Sweep Lotus

Elias McCann Mystery #3

by Mark Zuehlke

When the naked corpse of a girl known only as Sparrow is found wrapped in barbed wire on a storm-swept beach, community coroner Elias McCann must investigate the sadistic killing. Suspects abound in The Family, a gaggle of homeless youths led by a grizzled veteran of Canada's mean streets. But menace also seems to lurk around the neglected property that so fascinated Sparrow before her death. The property is slated for transformation into a seaside resort by a developer who seems intent on acquiring all of Tofino -- and Elias's girlfriend, Vhanna Chan. To find the killer Elias must first unravel the mystery of Sparrow's past.

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

On January 1, 1981, Mark Zuehlke walked away from a journalism career to pursue magazine and book writing fulltime. He has never looked back. In 1992, Mark published his first book—Magazine Writing From the Boonies (co-authored with Louise Donnelly)—and now concentrates almost exclusively on writing of books.

Fascinated by Canada’s military heritage, Mark first set to writing about the role Canadians played in World War II after discussing the Battle of Ortona with several veterans in a Royal Canadian Legion following a Remembrance Day Ceremony in Kelowna, B.C. Discovering no book had been written on this pivotal battle, Mark decided to fill that gap. Ortona: Canada’s Epic World War II Battle was the result. The book’s success encouraged him to develop The Canadian Battle Series, which documents the Canadian World War II experience and has resulted in his being declared by Jack Granatstein as the nation’s leading popular military historian.

Mark is also an award winning mystery writer, whose popular Elias McCann series has garnered much critical praise. Set in storm-swept west coast Vancouver Island village of Tofino, the series follows the investigations of reluctant community coroner Elias McCann. Hands Like Clouds, the debut title in this series, won the Crime Writers of Canada’s Arthur Ellis Award for the 2000 Best First Novel and the third instalment, Sweep Lotus, was nominated for the 2004 Arthur Ellis Best Novel.

When not writing, this Victoria, British Columbia resident can often be found tinkering around the Fernwood heritage house he shares with partner and fellow writer Frances Backhouse. He enjoys hiking, backpacking, cycling, kayaking, travelling, and cooking.

Reviews

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

#3 in the Elias McCann series. Remittance man Elias McCann lives on an island in British Columbia where he serves as coroner. By charter he may investigate the circumstances of a death, however, the Mountie in charge of the local post has never stopped suspecting McCann of killing his wife and violently objects to him "interfering" with a police investigation. Unfortunately, this is the last of the series.

Elias McCann series - When the naked corpse of a girl known only as Sparrow is found wrapped in barbed wire on a storm-swept beach, community coroner Elias McCann must investigate the sadistic killing. To find the killer Elias must first unravel the mystery of Sparrow's past.