Forty Words For Sorrow

Author: Giles Blunt
Genre: Suspense, Canadian
Type: Trade Paperback
Pages: 336
Source: Local Public Library
Publisher: Vintage Books Canada
First Published: 2000
Series: #1 in the John Cardinal and Lise Delorme Mystery series
Opening Lines: "It gets dark early in Algonquin Bay. Take a drive up Airport Hill at four o'clock on a February afternoon and when you come back half an hour later, the streets of the city will glitter below you in the dark like so many runways."

Book Description from GoodReads: In the quiet Canadian town of Algonquin Bay, a frozen body has been found in an abandoned mine shaft. She is quickly identified as Katie Pine, a teenager who had disappeared months ago. At the time, Detective John Cardinal insisted that Katie was no ordinary runaway. His relentless pursuit and refusal to give up on the case got him demoted from Homicide.But now the Canadian police force wants Cardinal back on the case—with a new associate by his side. And as these two untrusting partners gather evidence of a serial murder spree, a pair of sociopaths is closing in on the next victim.
InthequietCanadiantownofAlgonquinBay,afrozenbodyhasbeenfoundinanabandonedmineshaft.SheisquicklyidentifiedasKatiePine,ateenagerwhohaddisappearedmonthsago.Atthetime,DetectiveJohnCardinalinsistedthatKatiewasnoordinaryrunaway.HisrelentlesspursuitandrefusaltogiveuponthecasegothimdemotedfromHomicide.ButnowtheCanadianpoliceforcewantsCardinalbackonthecase—withanewassociatebyhisside.Andasthesetwountrustingpartnersgatherevidenceofaserialmurderspree,apairofsociopathsisclosinginonthenextvictim.

But now the Canadian police force wants Cardinal back on the case—with a new associate by his side. And as these two untrusting partners gather evidence of a serial murder spree, a pair of sociopaths is closing in on the next victim. 

My Rating: 4 stars

My Review: I picked up this book based on the recommendation of one of my library patrons who insisted that I read this Canadian mystery series. Of course, I'd heard of Giles Blunt but I had yet to pick up one of his books.

The main story begins when the police find the body of a 13-year-old Indigenous girl police had long ago assumed had runaway. Cardinal had been obsessed with this case in the past and it had damaged his career, but he eagerly takes the case which soon unearths more missing teens and gruesome murders. There's also a secondary story line involving Cardinal's potentially not-so-squeaky-clean past and includes the addition of his new partner, Lise Delorme who, unbeknownst to Cardinal, works for Special Bureau and is investigating him. 

Going into this book I expected a mystery, but this is more of a thrilling chase to catch the bad guys since we find the identity of the culprit early on. There's still a good amount of tension but it was more of a slow burn kind of read for me with some aspects of the crime much gorier and sadistic than I had anticipated making me quite squeamish.

Shortly after starting this book, I began recognizing street names and locales that reminded me of North Bay, Ontario - the town where my dad was born and raised, where we had a cottage on Trout Lake and where I still have a lot of family. When I looked into it, I realized that Giles Blunt was a long-time resident of North Bay and Algonquin Bay is, in fact, the thinly disguised city of North Bay. I always enjoy when Canadian authors keep their books in Canada and I especially enjoyed the Canadiana that is sprinkled liberally throughout.

This is a great start to this new-to-me, why-didn't-I-pick-it-up-earlier suspense series. John Cardinal is an intriguing main character who has his share of flaws, a questionable past and a lot on his plate family-wise but is still a guy readers can get behind. The story is a well-written, gritty police procedural filled with grisly crimes and readers will enjoy Cardinal and Delorme's unrelenting chase to find the culprit.  

Favourite Quotes: "Eskimos, it is said, have forty different words for snow. Never mind about snow, Cardinal mused, what people really need is forty words for sorrow. Grief. Heartbreak. Desolation."