The Delicate Storm: A John Cardinal Mystery

A warm front had moved into the northern Canadian town of Algonquin Bay on the day Ivan Bergeron's dog brought home a human arm, something Detective John Cardinal really didn't need in his life at this time, because he's got a lot on his plate, like dealing with his irascible father's deteriorating health, the impending release from prison of the drug dealer he'd stolen two hundred thousand dollars from and a tall tale from Robert Henry Hewitt - better known as Wudky, the World's Dumbest Criminal - about the murder of a local trapper who turns out to be alive and well. However he can't ignore the arm and a search turns up the rest of the corpse, well most of it, as the body had been doubling as bear food. Still the bears didn't do in the victim, so Cardinal has a real murder on his hands.Cardinal and and his partner Detective Lise Delorme, trace the remains to an American tourist ostensibly in town to check out the ice fishing. Now, because the dead guy was an American the case turns into sort of jurisdictional mess, then Cardinal is attacked, but by who?Meanwhile, Delorme is working on her own case - Dr. Winter Cates, a new arrival to Algonquin Bay - has gone missing and when he turns up in the woods naked and dead, the detectives realize their cases must be connected and during the course of the investigation they wind up digging in past, unearthing the dirty affair of a failed kidnapping and murder by members of the FLQ in the '60s.The Delicate Storm is a fascinating story that incorporates one of the most terrifying times of Canadian history. There are twists and turns a plenty, complex characters and an ending you won't easily forget.Sophie Cacique Gaul

A warm front had moved into the northern Canadian town of Algonquin Bay on the day Ivan Bergeron's dog brought home a human arm, something Detective John Cardinal really didn't need in his life at this time, because he's got a lot on his plate, like dealing with his irascible father's deteriorating health, the impending release from prison of the drug dealer he'd stolen two hundred thousand dollars from and a tall tale from Robert Henry Hewitt - better known as Wudky, the World's Dumbest Criminal - about the murder of a local trapper who turns out to be alive and well. However he can't ignore the arm and a search turns up the rest of the corpse, well most of it, as the body had been doubling as bear food. Still the bears didn't do in the victim, so Cardinal has a real murder on his hands.Cardinal and and his partner Detective Lise Delorme, trace the remains to an American tourist ostensibly in town to check out the ice fishing. Now, because the dead guy was an American the case turns into sort of jurisdictional mess, then Cardinal is attacked, but by who?Meanwhile, Delorme is working on her own case - Dr. Winter Cates, a new arrival to Algonquin Bay - has gone missing and when he turns up in the woods naked and dead, the detectives realize their cases must be connected and during the course of the investigation they wind up digging in past, unearthing the dirty affair of a failed kidnapping and murder by members of the FLQ in the '60s.The Delicate Storm is a fascinating story that incorporates one of the most terrifying times of Canadian history. There are twists and turns a plenty, complex characters and an ending you won't easily forget.Sophie Cacique Gaul

This second adventure of detectives John Cardinal and Lise Delorme is a welcome addition to the series. Author Blunt has created a believalbe, worldly set of characters who are able to keep the action going while dealing with their own personal problems. Although this is one of those stories that grab you at the beginning and keep you reading through the night, it is not a mindless escapade in non-stop thrills, but just a very good story about detectives searching for the truth and their lives outside of the station house. I especially like the setting. The small, rural town locale in Canada seems to add to the suspense. It is a welcome diversion to read about someplace other than the huge metropolitan US cities where most novels seem to take place. Cardinal and Delorme are interesting, entertaining characters who complement each other perfectly. I can't wait for the third novel in this series.

John Cardinal returns in this superb sequel to 'Forty Words for Sorrow'. While this book is not quite as gruesome or suspenseful as its predecessor, the writing, characterization and setting is so well done that it sets its own standard. It is quite excellent.Once again, Cardinal and Delorme form the foundation of the book, and it's great to see Cardinal's depressive wife, Catherine, behaving so warmly. Cardinal's father, Stan, is also an excellent addition. The relationship etched between John and his father is brilliant in its realism, although the ultimate ending though cautiously foreshadowed, still packs an emotional wallop.It takes Cardinal and Delorme a long time to find outwho is responsible for the gruesome death of an American tourist. They go through tons of interviews, all leading back to turbulent political times; the connection is there, you just have to wade through a lot of evidence to get to the conclusion.The ending is a shocker, and it certainly necessitates book # 3 in this excellent series.HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Algonquin Bay, Ontario experiences a rare January warm front that awakens the bears that should remain in hibernation. When a dog brings home a piece of an arm, the local police initiate a search for the rest of the body parts. Through diligent investigative work they conclude that the victim is a former CIA agent who worked in Montreal in 1970 during the French Canadian separatist movement that turned violent.While Detectives John Cardinal and Lise Delorme work the case, a doctor goes missing until her nude body is found in an isolated part of the town. The police link up the two murders because the rare AB type blood was found in the doctor's office and the first victim's car. They believe the perpetrator was injured and needed medical assistance. To learn who is getting away with murder the two detectives travel to Montreal to try to reconstruct the events that happened over three decades ago to see if one of their interviewees will lead them to the killer.THE DELICATE STORM is a very well written police procedural that takes the reader back in time to the violence of the seventies during the Vietnam protests and the French Canadian separatist movement. The police methodically follow each piece of new evidence and try to connect all the pieces to form the larger picture, but the cases prove difficult and the detectives frequently become frustrated at their lack of progress. It is very entertaining to follow the investigation with is frustrations and triumphs. Giles Blunt is rapidly becoming one of the best writers of psychological suspense.Harriet Klausner