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Detective Lane Series #1
Queen's Park
Detective Lane has a knack for discovering the whereabouts of missing persons. But the city's latest case has disappeared without a trace. After a brutal attack on his young nephew, ex-mayor Bob Swatsky has gone missing with 13 million dollars of tax-payers' money. Is he on the run with the cash, or is it something more sinister? A zany cast of characters, including a love doll, and a chain-smoking grandma with an oxygen tank, lead Detective Lane on a thrilling romp through the streets of Calgary.
224 pages, Paperback
First published September 13, 2004
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110 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
November 13, 2014
An enjoyable murder mystery which introduces Detective Lane and his partner Arthur.
At first it took me some time to figure out what had actually happened and what the mystery was actually about.
The mayor of the town has gone missing and is suspected of running off with millions of Canadian dollars. In addition to this it appears he may have attempted to sexually assault his nephew Ernie.
Ernie can't exactly remember what happened but he has nightmares that his abuser uncle may return. So the police are hunting for the mayor but no one knows where he is.
Except that a weird group of individuals may well know something - Nonna (Ernies paternal grandfather) and his rubber doll wife, Ernie's maternal grandmother who needs an oxygen tank and smokes and farts in public, Raymond the ex-football star now grave digger or perhaps the two shady friends of the mayor who are following Ernie about.
The mystery was ok but it was the weirdo characters that really carried the story. The book was a nice intro to the rest of the series and of course I love a good series and will be sticking with this one.
At first it took me some time to figure out what had actually happened and what the mystery was actually about.
The mayor of the town has gone missing and is suspected of running off with millions of Canadian dollars. In addition to this it appears he may have attempted to sexually assault his nephew Ernie.
Ernie can't exactly remember what happened but he has nightmares that his abuser uncle may return. So the police are hunting for the mayor but no one knows where he is.
Except that a weird group of individuals may well know something - Nonna (Ernies paternal grandfather) and his rubber doll wife, Ernie's maternal grandmother who needs an oxygen tank and smokes and farts in public, Raymond the ex-football star now grave digger or perhaps the two shady friends of the mayor who are following Ernie about.
The mystery was ok but it was the weirdo characters that really carried the story. The book was a nice intro to the rest of the series and of course I love a good series and will be sticking with this one.
October 9, 2017
This is the first of the Detective Lane's mysteries that now have been compiled in The Detective Lane Casebook #1. In this book we find Detective Lane a Calgary police detective,attempting to solve the mystery of the disappearance of corrupt public official Bob Swatsky who was last seen at his mother-in-law's home and who threaten his wife's nephew with a knife for a blow-job. This isn't the first time Bob has been accused of untoward behavior of a young man, but the first victim received a big pay off. Ernie, his second victim, can only remember bits and pieces of what happen because he was knocked unconscious and the next thing he remembered was waking up in hospital. Detective Lane knows the truth is out there, but won't get it from Ernie's grandmother Leona, who is very protective of Ernie or Ernie's grandfather Ernesto, who loneliness and grief have manifested in his companionship of a plastic love doll who the elderly widow speaks to constantly as he would with his late wife.We also have Ernie's mother Beth, who is protective of her son and is there for him when he's left shaking and crying from nightmares of the demented knife wielding Bob. Into these secrets and lies come Bob's dim-witted associates and partners in crime who are looking for Bob and the money they stole.Also,throw in Bob's greedy ex wife and Beth's sister Judy, already living in luxury in the Cayman Islands and her spoiled and loud daughter Lisa.Also thrown in the mix is mysterious landscaper and ex-hockey player named Randy, who has a dark past of his own and secrets he's not willing to share. Also, a new partner named Harper that Detective Lane has been teamed with whose paths have met several years earlier and Detective Lane must learn to trust. We also meet Lane's life partner Arthur, who Lane shares cases with for his invaluable knowledge in help solving mysteries. This and the various cast of characters help Lane in solving the mystery at hand and make this series a good read!
January 28, 2015
In the end it turned out to be a good story. At the beginning it was as if I'd missed a lot of backstory which made for a disjointed read.
January 4, 2017
This is a short and mostly satisfying mystery. I enjoyed the local Calgary setting, but found the narrative to be a bit clunky at times. Still a decent enough read and I wanted to finish it.
November 5, 2025
Quirky, easy, enjoyable read. 3.5/5
July 26, 2016
A pretty good first effort. Good enough to warrant trying the second in the series.
The mystery takes place in my home town, Calgary. Mr. Ryan does an admirable job of incorporating landmarks, streets, and references to local celebrities. The main character will benefit from more development which I am hopeful will happen in the following books in the series.
Give this a try. It is a light read and has an interesting, eclectic supporting cast of characters.
The mystery takes place in my home town, Calgary. Mr. Ryan does an admirable job of incorporating landmarks, streets, and references to local celebrities. The main character will benefit from more development which I am hopeful will happen in the following books in the series.
Give this a try. It is a light read and has an interesting, eclectic supporting cast of characters.
July 20, 2020
Okay, this isn't a romance (which doesn't bother me), but neither is a mystery (which it does). I used that tag because this is a police story, but right from the beginning we know what happened, and who was involved in it, so, no mystery here.
This is more of a presentation story, I think. We met Lane, his partner Arthur and his work partner Harper, and we get some bits of backstory on them, but not a lot.
