The two main characters are a 61 year old police chief with a bad back and her 87 old mother who lives with her.
I scooped this review on the net and it puts my thoughts into words so well I just couldn't improve upon it.
But the really interesting thing about this book is that it was penned by a famous male author under the above pseudonym and I would never have found out about either of these if I hadn't listened to Writers and Company on CBC.
I won't disclose his name here but a quick web search will do it for you if you're so inclined.
It's such a joy to find books that are unashamedly Canadian (the story is based in small town Ontario) and also so unremittingly good. And are about older people doing their jobs, with interesting backstories: broken marriages, remote adult children, etc.
I love a good yarn. And bonus, a yarn behind the yarn.
ReplyDeleteYou got my curiosity up WWW. I will look and see if its available for the Kindle.
thanks for posting that.
Oh you get those irritating "Anonymous" spam, too. I am so sick of them.
ReplyDeleteI've just begun to read The Calling but I am squeamish and fainthearted so have already considered not finishing it. There are images I just don't want in my head. Which is why I never finished that book by Rohinton Mistry that describes a scene of torture and murder that I've never been able to forget. Damn that excellent writer's hide.
GFB:
ReplyDeleteI thought it unusual (and good enough) to write about. So rarely we see senior heros/heroines.
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I doubt I'd get through 500 pages, WWW - my restless mind rebels after around 300 - but the mystery of the author's identity intrigued me enough to Google for info.
ReplyDeleteFound his own "reveal" piece and as in it he quoted a poem I think I've quoted myself somewhere in my blog: "Snow" by Louis MacNeice....in it a great, great line "The drunkenness of things being various.
:-)
SJG:
ReplyDeleteThe amount of spam I get 9caught by spam catcher!) would make your head spin. The odd one sneaks through, riddled with grammatical and spelling errors as they are...:(
The crime scenes are graphic, if you're at all queasy. My hide is thick and my dark side needs the odd feed. :)
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T:
ReplyDeleteYes I saw that quote from him. I love it too.
I could do a post on the drunkenness of things.
I should mention the 500 pages are not crammed with print, a quite languid read if the subject matter hadn't been so compelling :)
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T:
ReplyDeleteYes I saw that quote from him. I love it too.
I could do a post on the drunkenness of things.
I should mention the 500 pages are not crammed with print, a quite languid read if the subject matter hadn't been so compelling :)
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Adding to my list. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI shall download this one toute suite. Speaking of famous writers using nom de plumes for their mystery novels, have you read any by Benjamin Black? I absolutely love them, because they're set in 1950s Dublin, the vestiges of which I can remember quite well. Plus they're written by John Banville, and I'd pay good money just to read his shopping lists.
ReplyDeleteHattie:
ReplyDeleteYou're into the grim and gory then?
Sisterhood. Wonderful.
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Tessa:
ReplyDeleteI shall add Ben to my list, 1950s Dublin. Do you know what I remember most was that missing kid who was stolen from her pram. Name of Brown I think....
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Ordered his first one, thank you Tessa....
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Of course I had to google it, and I don't actually know that author even by his real name. Sounds like an interesting book, but reading through the comments one I'd better avoid - I don't like to read graphic violence because the images then haunt my dreams.
ReplyDeleteHere is an update WWW.
ReplyDeleteI checked Amazon and the book is available for Kindle so I will be adding it to my list. Door in the River and the Taken are also available in that format.
SAW:
ReplyDeleteYes, if you're at all squeamish, avoid.
I am teflon when it comes to fictionalized violence but the non-fiction I tend to avoid. Too real and such innocent victims.
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GFB:
ReplyDeleteI had already ordered Taken and the River is still not available in paperback.
I am sure I will be Kindling soon but oh I so love my books!!
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Thank you all for the kind thoughts about The Calling. I'm glad to see Inger winning readers one at a time ...
ReplyDeleteMichael Redhill
OMG!
ReplyDeleteI do so love an author who is kind enough to comment on a rave review!
Thank you!
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I've come to rely on you for reading recommendations - along with D on http://60goingon16.typepad.com/, who is also a dedicated reader and writer in S.W. England. Your film list is also a treat.
ReplyDeleteMy thanks, WWW.