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I’m always so pleased to discover a fantastic and new (to me) Canadian author, and particularly one in the legal/mystery space.

This intricate and haunting story, involves two contemporary murders, based in Toronto, Canada, as well as war-time atrocities and the wounds left behind on a global and historical scale. As decades are untangled and horrors revealed, the story crosses time periods and locations, reaching deep into Italy, Great Britain and a western Canada (both past and present), and the expanse of associated families forever devastated by their losses.

“We all have burdens. It’s how we carry them that makes the difference”.

On the ten year anniversary of the murder of his brother, Michael, Toronto Homicide Detective Daniel Kennicott finds himself revisiting the crime, along with the “accidental” traffic accident, two years earlier, that claimed the lives of both his parents. Looking for a new angle, Kennicott is aided by Detective Ari Greene, who, still disquieted by these, the only unsolved crimes in his portfolio, has introduced two new detectives to the cases – the bright and eager recruit Detective Abdul Darvesh and the recently promoted Detective Sadie Sheppard.

As each of the four detectives weighs in with their discoveries in their individual third-person POV voices, a dark and brutal tale unfolds, made all the more heartbreaking by its harrowing true-to-life historical detail.

With great skill, the author manages the seamless interweaving of Kennicott’s cross-generational story; the modern day crimes; WW2 and its horrific legacy; as well as the readers’ gradual exposure to the intersectional history of Greene’s own family – Holocaust survivors with their own terrible secrets and scars.

I loved this book, – its multi-layered complexity, thoughtfulness, characterization, and most of all, its unshrinking take on pure evil, once released on a mind-numbing scale, yet still in our midst, – an indelible reach far beyond the grave.

“We have buried the bodies, but not the memories“.

With a twisty ending that left this reader both satisfied and wanting more, this story is Book #7 in an ongoing series involving Detectives Kennicott and Greene. What a joy to realize there is more to enjoy of this terrific author (who is also a practicing Toronto criminal lawyer), and these beautifully drawn characters.

A great big thank you to the publisher, and the author for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

** This book will be published on Feb 27, 2024