Aubrey Hamiliton Reviews: The Shadow Killer by Gail Bowen

Continuing my research into Canadian mysteries: No survey of current Canadian crime fiction is complete without mentioning Gail Bowen. She received the Derrick Murdoch Award from Crime Writers of Canada in 2009 and the Grand Master Award in 2018. Gail Bowen writes the Joanne Kilbourn amateur detective series set in Regina, Saskatchewan; #18 was released this month. (I have seven of these books and I am slowly working my way through them.) She also spun one of the supporting characters in this series off into a set of four novellas called Rapid Reads geared toward adults and teenagers.

Charlie D is the host of a popular late-night radio talk show somewhere in Canada. For two hours every night he takes calls from his listeners and offers advice on a specific theme. He and his producer screen callers but they never really know what anyone is going to say on air. It’s an auditory version of walking the tight wire without a net.

The Shadow Killer (Orca Books, 2011) is #3 in the series. It takes place on Father’s Day. Charlie has never had a good relationship with his dad, who decides that this is the day they will reconcile. Charlie is not so sure about it and is dreading their meeting. But the show must go on. Amidst the calls and emails reminiscing about paternal parents is a frightening email from a young man who is planning to kill not only his father but his entire family, making this Father’s Day a memorable one. Charlie and his producer frantically keep the banter lively on the radio show while they try to maintain contact with the young man and bring in the police to find him before it’s too late.

Within a short 90 pages or so Bowen establishes background, characters, relationships, and suspense effectively. The plots are a little light perhaps, but nothing more complicated could be resolved in a work of this length. I enjoyed all four of these books and can recommend them to anyone looking for a quick satisfying read. As usual with Canadian mysteries, I don’t know why, they might be hard to find in local libraries.

·         Paperback: 112 pages

·         Publisher: Orca Book Publishers; First Printing edition (September 1, 2011)

·         Language: English

·         ISBN-10: 1554698766

·         ISBN-13: 978-1554698769

Aubrey Hamilton ©2018

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.