Crime Writer Margot Kinberg

Newfoundland and Labrador is Canada’s easternmost province. It’s got a unique culture and language that’s been heavily influenced by its history of settlement by the Irish and English, as well as its isolation. In fact, it wasn’t a province until 1949. The weather may be treacherous at times, but it’s beautiful country with a rich history. And crime. Yes, even in a lovely maritime setting, there are still murders and other crimes – fictional ones, anyway. Here are just a few examples to show you what I mean.

Donna Morrissey’s The Fortunate Brother is the third in her series featuring Sylvanus Now, his wife, Addie, and their children, Chris, Sylvie, and Kyle, who live in The Beaches, a small Newfoundland community. In the novel, the family is grieving the loss of Chris, who died in a tragic accident. The healing process hasn’t really started yet, so the family is somewhat estranged. Then a local bully called Clar Gillard is murdered. He was unpleasant and malicious, and nobody will miss him. But the police still have to investigate the killing. As it turns out, Sylvanus, Addie, and Kyle all have motives for the murder, and any one of them could be guilty. So, the police focus attention on each one in turn. As the investigation continues, we see how the whole process makes life even harder than it is for the Now family. At the same time, it all draws the family together, and in the end, helps them start on their journey of healing.

Mike Martin’s series features Sergeant Winston Windflower. Originally from northern Alberta, Windflower is First Nations Cree. In The Walker on the Cape, he is transferred to Grand Bank, Newfoundland. He’s got to get accustomed to the different climate, culture, and just about everything else. Still, he settles in and takes up his duties. Then, the body of Elias Martin is discovered on the path he takes for his daily walk. It looks at first as though he had a heart attack, which would not be out of the question. Instead, it turns out that he was poisoned by arsenic. Windflower and his team now have to find the killer. It’s not going to be easy, though. On the surface, Martin seemed an inoffensive man with no enemies. But a deeper look into his history suggests something different. As Windflower investigates, he finds that things are not always what they seem on the surface.

Kevin Major has written an interesting series featuring tour guide Sebastian Synard. He’s divorced, but he doesn’t really drown his sorrows. And he has a solid relationship with his teenage son, Nick. As the series goes on, Synard becomes a private investigator, although he still does his tour work. Because of his profession, this series features several different Newfoundland and Labrador settings. Readers who want to ‘visit’ different places in the province will appreciate this. Being a tour guide also gives Synard several opportunities for coming across bodies…

In Emily Hepditch’s The Woman in the Attic, we are introduced to twenty-two-year-old Hannah Fitzgerald. She has returned to her isolated childhood home on the Newfoundland coast to help her mother prepare to move to an assisted living facility. It’s not going to be an easy task. For one thing, the house is crumbling, and there are several problems with it. For another, Hannah has to deal with her mother’s developing dementia, and that has its own challenges. It doesn’t help matters that the hospice nurse who provides some of her mother’s care is a little too inquisitive. One day, Hannah discovers a trap door to the attic. She always thought that trap door was sealed up, but it’s not. Her curiosity gets the better of her, and she opens it. In the attic, she finds a bedroom she never knew was there. She also finds some dark secrets from the past. As Hannah puts the pieces of the puzzle together, she uncovers some things she may very well regret learning.

Patrick J. Collins’ Murder at Lovers Leap features eighty-six-year-old Frank Fallon, who used to be a police officer with the Newfoundland Constabulary office in Harbour Grace. One day, he gets a courtesy call from the local RCMP detachment. It seems that an odd discovery has been made – a note that says: Nicholas Peddle will die on August 21, 1927. This strikes home for Fallon. In 1927, he was working as a sergeant with the Newfoundland Constabulary office when two bodies were discovered at the foot of Lovers Leap. One of them was a schoolmaster named Nicholas Peddle. Fallon never solved the case, so to hear it brought up again draws him back into the events of 1927, and readers follow along as he and his estranged partner, journalist Christine Sullivan, investigate. The question becomes: now that the new evidence has renewed Fallon’s interest in the case, will it help him to finally solve the murders?

There are plenty of other crime stories set in Newfoundland and Labrador, and it’s not hard to see how it would be an appealing setting. The province has a distinctive culture and history, and even when the weather doesn’t cooperate, it’s got a lot of natural beauty. If you visit, though, do be careful…

ps.  Thanks, Newfoundland and Labrador.com, for the lovely photo!

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Eddie Coffey’s Grey Foggy Day.