3 out of 5 stars
***2025 Summer: Murder Across Canada***
Northwest Territories
There aren't many mysteries set in the NWT in my local library but this one sounded good. It is considerably creepier than my usual fare, as the young RCMP constable finds eerie similarities between current deaths and two historical events. I also find supernatural story elements from aboriginal lore are much spookier to me than those from European traditions, perhaps because I have less experience with them.
A warning to sensitive readers: the description of the crime scene at the beginning of the book is very gory and is described in a bit more detail than I really needed. Ironic that murder doesn't get me upset, but dismemberment does. I call it a crime scene, but it's unclear what exactly went on. Was it an animal attack, a disturbed human killer, or a supernatural event?
The author wastes no time introducing the reader to Crash O'Halloran, the bush pilot with a sketchy reputation. Constable Tana Larrson must fly to the remote death site and her usual pilot is on an alcoholic bender so O'Halloran is pressed into service. Tana is hostile to O'Halloran, but he continues to turn up in her investigation. He repeatedly warns Tana that law enforcement works differently in remote communities, irritating her further. Afterall, she's the one with Dogrib heritage and he's a white guy.
We get another, more sinister viewpoint occasionally, presumably that of the perpetrator. White gives us several possible identities for this person, seen by several people as a quick moving shadow in the darkness of a northern winter. The long hours of darkness and the icy cold lend their own special misery to the investigation. The author comments frequently about the number of people driven mad by life in the north. Tana's support staff member, Rosalie, intimates that white men are especially susceptible. And male RCMP officers seem almost destined for this fate!
Ms. White was born in South Africa, making Canada's diamond industry in the far north a somewhat familiar subject. The plot tension picked up rapidly in the last chapters, but in my opinion many plot points were glaringly obvious from the very first pages. I figured out Crash O'Halloran’s story long before it was revealed and Tana's hostility to him immediately set him up as a potential romantic interest for her. I was a bit dismayed at White's portrayal of the aboriginal population, writing them as much more superstitious, volatile, and irrational than I believe them to be. In my limited experience, our original people are practical, down to earth folk.
In short, take it all with a big grain of salt. This is fiction, not documentary. Not the best, but not the worst mystery that I've read.