Book of the Month - By Kathleen Thorne

The Tenderness of Wolves
By Steph Penney

Published by Quercus
Price €12.20

In 1867 a man is murdere in Dove River – an isolated settlement on the north shore of Georgian Bay, Canada. It is winter and the cold is relentless. But the murder of Laurent Jammet focuses peoples' minds. For a variety of reasons many of these people become interested in discovering the identity of the killer.

Jammet's body is discovered by the wife of local man Angus Ross. Their son Francis disappears at the time of the murder – so suspicion focuses on him.

Mrs Ross decides that she must find her son. She sets off in the company of a "half-breed" called Parker. He, like all the native people, is an expert tracker – a skill which is vitally important in the boggy forest or snow- covered terrain which they have to travel over. Parker himself is initially suspected of having murdered Jammet.

In fact, it was Francis who first found the body. He was a frequent visitor to Jammet's hut because they were close friends. Just as he arrived at the cabin on the fateful night he saw someone enter and leave. He found Jammet's body and realised that he has seen the murderer. He packed some things and immediately set off in pursuit of the killer. Officials of the local Hudson Bay Company assume responsibility for solving the crime. They set off in pursuit of Francis, who is now their prime suspect.

In the course of their journeys through the inhospitable Canadian winter landscape, many people emerge out of the small settlements or isolated company posts. Their stories connect or interconnect in strange ways.

One of the interesting characters in the mix is Sturrock. He is not in pursuit of justice but of an artefact which he believes is in the possession of Francis. This is a bone with some inscriptions on it and belonged to Jammet. He believes it could be worth a fortune.

There is also the story of the two sisters who went missing while out on a walk with a friend years previously. The mystery of their disappearance continues to be a source of grief to their father and indeed to the whole community. We are told of the goings-on of the Hudson Bay Company and other companies who attempt to set up businesses in the lucrative fur trade of 19th century Canada. It is not an edifying story and produces mavericks like Stewart and gullible naïve victims like Moody.

Moody falls in love with a girl called Elizabeth. He meets her and her sister Maria before he sets out on his journey in pursuit of Jammet's killer. Then he becomes a little unsure of which of the sisters he really loves. As the story reaches its climax, it is not just the story of Jammet's murder that is solved, but several other mysteries that for years have cast a shadow over the many characters we meet in this novel.

Perhaps the author has tried to include one or two story-lines too many. However it is her first book and she manages to weave everything together convincingly. She provides us with a great read and an authentic trip through the forbidding landscapes around Georgian Bay, Canada.

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