If Two Are Dead

Sandy & David #5

by Robert Sutherland

When David's family inherits the abandoned lodge at Lost Lake in northern Ontario, he hears legends that it's haunted. Accidents start to happen. An erratic driver who forces him off the road, a falling beam that misses him by a hair....

When he discovers what's really going on at remote Lost Lake Lodge, David wishes all he had to worry about was ghosts!

157 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Robert Sutherland is one of Canada's most successful YA novelists, having already published 13 novels. He has received numerous nominations and prizes for his fiction. His novels have been translated into French, Norwegian, Swedish, German and Korean. "Survivor's Leave" developed from his experience during WWII when he served as an anti-aircraft gunner on a Loch Class frigate (HMCS Loch Morlich). When his ship was in dry dock in London for repairs, he experienced the German V-1 bombing.

Reviews

[C. (Comment, never msg). · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been so entertained by this series; impressed with the mature survivalist characters, the refreshing originality of plots, and gorgeous Canadian and Scottish tableaux. “If Two Are Dead”, 1997, is the last of the ‘Sandy & David’ series, thus I delayed it until the tail end of this year! I let the preceding stories simmer, hung onto their energetic adventures and discoveries of wonderment. I graded all of them with five stars and this rare book is worth obtaining and savouring.

This time in north-eastern Ontario we find the lovely Scottish seafarer Sandy, visiting her boyfriend, David. They have the pleasant assignment of looking over a rugged, uncharted property his Dad inherited from a Great-Great Uncle. The reader knows immediately that its long decades of vacancy has been seized upon by terrible criminals but the cruel nature of their black market business - selling animal parts! - is shocking but worth exposing. Sandy astutely marvels upon seeing moose, black bears, heron, and white-tailed deer that Canadians don’t know how lucky we are to have this many large and wild animals living freely and natively to our country. I do know it, appreciate it, and live among them; dial-up internet and all!

All this eighteen year-old pair knows is that the “Hardy Boys” missions were never as tough as this. From the start their jeep is nearly vaulted off of a cliff, they survive passes by two tornados (one natural phenomenon would suffice!), and a bulldozer thrust in their path at night. The mystery is superbly constructed and the action is extremely heart-racing and dangerous, which is extraordinary with ‘new adult’ protagonists. These read more like ‘James Bond in wilderness Canada / Scotland’. I urge the talented Robert Sutherland to continue this wonderful series and mystery readers, to procure it!