The story itself was interesting, although, for moments, the narration is very disjointed and slow and I didn't get into it until I was half-way through the book.
I might read more books on this series, though, as the characters have potential.
This is more of a presentation story, I think. We met Lane, his partner Arthur and his work partner Harper, and we get some bits of backstory on them, but not a lot.
The story itself was interesting, although, for moments, the narration is very disjointed and slow and I didn't get into it until I was half-way through the book.
I might read more books on this series, though, as the characters have potential.
June 9, 2020
Took me a while but enjoyed the story and the character. Goosd start to the series for me.
December 30, 2025
I enjoyed the Alberta setting.
February 23, 2026
Sadly too much of this one where so obvious early on to make it a satisfying ending. One saving grace -- it's short read.
August 7, 2016
This one for me is between three and four but I rounded up because it got much better as it went along, and because most new books of a series have some rough spots to work out.
I enjoyed the book though did struggle with it at the beginning. Largely this difficult was for three reasons: 1) there were a lot of similar names - Lester, Lesley, Lisa; Loraine, Luanne; Nonno, Nonna, Nanny; Ernesto, Ernie, and so on - with overlap between the characters and names. These individuals were introduced as if the reader already knew the background story and often leaving the reader to discover, for example, that Ernesto and Nonno are the same person. 2) the book starts in a very heavy, negative way. E.g. Beth is tired, Nanny is angry, Lester and Marv are violent, etc. Some of the tone of the book changes over time but it does generally keep a fairly gritty note. 3) I get that Canadians view Calgarians and Albertans in certain, stereotypical ways, however having characters casually use racial slurs and open homophobia seemed a bit much. I had difficulty figuring out what era the book was set in. With this casual use of 'isms' it seemed back in the early nineteen hundreds. However, the characters were using Toonies, which showed that the time period had to be sometime into or after the late nineties. Part of the reason I read this book is that I was visiting Calgary at the time. The characters in the book did not seem to reflect the Calgarians that I met (nor do most of them the stereotypes other Canadians often have of them).
All of that said, I really did enjoy the read. I appreciated Ryan's treatment of Nonno's psychological eccentricities (or perhaps disorder). I also really appreciated Ryan's treatment of Ernie's PTSD. Mental health concerns are often very stigmatized but Ryan deal with these issues deftly and with compassion. I also very much liked the new character, Detective Lane (of no apparent first name), and his partner Arnold. The plot twists and turns and character development through the book were also very well done.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and will read at least the next in the series.
I enjoyed the book though did struggle with it at the beginning. Largely this difficult was for three reasons: 1) there were a lot of similar names - Lester, Lesley, Lisa; Loraine, Luanne; Nonno, Nonna, Nanny; Ernesto, Ernie, and so on - with overlap between the characters and names. These individuals were introduced as if the reader already knew the background story and often leaving the reader to discover, for example, that Ernesto and Nonno are the same person. 2) the book starts in a very heavy, negative way. E.g. Beth is tired, Nanny is angry, Lester and Marv are violent, etc. Some of the tone of the book changes over time but it does generally keep a fairly gritty note. 3) I get that Canadians view Calgarians and Albertans in certain, stereotypical ways, however having characters casually use racial slurs and open homophobia seemed a bit much. I had difficulty figuring out what era the book was set in. With this casual use of 'isms' it seemed back in the early nineteen hundreds. However, the characters were using Toonies, which showed that the time period had to be sometime into or after the late nineties. Part of the reason I read this book is that I was visiting Calgary at the time. The characters in the book did not seem to reflect the Calgarians that I met (nor do most of them the stereotypes other Canadians often have of them).
All of that said, I really did enjoy the read. I appreciated Ryan's treatment of Nonno's psychological eccentricities (or perhaps disorder). I also really appreciated Ryan's treatment of Ernie's PTSD. Mental health concerns are often very stigmatized but Ryan deal with these issues deftly and with compassion. I also very much liked the new character, Detective Lane (of no apparent first name), and his partner Arnold. The plot twists and turns and character development through the book were also very well done.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and will read at least the next in the series.
April 4, 2015
I actually started with book 2 and have read all of them since. This one is okay, I really wish that the dynamic between Arthur and Lane was in the other books. I love how Garry Ryan rights his books like a tv shows. no long winded explications and just sit back and questions are answered as you read. I can't wait for his next book. I think my favorite one by far is Foxed where we get to see more of Arthur and Lane work as partners.
September 10, 2012
I read The Humming Bird Dance and The Lucky Elephant restaurant and like them so much I had to go back to the first of the Detective Lane Mysteries and read Queen's Park. I'm looking forward to the beginnings of Detective Lane.
If you're looking forward to characters you can get to know and cheer for. This is a great place to start. Interesting, flawed, likeable - that's Detective Lane.
If you're looking forward to characters you can get to know and cheer for. This is a great place to start. Interesting, flawed, likeable - that's Detective Lane.
November 20, 2016
I really enjoyed this book. You can tell it is a first novel and there was absolutely no mystery to the murder, but I found the characters very engaging. I look forward to reading the other books in the series.
November 29, 2015
A book that takes place in your home town ~ check
August 17, 2010
set in Calgary
Want to Read
September 21, 2018Synopsis: Detective Lane has a knack for finding missing persons. Can he find ex-mayor Swatsky and $13M?
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews