Inger Ash Wolfe

This book was published in 2008 so it's taken me a while to read it. I didn't really feel like it was dated. There's cell phones (although the main investigator, Hazel Micallef, has to have one foisted on her) and DNA analysis and some fairly sophisticated computer technology. I would hope that by now a serial killer leaving behind bodies all across the country would generate some alerts but maybe not. Anyway, it kept me awake far too late one night in order to finish it. As they say on the front cover, "A Novel of Suspense".

D. I. Hazel Micallef is the acting chief of the Port Dundas police station. Perennially underfunded and lacking personnel the Port Dundas police manage to perform whatever they are called upon to do in this quiet rural corner of Ontario. That is, until Delia Chandler is found dead in her living room with her throat cut. DI Micallef knows Delia (not really a surprise) because she had an affair with Micallef's father. Micallef's mother, who was mayor of the town at the time, never forgave Delia but she's certainly not a suspect. When forensic tests show that Delia was poisoned before she died and that she invited her killer into her home, the mystery grows. The local paper publishes details about the killing and thus the sensational news spreads throughout the province. A few days later another body is discovered in a small town east of Port Dundas and there are enough similarities that the police there call DI Micallef. She realizes there is a good possibility that someone is killing people who have terminal illnesses and disguising the mercy killings with gory circumstances. A new detective in the force notices that the blood on this latest victims hands looks different from the rest of the blood and the forensics lab is asked to analyze it. They discover that it is a mixture of blood from 16 other people, including Delia Chandler. Using all her staff and some others she manages to second, they start to track down other victims. Throughout all this we get insight into the killer as he goes about his work. He is twisted and obsessed but thinks he is doing a service that will ultimately reward him and his victims. He will not be dissuaded until he finishes his work and if that means confronting Hazel Micallef, he is more than ready.

When this book was first published the author was described as a pseudonym for a well-know North American writer. It wasn't until 2012 that his identity was revealed to be Michael Redhill who has written many works of poetry, novels (including the Giller Prize winning Bellevue Square) and drama. He doesn't seem to have published anything since 2017 but I'm happy to read the rest of the Hazel Micallef books until he comes up with something else.… (more)