Title: The Trickster's Lullaby
Expected
publication: 26 September 2017
My
Rating:πππ1/2
Book Description (Goodreads):
Amanda Doucette’s cross-Canada charity tour is in for a cold
snap when she organizes a winter camping trip for inner-city young people in
the stunning setting of the Laurentian Mountains. With a view to bridging
cultural divides, she brings along a mixture of Canadian-born and immigrant
youth.
Trouble begins when two of the teenagers disappear into the wilderness during the night: Luc, a French/English-Canadian with a history of drug use, and Yasmina, an adventurous young woman from Iraq who dreams of becoming a human rights lawyer. Although frantic, their parents are strangely secretive amid suspicions of drug use and forbidden romance. But when a local farmer turns up dead and terrorist material is found on Luc’s computer, the dangers turn deadly. Now in a battle against both the elements and police, Amanda and Corporal Chris Tymko discover a far greater web of secrets and deception.
As Amanda races to save the young people from danger, she finds herself fighting for stakes far higher than their own lives.
Trouble begins when two of the teenagers disappear into the wilderness during the night: Luc, a French/English-Canadian with a history of drug use, and Yasmina, an adventurous young woman from Iraq who dreams of becoming a human rights lawyer. Although frantic, their parents are strangely secretive amid suspicions of drug use and forbidden romance. But when a local farmer turns up dead and terrorist material is found on Luc’s computer, the dangers turn deadly. Now in a battle against both the elements and police, Amanda and Corporal Chris Tymko discover a far greater web of secrets and deception.
As Amanda races to save the young people from danger, she finds herself fighting for stakes far higher than their own lives.
My musings:
Firstly, can I just say that this was cover love at first sight – what an absolutely gorgeous cover! I couldn't resist it! Plus, I have discovered a lot of fantastic reads published by Dundurn in the past, so picking this book up was a double temptation for me.
The Trickster’s Lullaby was my first introduction to the
Amanda Doucette mystery series, and I really enjoyed discovering a new
engaging, multi-layered female protagonist who stands out from other
fictional amateur sleuths by offering an interesting past that drives a lot of
her actions. Plus, she has an adorable canine sidekick, who is the perfect
companion to a woman who spends a lot of time in the mountains. In this latest instalment, Amanda is trying to
enrich the lives of immigrant youths by exposing them to the Canadian
wilderness, hoping that they will form some friendships in the process. Having
experienced trauma in her own life, Amanda feels passionate about the
youngsters, who each come from war torn countries and have lived through some
hellish experiences. Even Luc, the only Canadian youth in the program, is
battling with his own demons and substance abuse issues. It soon becomes
obvious that things will not work out as Amanda has planned, and what better
place for things to go awry than a wintry wilderness camp in a remote place!
I loved the scenes of slight discord as a diverse group of
people are thrown together in a wild place, and the escalating tension as
things spin out of control. To be honest, The Trickster’s Lullaby was not at
all what I had expected, since I thought that the winter camp would feature for
most of the story and focus on the group’s interpersonal relationships. It
became very obvious in the first few pages that group dynamics would be an
issue, and I loved how the author built the tension and the reader’s anticipation
of conflict soon to come. However, the events in the camp only formed the first
part of the story, and the scene soon shifted to a more political and current
affairs arena, with other protagonists also featuring in the mystery and
displaying a different angle to the story. Whilst I really enjoyed Amanda’s
friends’ sleuthing and their various different characters, I admit that I would
have preferred savouring the slow unravelling of the group and the escalating
tension for a bit longer rather than the unexpected direction the novel was
taking. Whilst the story was extremely well written and researched, and was
certainly a topical issue, I admit I am not a great fan of politically based
mysteries, and therefore perhaps not the perfect audience for this book.
That said, there is action, adventure, armchair-travel, some
very interesting characters and a great surprise in store for the reader, so
this is certainly an author who knows how to deliver a multi-layered, well-plotted
mystery that keeps readers frantically turning the pages. I would love to see
Amanda and her friends back in future novels – the more remote the setting the
better. In the meantime, I must read the first in the series to discover a bit more about this remarkable former aid worker, who makes for such a refreshingly different protagonist.
Thank
you to Netgalley and Dundurn for the free electronic copy of this novel and
for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.