Remind Me

The Cardinal Divide has everything a mystery lover could want: a bloody murder, a host of suspects each with a different motive, a fast paced plot, and a likable, if not completely perfect, detective. Cole Blackwater, freelance environmental consultant, is not your average amateur detective, but he's not afraid to put his own body on the line to solve the murder that?s put his only paying client's cause in jeopardy.

You start reading to see whodunnit, but it's Stephen Legault's characterization of even minor players that keeps you entranced. You know people like Peggy McSorlie, the wild life biologist/farm wife who calls Cole in to help her group of kitchen table environmentalists stop a mining venture sure to damage the fragile ecosystem of the Cardinal Divide, you've debated politics with David Smith, the president of the Chamber of Commerce with political plans beyond his small town and you've had a beer with George Cody, the small town bartender and motel owner who played football in high school but missed his chance at the CFL because of injury.

The other major player in this well plotted first mystery is the location itself. Set against the lush backdrop of the Alberta foothills, Oracle, has all the elements that make a believable small Canadian town and there is something quintessentially Canadian about the entire novel, despite the fact it deals with the global issues of multinational corporations and environmental degradation. Cole Blackwater is a welcome addition to the ranks of Canadian and international sleuthing, sure to be ranked up there with other Canadian greats such as Anthony Bidulka's Russell Quant, Gail Bowen's Joanne Kilbourn and Kathy Reichs's Temperance Brennan.