP of the get-off-my-lawn variety who lives in North Vancouver. About all Beau has left in this world is a drafty cottage, bad memories & a quick temper. Unfortunately, all three will be tested when a stream of uninvited visitors begin to pop by.

Among them are RCMP detectives Cal Dion, JD Temple & Dave Leith. They’re in the area due to the whirligig incident but soon have another body on their hands (one word: unicycle). Various threads lead them to a travelling magic show at a nearby park where Cal meets a flighty young woman named Bianca. And their subsequent friendship just might be the death of him….literally.

There are mysteries to solve, killers to catch & cases to close. But what struck me most was a common theme among the characters. Each is pretending to be someone they’re not. They have different reasons for wearing a facade….fear, boredom, guilt or just the need to escape reality.

In Cal’s case, it’s self preservation. Faithful readers will be familiar with the “event” in his past & how it’s been slowly eroding his mental health. Here we see just how heavy that burden has become & the effect on his relationships with colleagues. Ever since book #1, I’ve been wondering how this would play out but I was still surprised by the final lines on the last page.

This is book #6 in the series & although each contains a stand-alone investigation, I’d recommend reading them in order because of the history between the main characters. That’s especially true with this instalment as it feels like several subplots have reached the boiling point. I’ve grown fond of these characters so despite the fact I’m more than a little nervous about where the author takes them next, I’ll be awaitin’ on #7.… (mehr)

B.C. Blues Crime Series book # 6

This series has grown on me through the years of course being Canadian and reading a story colourfully penned by a Canadian author is one great pleasure I like to experience, especially when the drama is set in the very scenic British Colombia.

“Five Ways to Disappear” brings us up in the breezy heights of North Vancouver, in a drama that will bring RCMP officers Leith and Dion on a gruesome murder committed on Paradise Road: a craftsman has been spiked to his lawn by his own art work. While the two officers are deep into their investigation we are slowly lead into a secondary plot that has Dion befriends a young woman leading him straight into trouble.

This latest brings two haunted tales that like the previous novels dilly-dallies a lot but saying this is a positive we are slowly drawn into both mysteries as they are played out in alternate chapters. The intricately, tightly woven plots are well-written to give us drop by drop some suspense to keep us intrigue and guessing till the secrets are revealed... The two main characters have definitely won my heart, they are larger than life and so down to earth you may think they are real people with their many faults and qualities. The author knows how to make us love them while they go about their daily routine.

This book is smooth ready: style simple and nicely said. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

My thanks to Dundurn Press and Netgalley for this ARC these are my thoughts… (mehr)

This is a 4.5 upgraded to a 5 star. This is my first contact with this author and this series. This is book 5 in the series, and while there is definitely some background information covered in the previous novels, I was able to grasp ahold of the storyline without issue. Set in the wintry wonderland on Northern Vancouver, Canada, this story splits early in with the tenacious JD Temple investigating the apparent homicide of Tasha Aziz, a night janitor. Her fellow compatriots, Dion and Leith, catch the bizarre case of a missing toddler from a high end neighborhood.
Neither case seems to have easy answers or obvious leads. It soon becomes clear that everyone involved with the disappearance of the toddler has secrets or hidden agendas. When information links the case of the missing toddler to the mysterious homicide of Tasha Aziz, this talented group of detectives must pool their efforts to solve these cryptic cases. This story is filled with many different twists, that are always fun because it keeps us guessing. It would be fun to read the previous novels in the series as it is clear the characters involved have complicated histories. Thank you to Netgalley for the early copy.… (mehr)