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Three Crows a Letter
When her best friend, reporter Hannah Simms, is accidentally killed under ominous circumstances Amy Bishop, a young movie producer, finds herself drawn to Liverpool, Nova Scotia, the same small town where her friend met her demise.
Once there, Amy is welcomed by the local inhabitants - and the crows, the black sentinels that have been at the center of many of the area's mysteries in recent years. As Amy and her new friend try to understand the crows' dark message, they are thrust into one tragic event after another.
Like all those who came before her, Amy eventually finds that nothing in this quaint settlement nestled on Nova Scotia's South Shore is as it seams - nothing.
Picking up only months after Two Crows Joy reached its jolting climax, Three Crows a Letter spins a riveting and spine-tingling tale of suspense and vengeance that will leave the reader breathless and keep them guessing right up to its exciting conclusion.
Once there, Amy is welcomed by the local inhabitants - and the crows, the black sentinels that have been at the center of many of the area's mysteries in recent years. As Amy and her new friend try to understand the crows' dark message, they are thrust into one tragic event after another.
Like all those who came before her, Amy eventually finds that nothing in this quaint settlement nestled on Nova Scotia's South Shore is as it seams - nothing.
Picking up only months after Two Crows Joy reached its jolting climax, Three Crows a Letter spins a riveting and spine-tingling tale of suspense and vengeance that will leave the reader breathless and keep them guessing right up to its exciting conclusion.
304 pages, Paperback
First published May 10, 2012
1 person is currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Vernon Oickle
43 books13 followersVernon Oickle lives in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. He studied journalism in Lethbridge, Alberta and upon his graduation in 1982, he returned to his hometown to begin his newspaper career. Since then, Vernon has won many regional, national and international awards for writing and photography. In 2012, he won the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors’ Golden Quill Award for best editorial writing, becoming only the third Canadian and the first Nova Scotian to win this honour since it was first presented in 1961.
Today, he is the editor of the nationally award-winning newspaper, The Lunenburg County Progress Bulletin in Bridgewater. Since October 1995 he has been writing the popular and award winning column, The Editor’s Diary. Helping to shape and influence public opinion on a wide range of topics that over time, his writing increasingly touches a populist nerve by airing topics important to his readers.
In addition to being an award winning journalist and editor, Vernon is the author of 18 books, many of which collect and preserve the heritage and culture of Atlantic Canada. In 2010 he launched a series of novels that get their names from a Maritime folklore rhyme about seven crows.
Today, he is the editor of the nationally award-winning newspaper, The Lunenburg County Progress Bulletin in Bridgewater. Since October 1995 he has been writing the popular and award winning column, The Editor’s Diary. Helping to shape and influence public opinion on a wide range of topics that over time, his writing increasingly touches a populist nerve by airing topics important to his readers.
In addition to being an award winning journalist and editor, Vernon is the author of 18 books, many of which collect and preserve the heritage and culture of Atlantic Canada. In 2010 he launched a series of novels that get their names from a Maritime folklore rhyme about seven crows.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 5, 2017
In the third book in this series, writer and young film producer Amy Bishop arrives in Liverpool after the death of her best friend Hannah Simms. Hannah was investigating a story for a newspaper in Halifax when she was accidently killed in a freak accident outside the B and B where she was staying. Amy and Hannah had talked about the possibility of making a movie about the mysterious events that had occurred in Liverpool over the last months and Hannah was beginning to believe it was all part of some elaborate plot. But she never finished her investigation before her death.
After her friend died, Amy packed up all her belongings and moved to Liverpool, drawn by some irresistible force she could not name. She is even considering making the town her new base of operations, although her business partner Faye Rice who lives in California is not happy about the idea.
Amy is welcomed by the town’s residents including Kate Webster who provided legal services for the house Amy bought outside of town. As Amy begins the work of settling in, she begins to notice the crows. While outside in the back garden she sees three of them perched on the peak of the roof staring at her. When Amy enters the house, they fly down to the back deck and sit on the railing, still glaring at her. Amy had heard stories about the crows but she had always felt they were old wives tales. Now she wonders if there is some truth to what people have been saying.
Kate is keen to introduce Amy to her friends and enlists her brother Charlie, his friend Oliver and Oliver’s friend Matt Miller to help Amy unpack. Amy is drawn to Oliver who offers to help with some badly needed renovations to her windows and roof. Amy enjoys Kate and Charlie’s company but she dislikes Matt, the DJ at the local radio station. Matt has been drinking heavily since his wife left him and is presently facing a drunk driving charge. Oliver says Matt is lonely and is just going through a difficult time. Even so, Amy keeps her distance from him, dismissing him as a jerk.
