Sunday 8 January 2017

Book ~ "Tumbled Graves" (2016) Brenda Chapman

From Goodreads ~ A missing child. A dead mother. Kala Stonechild is about to discover what one betrayal can lead to.

When Adele Delaney and her daughter, Violet, go missing, Jacques Rouleau is called upon to investigate. However, struggling with the impending death of his ill ex-wife, he sends Kala Stonechild and Paul Gundersund instead. Stonechild has been trying to adapt to life as her young cousin Dawn’s guardian, and even though Gundersund has offered support, Stonechild is at risk of losing custody.

On the second day of the investigation, Adele’s body turns up, dumped on the shoulder of the highway with no sign of her daughter. Her husband, Ivo, denies any involvement with either his wife’s death of their child’s disappearance but not everyone is convinced. As the investigation unfolds, Stonechild learns that Adele was once entangled with a Montreal biker gang and heads to Quebec to investigate further.

As Stonechild and Gundersund juggle personal troubles and a complicated dangerous case, they find themselves piecing together a chain of disasters leading back to a single betrayal.

Adele and her young daughter,Violet, from Kingston, ON, are missing and officers Kala Stonechild and Paul Gundersund are assigned the case.  When Adele's body is found on the highway and it appears that Violet has drown, everyone assumes it was Ivo, the woman's husband, who killed his family.  Stonechild and Gundersund, though, head to Montreal to check into Adele's past and discover she used to work in a strip bar and was involved with some questionable people.

In the meantime, Stonechild has temporary guardianship of her cousin's daughter, Dawn, whose parents are now in prison.  Stonechild is used to just having to take care of herself but now wants to make sure that Dawn doesn't have the same upbringing she had in foster care.

Jacques Rouleau has some time off to be with his ex-wife, who he still loves, who is dying.  Gundersund is dealing with his wife who had left him for someone else but has made it clear she wants him back.

This is the third book I've read by this author (I read two last week) and I enjoyed it.  It's always nice to read a book that is happening in Ontario (and Canada).  I liked the writing style and found the storylines interesting.  It is written in third person perspective with the focus on the various characters wherever the action was happening.  Though it is the third in the Stonechild and Rouleau series, it works as a stand alone and you don't need to have read the first one to read this one (there is enough background given).  As a head's up, there is swearing.

I look forward to reading the others in the series.

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