While unpacking dishes, Amy comes upon a sealed envelope at the very back of one of the shelves in a kitchen cupboard. It is yellowed with age and does not bear a name or an address. Since Amy is the fourth owner of the house, she imagines it has been left by a prior resident, dismisses her finding and puts the envelope in her pocket.
Meanwhile, Mike Cahill a young constable in the Liverpool RCMP detachment, is facing a disciplinary hearing over allegations of recklessness in the shooting that resulted in Hannah Simm's death. He believes he did nothing wrong, but others in town are not so certain and are quick to judge when they believe a police officer has overstepped his authority. Mike recently came home to find the body of a dead crow nailed to his door with a knife and the word “die” scrawled underneath it.
Kate is the lawyer in charge of Mike Cahill’s case. She believes his version of the events, that his firearm discharged accidently as he fought off a group of attacking crows. He had several gashes on his head and body to substantiate his account of what happened, but is still facing an internal investigation and public scrutiny. Although the case is not being heard by a criminal court, he could face a charge of careless use of a firearm causing death, a charge that if proven would end his career in the RCMP. What makes things more difficult is Mike and Kate are facing an arrogant and pompous crown prosecutor who is more interested in maintaining his public image than in ensuring justice is served.
Meanwhile a major hurricane is making its way up the east coast towards the Maritimes. With the storm approaching, Oliver is trying to get some work done on Amy’s roof. As he descends the ladder he sees three black crows. Two lunge at him and he throws his cap at them to protect himself. They respond by attacking him and when he tries to fend them off, he loses his balance on the ladder and plunges to the ground. He ends up with a bad lump on his head and a wound on his hand that requires seven stitches. Oliver is thoroughly puzzled by the crows' behavior. He has known these birds all his life and has never seen anything like this. These birds attacked him as if they were possessed.
Oliver is worried about his friend Matt who is not answering his calls. He knows Matt has increased his drinking lately and goes to his home to check up on him. He finds the house ransacked and Matt lying dead on the floor after a brutal attack. As Oliver waits for the police to arrive, he notices three crows perched on a tree outside.
When Kate reviews her e-mail she notes a puzzling one titled “crow” from a sender called “Corvus” that contains a puzzling message about three crows and a letter. And then late one night, someone shatters her glass patio table and scrawls the same message across it in red.
Strange events continue to follow, all accompanied by the appearance of crows until the climatic ending that would be difficult for any reader to guess.
For some strange reason, Oickle’s language deteriorated in this novel. He is reduced to using words like “piss” and “puked” and sentences salted with the “F” word. That is fine when it is appropriate and necessary, but that wasn’t always the case here. And for some strange reason, whenever his characters were stressed they kept mouthing the term: “get a grip”. It got to be so funny, I almost started to count the times it happened!!
Oikle does a good job of creating and holding the tension in this effort, holding back the contents in the envelope from the kitchen cupboard until almost the end. And thankfully, the editing has begun to improve, but it still needs work.
After her friend died, Amy packed up all her belongings and moved to Liverpool, drawn by some irresistible force she could not name. She is even considering making the town her new base of operations, although her business partner Faye Rice who lives in California is not happy about the idea.
Amy is welcomed by the town’s residents including Kate Webster who provided legal services for the house Amy bought outside of town. As Amy begins the work of settling in, she begins to notice the crows. While outside in the back garden she sees three of them perched on the peak of the roof staring at her. When Amy enters the house, they fly down to the back deck and sit on the railing, still glaring at her. Amy had heard stories about the crows but she had always felt they were old wives tales. Now she wonders if there is some truth to what people have been saying.
Kate is keen to introduce Amy to her friends and enlists her brother Charlie, his friend Oliver and Oliver’s friend Matt Miller to help Amy unpack. Amy is drawn to Oliver who offers to help with some badly needed renovations to her windows and roof. Amy enjoys Kate and Charlie’s company but she dislikes Matt, the DJ at the local radio station. Matt has been drinking heavily since his wife left him and is presently facing a drunk driving charge. Oliver says Matt is lonely and is just going through a difficult time. Even so, Amy keeps her distance from him, dismissing him as a jerk.
While unpacking dishes, Amy comes upon a sealed envelope at the very back of one of the shelves in a kitchen cupboard. It is yellowed with age and does not bear a name or an address. Since Amy is the fourth owner of the house, she imagines it has been left by a prior resident, dismisses her finding and puts the envelope in her pocket.
Meanwhile, Mike Cahill a young constable in the Liverpool RCMP detachment, is facing a disciplinary hearing over allegations of recklessness in the shooting that resulted in Hannah Simm's death. He believes he did nothing wrong, but others in town are not so certain and are quick to judge when they believe a police officer has overstepped his authority. Mike recently came home to find the body of a dead crow nailed to his door with a knife and the word “die” scrawled underneath it.
Kate is the lawyer in charge of Mike Cahill’s case. She believes his version of the events, that his firearm discharged accidently as he fought off a group of attacking crows. He had several gashes on his head and body to substantiate his account of what happened, but is still facing an internal investigation and public scrutiny. Although the case is not being heard by a criminal court, he could face a charge of careless use of a firearm causing death, a charge that if proven would end his career in the RCMP. What makes things more difficult is Mike and Kate are facing an arrogant and pompous crown prosecutor who is more interested in maintaining his public image than in ensuring justice is served.
Meanwhile a major hurricane is making its way up the east coast towards the Maritimes. With the storm approaching, Oliver is trying to get some work done on Amy’s roof. As he descends the ladder he sees three black crows. Two lunge at him and he throws his cap at them to protect himself. They respond by attacking him and when he tries to fend them off, he loses his balance on the ladder and plunges to the ground. He ends up with a bad lump on his head and a wound on his hand that requires seven stitches. Oliver is thoroughly puzzled by the crows' behavior. He has known these birds all his life and has never seen anything like this. These birds attacked him as if they were possessed.
Oliver is worried about his friend Matt who is not answering his calls. He knows Matt has increased his drinking lately and goes to his home to check up on him. He finds the house ransacked and Matt lying dead on the floor after a brutal attack. As Oliver waits for the police to arrive, he notices three crows perched on a tree outside.
When Kate reviews her e-mail she notes a puzzling one titled “crow” from a sender called “Corvus” that contains a puzzling message about three crows and a letter. And then late one night, someone shatters her glass patio table and scrawls the same message across it in red.
Strange events continue to follow, all accompanied by the appearance of crows until the climatic ending that would be difficult for any reader to guess.
For some strange reason, Oickle’s language deteriorated in this novel. He is reduced to using words like “piss” and “puked” and sentences salted with the “F” word. That is fine when it is appropriate and necessary, but that wasn’t always the case here. And for some strange reason, whenever his characters were stressed they kept mouthing the term: “get a grip”. It got to be so funny, I almost started to count the times it happened!!
Oikle does a good job of creating and holding the tension in this effort, holding back the contents in the envelope from the kitchen cupboard until almost the end. And thankfully, the editing has begun to improve, but it still needs work.
September 2, 2024
“The crows in Liverpool have been acting crazy for quite a while now. In fact, all of their odd behavior started right around the time that Maggie Collins arrived in town almost two years ago. Kate has tried to convince herself that it is just a coincidence, but every time there was a tragedy in town, the crows were acting weird, as if they were possessed or something.”- page 63
Vernon Oickle has penned another great mystery/suspense novel set in a small seaside town on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. The third in a series, with the titles originating from an old Nursery Rhyme, this novel takes place over 6 days during a heat wave in August just months after Two Crows Joy finishes.
Amy Bishop, a young movie producer and best friend of newspaper reporter Hannah Simms, who was accidentally killed in book two, has just bought a house and moved to Liverpool. Kate Webster, the lawyer who helps her with the purchase of the house just happens to be the same Lawyer who is defending the RCMP officer, Mike Cahill whose stray bullet killed Hannah Simms just months before. Kate organizes a group of friends to help unpack Amy. While unpacking, Amy finds a strange letter in her cupboards. The next day a violent murder takes place. What follows is a quick-paced, action-packed story, with its suspense building right alongside a storm that is brewing in the South and heading towards Nova Scotia.
I am looking forward to jumping into Vernon’s next book, Four Crows a Boy.
Vernon Oickle has penned another great mystery/suspense novel set in a small seaside town on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. The third in a series, with the titles originating from an old Nursery Rhyme, this novel takes place over 6 days during a heat wave in August just months after Two Crows Joy finishes.
Amy Bishop, a young movie producer and best friend of newspaper reporter Hannah Simms, who was accidentally killed in book two, has just bought a house and moved to Liverpool. Kate Webster, the lawyer who helps her with the purchase of the house just happens to be the same Lawyer who is defending the RCMP officer, Mike Cahill whose stray bullet killed Hannah Simms just months before. Kate organizes a group of friends to help unpack Amy. While unpacking, Amy finds a strange letter in her cupboards. The next day a violent murder takes place. What follows is a quick-paced, action-packed story, with its suspense building right alongside a storm that is brewing in the South and heading towards Nova Scotia.
I am looking forward to jumping into Vernon’s next book, Four Crows a Boy.
February 10, 2015
Best of the series yet! Suspenseful, builds well on the previous stories (unlike book 2 which really just rehashed book 1) and I only figured out who the killer was a chapter before it was revealed.
Still some serious editing mistakes. Formally instead of formerly?!
Still some serious editing mistakes. Formally instead of formerly?!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews