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Eddie Dougherty Mystery #1
Black Rock
Set amid the tumult of 1970 Montreal, this is “an extremely good crime novel [with] a seriously compelling mystery.” ― Booklist A superb police procedural and a compelling page-turner for readers of Dennis Lehane The police in Montreal have their hands full as FLQ, a militant separatist group, continue a campaign of violence. Bombs explode at the stock exchange and at McGill University. Riots break out at a parade. Diplomat James Cross and government minister Pierre Laporte are kidnapped ― and the Canadian army moves into the streets. Against this dramatic backdrop, the “Vampire Killer” has murdered three women and a fourth is missing. As the bulk of the police force focuses on the FLQ crisis, a young beat cop finds himself virtually alone as he hunts the serial killer. Constable Eddie Dougherty, the son of a French mother and an Irish Canadian father, is determined to take matters into his own hands before another victim dies …
424 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
9 people are currently reading
605 people want to read
About the author
John McFetridge
31 books136 followersOn the back of my books it says:
John McFetridge, author of Dirty Sweet and Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, became fascinated with crime when attending a murder trial at age twelve with his police officer brother. McFetridge has co-written a short story collection, Below the Line. He lives in Toronto with his wife and two sons.
John McFetridge, author of Dirty Sweet and Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, became fascinated with crime when attending a murder trial at age twelve with his police officer brother. McFetridge has co-written a short story collection, Below the Line. He lives in Toronto with his wife and two sons.
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February 21, 2017I can't get into this book.
I made it to 5%. The writing was kinda all over the place. It made it difficult to follow.
Since I didn't finish this one, I will not be reading book 2.
There will not be a rating.
I made it to 5%. The writing was kinda all over the place. It made it difficult to follow.
Since I didn't finish this one, I will not be reading book 2.
There will not be a rating.
October 5, 2014
There’s much to like about Black Rock, a historical police procedural set in Montreal in 1970 -- attention to historical detail, the sense of place, the intersecting story lines, and the characterisation. McFetridge bases the story around two real cases -- the ‘vampire killer’, a serial killer operating in the city, and the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ), a separatist terrorist movement that left hundreds of bombs across the city before moving on to kidnapping two high profile officials -- placing his central character, rookie cop, Eddie Dougherty, on the periphery of both cases. Dougherty is still trying to work out his place in the city, and on the force, both of which are increasingly dominated by Francophones. He’s a regular cop, competent but not exceptional, but since he knows the family of the fourth 'vampire' victim he becomes determined to try and help solve the murders when the investigation is put on the back burner to concentrate on capturing the key members of the FLQ. His problem is he only has one clue to go on, the sighting of a white car with a black top that was seen near to where the latest victim was discovered. It’s a slim lead and he’s not really sure how to pursue it. By focusing on Dougherty and his stuttering, hesitant investigation and not one of the lead investigators of either the murders or FLQ actions, McFetridge stifles the potential tension somewhat, the story simmering along without ever really boiling over, but that’s actually one of the reasons I liked the tale so much. The story focuses on the everyday, mundane policing in exceptional circumstances; on trying to grind out a result with limited resources and experience. Moreover, McFetridge does a great job of placing the reader in Montreal in 1970. The result, is a slice of social realism that I imagine would translate into a great television series.
December 26, 2014
One of the many great things about this novel is the way it captures the real world dilemma of the apportionment of police resources. Drawn from the historically accurate 1970s Montreal, much of the dilemma is how its protagonist Eddie Doherty will work both the case he cares about, the murder of a young woman that he knew, and the one that everyone else does, the terrorist bombings and kidnappings that are besetting the city. Underneath the well-paced and sometimes wry police procedural is a more melancholy meditation on how we prioritize the victims of crime. In our media driven short attention span era the question of who is remembered and who forgotten is even more worth contemplating than it was in 1970.
April 27, 2015
In October 1970 I had just started university, and for the first time in my (sheltered) life I saw armed military and police on the streets of Ottawa. Turbulent times around the world were felt in Canada too. Black Rock has this period as the back drop to a more prosaic murder. The divided city of Montreal is shown up as police go about their work, dealing with political bombings, kidnappings and murder, as well as purely criminal murders. Reminiscent for me, with a lot more understanding of the various forces that make the situation more complex than I could imagine at that time.
June 3, 2023
2.5
First, a lot of this book is based on actual murders that occurred. I didn’t realize this, and I wish I had known because I dislike true crime and would’ve skipped it. I was aware the book was set at a certain place in time and history, but actual murders that really happened are my deal-breaker. I didn’t lower my rating of the book based on that, but just an FYI to any who share my aversion to finding entertainment in the deaths of others.
If you don’t know at least a little bit of French, this book is going to be annoying for you. But I can reassure you basically nothing important is said in French, so don’t worry about the random bits of French conversation. Mainly all you need to know is “Tabarnak”, which is a pretty crass curse word, like a super “fuck”. That’s all you need to know about the French.
This book had just about none of the droll humour of “Every City…”, but it did have that two layered story of one plot and another plot kind of meandering along. It was also very heavy on the Canadian-ness, which I can’t help but enjoy. It’s nice not to read American-washed stories, or ones purposefully written so it isn’t clear where they take place. Every time the narrator paid with a two dollar bill, I smiled.
Other than that, the book was quite slow (meandering, as I said), and no plot points or characters were particularly interesting (maybe the main detective that helped the MC). I did enjoy learning more about the history of Montreal in the late 60’s/early 70’s but other than that, I didn’t particularly enjoy the book. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good, and I had to force myself to finish it.
First, a lot of this book is based on actual murders that occurred. I didn’t realize this, and I wish I had known because I dislike true crime and would’ve skipped it. I was aware the book was set at a certain place in time and history, but actual murders that really happened are my deal-breaker. I didn’t lower my rating of the book based on that, but just an FYI to any who share my aversion to finding entertainment in the deaths of others.
If you don’t know at least a little bit of French, this book is going to be annoying for you. But I can reassure you basically nothing important is said in French, so don’t worry about the random bits of French conversation. Mainly all you need to know is “Tabarnak”, which is a pretty crass curse word, like a super “fuck”. That’s all you need to know about the French.
This book had just about none of the droll humour of “Every City…”, but it did have that two layered story of one plot and another plot kind of meandering along. It was also very heavy on the Canadian-ness, which I can’t help but enjoy. It’s nice not to read American-washed stories, or ones purposefully written so it isn’t clear where they take place. Every time the narrator paid with a two dollar bill, I smiled.
Other than that, the book was quite slow (meandering, as I said), and no plot points or characters were particularly interesting (maybe the main detective that helped the MC). I did enjoy learning more about the history of Montreal in the late 60’s/early 70’s but other than that, I didn’t particularly enjoy the book. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good, and I had to force myself to finish it.
September 22, 2025
I liked this story at a 3 level — a typical police procedural. But, I was reading it for the Montreal context, and this guy really delivered on that front! It was very entrenched in Montreal of the early 70s. I loved this, for that context. I just ordered the other two books in the series.
Separately, I had been debating if I wanted to read Two Solitudes by Hugh MacLennan (which is supposed to be a famous, quintessential Canadian novel). I was thinking it seemed too old and too long for me. BUT this book, Black Rock, kept referring to Two Solitudes! How’s that for a police procedural?! This protagonist kept thinking back to how what he was seeing in Montreal was illustrating the two cultures that Two Solitudes is all about. So this book also nudged me to read Two Solitudes. Clearly, Black Rock is a thinking person’s police procedural!
Separately, I had been debating if I wanted to read Two Solitudes by Hugh MacLennan (which is supposed to be a famous, quintessential Canadian novel). I was thinking it seemed too old and too long for me. BUT this book, Black Rock, kept referring to Two Solitudes! How’s that for a police procedural?! This protagonist kept thinking back to how what he was seeing in Montreal was illustrating the two cultures that Two Solitudes is all about. So this book also nudged me to read Two Solitudes. Clearly, Black Rock is a thinking person’s police procedural!
September 11, 2017
Recommend! I loved this atmospheric story of a young Montreal cop, caught between his English and French roots, against the background of the 1970 October Crisis and a divided city. A well-realized plot that combines the broader events of the time, a case Eddie Dougherty is working on, and elements of his personal life and happenings in his family from the Point. The kind of book you want to get back to when you're in the middle of reading it. A Canadian crime classic, even if John McFetridge doesn't have a mass following (yet.)
January 4, 2021
I suspect that I might score this higher than someone who did not live during this time in Canadian history and because of that might not be able to relate so strongly to how authentically the author was able to capture the time and people and perspectives and cultures.
I will certainly read more by this author.
I will certainly read more by this author.
April 28, 2014
John McFetridge has lingered in the gray area of writers for years. Critically acclaimed, a “writer’s writer” of whose work his peers could not get enough. Readers have been slower to the party. Sales of his Toronto series have not kept pace with the praise, leaving McFetridge dangerously close to becoming a cult writer. (As defined by the late Donald Westlake, a cult writer is an author seven readers shy of making a living.)
Sometimes it’s necessary to take a step back in order to take two steps forward. In McFetridge’s case, that step back is forty years, to the era of the Québécois separatist movement of the 1970s. Public places were bombed, public figures were kidnapped—and sometimes killed—and airplanes were hijacked. Montreal’s police force is stretch beyond effectiveness, so when young women start showing up dead there’s little or no response available.
Constable Eddie Dougherty is an Anglophone cop in a city where both are suspect. He knew one of the dead girls and comes in contact with the detective to whom the cases belong, at least when neither of them are running down false leads or putting on shows of police presence for political reasons, which is most of the time. Dougherty sees through the facades and wants to work the real case; stealing time from his assignments as he can to work with the more experienced homicide detective, who is himself torn between wanting to catch the killer and keeping Dougherty out of trouble.
History makes troubled times and their resolution seem inevitable. From the American civil rights movement and Vietnam through the Irish Troubles and South African apartheid; all seem relatively tidy and their results foreordained to those who have only read of them. McFetridge strips historical hindsight away from the reader, placing him on the ground with Dougherty, not understanding what’s happening, unable to guess what comes next, more uncertain than afraid, which may be even worse. The writing style is perfect for putting the reader in the streets with the characters. Their sense of confusion and wonder is made clear, as no overarching view is provided; the reader knows what the characters know, filtered through their eyes.
For fans of McFetridge’s previous books, Black Rock has the voice and ear-catching dialog that make all of them such engrossing reads. Now add a sense of history, a You Are There sense of being involved in things larger than oneself, and you’ll have a good idea of what his newest venture is like to read. Kirkus has said Black Rock may be McFetridge’s breakout book; the same could have been said about more than one previous effort, notably 2008’s Everybody Knows This is Nowhere. Maybe the historical connection will lend a previously unnoticed gravitas to Black Rock that will propel McFetridge to the top ranks. For years he has written books that are not only set in Canada, but are about Canada. It would be no more than fair for the book that places him most squarely into Canadian history to be the one that makes him more than a regional success.
Sometimes it’s necessary to take a step back in order to take two steps forward. In McFetridge’s case, that step back is forty years, to the era of the Québécois separatist movement of the 1970s. Public places were bombed, public figures were kidnapped—and sometimes killed—and airplanes were hijacked. Montreal’s police force is stretch beyond effectiveness, so when young women start showing up dead there’s little or no response available.
Constable Eddie Dougherty is an Anglophone cop in a city where both are suspect. He knew one of the dead girls and comes in contact with the detective to whom the cases belong, at least when neither of them are running down false leads or putting on shows of police presence for political reasons, which is most of the time. Dougherty sees through the facades and wants to work the real case; stealing time from his assignments as he can to work with the more experienced homicide detective, who is himself torn between wanting to catch the killer and keeping Dougherty out of trouble.
History makes troubled times and their resolution seem inevitable. From the American civil rights movement and Vietnam through the Irish Troubles and South African apartheid; all seem relatively tidy and their results foreordained to those who have only read of them. McFetridge strips historical hindsight away from the reader, placing him on the ground with Dougherty, not understanding what’s happening, unable to guess what comes next, more uncertain than afraid, which may be even worse. The writing style is perfect for putting the reader in the streets with the characters. Their sense of confusion and wonder is made clear, as no overarching view is provided; the reader knows what the characters know, filtered through their eyes.
For fans of McFetridge’s previous books, Black Rock has the voice and ear-catching dialog that make all of them such engrossing reads. Now add a sense of history, a You Are There sense of being involved in things larger than oneself, and you’ll have a good idea of what his newest venture is like to read. Kirkus has said Black Rock may be McFetridge’s breakout book; the same could have been said about more than one previous effort, notably 2008’s Everybody Knows This is Nowhere. Maybe the historical connection will lend a previously unnoticed gravitas to Black Rock that will propel McFetridge to the top ranks. For years he has written books that are not only set in Canada, but are about Canada. It would be no more than fair for the book that places him most squarely into Canadian history to be the one that makes him more than a regional success.
December 3, 2014
The cool thing about Black Rock, other than the writing, is how authentic it feels to the era--a lot of historical novels overdo the nostalgia and forget that time periods bleed into each other. So you'll get a guy wearing bell bottoms, listening to the new Bee Gees song, and driving this year's model car. As if everyone alive was defined only by the events and mainstream cultural products of that one year.
With Black Rock, there's a lot of historical detail that could only happen in 1970--the FLQ bombings and kidnappings, for example--but the characters all feel connected to the past, what for them is the recent past. Vietnam isn't just a thing going on; it's defined and contrasted by World War Two, which was only 30 years before (and for Canadians lasted a long, long time). Dougherty's father's reticence is exactly how my dad describes his father--you didn't talk about what happened in the war.
A great read. The best Montreal crime novel since Trevanian's The Main.
With Black Rock, there's a lot of historical detail that could only happen in 1970--the FLQ bombings and kidnappings, for example--but the characters all feel connected to the past, what for them is the recent past. Vietnam isn't just a thing going on; it's defined and contrasted by World War Two, which was only 30 years before (and for Canadians lasted a long, long time). Dougherty's father's reticence is exactly how my dad describes his father--you didn't talk about what happened in the war.
A great read. The best Montreal crime novel since Trevanian's The Main.
August 20, 2021
I really liked this! Again, not my normal genre - I listened to it because I was on a long car ride with family. Car rides are not optimal for hearing a book - I missed the first part and slept through a part of the second. However, I was still really engaged by the story, setting and characters. Dougherty is a really funny ironic main character, but unlike many stories I read it seems genuine and unexaggerated. Ruth was also really fun - I am pretty ensconced in the academic world and familiar with feminist movements of the 20th century and so I really connected with her experiences. The story was also very gripping; Dougherty's frustration and tension between his drive for justice and his orders drips off the page and animates the more standard mystery beats.
The setting was probably the best part. I am Canadian but I suspect I am younger than many readers so I didn't live through or directly experience the FLQ crisis. I learned a bit about it in highschool history, and got a much better sense from my university's Quebec lit course. But I still feel that I have a lot to learn, and while some of this was fiction, some of it was true. Reading it gave me a much better sense of the detailed timelines (it is one thing to know there were bombings over a series of years and another thing to hear there was an abduction around Thanksgiving) as well as the feel of the period, and people's responses to the chaos.
I am extremely excited to read the next book!
The setting was probably the best part. I am Canadian but I suspect I am younger than many readers so I didn't live through or directly experience the FLQ crisis. I learned a bit about it in highschool history, and got a much better sense from my university's Quebec lit course. But I still feel that I have a lot to learn, and while some of this was fiction, some of it was true. Reading it gave me a much better sense of the detailed timelines (it is one thing to know there were bombings over a series of years and another thing to hear there was an abduction around Thanksgiving) as well as the feel of the period, and people's responses to the chaos.
I am extremely excited to read the next book!
June 3, 2017
Although a lot of what happens in this book did happen in real life, this is not really a true crime book. If you lived in Montreal in 1969-1970, then you will recognize much of what occurs in the course of the main character (a half-Anglo Montreal Police Constable) chasing a serial murderer of at-risk women (although, the term serial murder/murderer was not used at the time).
If you remember the Year of Kidnappings/Bombings - the rise of the FLQ, the kidnapping of James Cross and Pierre Laporte, etc. - you will be dropped right into the atmosphere that permeated the city and environs that year.
Much of the action take place in Montreal proper, but some is in Lachine, La Salle, Greenfield Park, St. Lambert and other areas that Montrealers and ex-pats will recognize. The author even mentions two gas explosions in Ville La Salle (one of which I personally lived through - although as a child; I remember, the building was there - and then it was gone).
All in all, John McFetridge does just a good job of situating his novel in Montreal as he did his 'Toronto series'. Which I have yet to read.
I think this book really does deserve the 5-star rating I gave it.
If you remember the Year of Kidnappings/Bombings - the rise of the FLQ, the kidnapping of James Cross and Pierre Laporte, etc. - you will be dropped right into the atmosphere that permeated the city and environs that year.
Much of the action take place in Montreal proper, but some is in Lachine, La Salle, Greenfield Park, St. Lambert and other areas that Montrealers and ex-pats will recognize. The author even mentions two gas explosions in Ville La Salle (one of which I personally lived through - although as a child; I remember, the building was there - and then it was gone).
All in all, John McFetridge does just a good job of situating his novel in Montreal as he did his 'Toronto series'. Which I have yet to read.
I think this book really does deserve the 5-star rating I gave it.
July 25, 2017
Sharply drawn characters, spare, driven prose, set in tumultuous 1970’s Montreal, a city beset by bombings (over 200 bombs were placed in and around Montreal between 1968 and 1970), Mafia corruption, the rise of the FLQ and the infamous October Crisis. The ‘Vampire Rapist’ (Wayne Boden) is at large and more women begin to go missing. A young constable’s personal connection to one of the missing women draws him to investigate the case on his own time while the city’s police forces deal with the revolution in their midst.
I picked this up because I was intrigued by the historical setting. I lived in Ottawa at the time and remember the craziness of FLQ crisis. What I didn’t remember, the bombings, the terrorism of the day, was vividly rendered in this novel. An excellent detective novel for those interested in learning more about this slice of Canadian history especially as there are so few books remaining in print that cover this subject. I’m looking forward to reading the next two in the series.
I picked this up because I was intrigued by the historical setting. I lived in Ottawa at the time and remember the craziness of FLQ crisis. What I didn’t remember, the bombings, the terrorism of the day, was vividly rendered in this novel. An excellent detective novel for those interested in learning more about this slice of Canadian history especially as there are so few books remaining in print that cover this subject. I’m looking forward to reading the next two in the series.
August 4, 2022
3.8-star police procedural set in 1970’s Montreal, a time of hippies, continuous worker unrest and European-like stream of labor strikes and local Che Guevara-wanna be’s setting off bombs weekly all around island city (wherein the port side mafia is no longer the news). A good portrayal of the post-Expo 67 transformation of bi-lingual Montreal that’s incorporating its surrounding communities and how it’s like to live there. I found the 1st chapter dull and hard to read, but luckily I prevailed into this solid read. The police case and young cop Dougherty’s growth, rubbing elbows with some detectives, and his solving of a murder case was also good.
February 9, 2020
Usually when you read a police procedural, the story is told from the perspective of the detective in charge and you can get the idea that solving this one crime is the main activity. Here we have the point of view of the lowly constable who spends too much time breaking up fights in bars or standing guard for hours at some diplomat’s home and often has to chase down leads on his own time. The background of then”October crisis” in Montreal made for especially interesting reading. 3.5 stars
January 25, 2022
This book has its moments but, the pacing seemed very slow to me.
There's an interesting blend of real life historical events and the mystery that Dougherty finds himself embroiled in but, I felt that the handling of that became a bit clunky and jarring. IMHO, the resolution, after a fairly long-winded build up, was a bit of an anticlimax too.
There's an interesting blend of real life historical events and the mystery that Dougherty finds himself embroiled in but, I felt that the handling of that became a bit clunky and jarring. IMHO, the resolution, after a fairly long-winded build up, was a bit of an anticlimax too.
August 20, 2018
I never got involved with any of the characters; they never came alive. I wasn’t interested in the plot except for Eddie’s hunt for the murderer. The accents made it hard to decipher the conversations. 2.5
March 28, 2020
An interesting read based on many true events in the history of Montreal and Quebec in the late 60’ early 70’s. But the big kick was that much of the story takes place in places I knew and where I grew up.
June 14, 2023
BLACK ROCK
John McFetridge
This was about the bombings in 1970 in Montreal, Canada. It had really good police procedures. Those that remember the late 1960s and early 70s will relate better than those that don't.
Meh.
3 stars
Happy Reading!
John McFetridge
This was about the bombings in 1970 in Montreal, Canada. It had really good police procedures. Those that remember the late 1960s and early 70s will relate better than those that don't.
Meh.
3 stars
Happy Reading!
March 21, 2024
This was my second book by John McFetridge, and I enjoyed it as much as Every City is Every Other City. Really good characters and dialogue, a believable story, and realistic action. Fascinating look at Montreal in 1969-1970.
July 27, 2025
This was a decent read. A good enough plot and an excellent sense of time and place. I learned a lot about what was going on in the 70s in Quebec. I did find it a bit unpolished, but I would probably read another one of these.
October 20, 2025
not sure it's a full four but I was become politically aware just as FLQ crisis was ending in a way so this one felt nostalgic of social studies in my middle years of school.
Really enjoyed this one :)
Really enjoyed this one :)
July 16, 2023
I learned a lot more of Canadian history.
June 21, 2014
This is a routine police investigative novel into the serial murder of three women and the disappearance of a fourth. The media has dubbed the case 'The Vampire Killer". The book was interesting to me more because of the historical and time-frame setting than the criminal investigation.
Occurring in Montreal during the FLQ crisis in Quebec, there are riots, bomb explosions at Sir George Williams University, stock exchange, McGill University and Westmount homes. British Trade Commissioner, James Cross is kidnapped . Politician Pierre Laporte is kidnapped and murdered. The Canadian army is in the streets. Members of the FLQ are demanding flights to Cuba or Algiers. Turmoil in the rest of the world is mentioned: he Viet Nam war, civil rights movement, South African apartheid, rebellion in Ireland, etc.
Constable Eddie Dougherty wants to solve the murder of women before the killer can strike again, but the Montreal police force must cope with the separatist movement, and so there is little time or help in assisting Dougherty in solving the case of the 'Vampire Killer'.
Occurring in Montreal during the FLQ crisis in Quebec, there are riots, bomb explosions at Sir George Williams University, stock exchange, McGill University and Westmount homes. British Trade Commissioner, James Cross is kidnapped . Politician Pierre Laporte is kidnapped and murdered. The Canadian army is in the streets. Members of the FLQ are demanding flights to Cuba or Algiers. Turmoil in the rest of the world is mentioned: he Viet Nam war, civil rights movement, South African apartheid, rebellion in Ireland, etc.
Constable Eddie Dougherty wants to solve the murder of women before the killer can strike again, but the Montreal police force must cope with the separatist movement, and so there is little time or help in assisting Dougherty in solving the case of the 'Vampire Killer'.
January 6, 2014
Crime fiction based on true events set in 1970 Montreal. While most Canadians will be at least familiar with the FLQ and the kidnappings of James Cross and Pierre Laporte, McFetridge does a great job of painting a wider portrait of the times, which included bombings at the stock exchange and McGill University, the murders of three women, and a city in thrall to corruption with organized crime expanding its grip. Planes are hijacked, political figures assassinated and musicians die as the War Measures Act is invoked. This is a story that would seem far fetched if it hadn't actually happened. My high school English curriculum included Mordecai Richler's The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. As great as that book is, this would be a better read given the way it captures a time of staggering calamity and change in Canadian history.
August 3, 2014
John McFetridge uses the backdrop of the FLQ October Crisis in Montreal to tell the story of a beat cop finding his way on the job. The mystery that drives Black Rock is the kind of case that would be front page news any other time, but McFetridge’s Eddie Dougherty is one of few people taking notice. This creates a realistic tension between the young constable’s story and that of a city going through the nightmare of continual bomb scares. Black Rock weaves in plenty of 1970s Montreal. The setting and violent politics are revealed through a combination of raw news and Eddie’s perspective.
One of the things I enjoyed most about the book was the way McFetridge depicts the reality of life carrying on—in particular, life in the city’s shadows—regardless of history being made. That and getting to know a cop you can’t help wanting to read more of.
One of the things I enjoyed most about the book was the way McFetridge depicts the reality of life carrying on—in particular, life in the city’s shadows—regardless of history being made. That and getting to know a cop you can’t help wanting to read more of.
November 17, 2015
I'm a sucker for good Canadian crime novels -- and this police procedural hit many of the right notes for me. The book boasts a winning combination of historical fiction and the fresh, emerging police-constable-detective-wannabe. Set during Montreal 1970, with a heavy focus on the FLQ crisis, young police officer Dougherty is torn between bomb threats, political kidnapping, and a compelling serial murder case he just can't stop investigating. Dougherty's fresh-faced naivete was believable in his role of eager cop trying to get ahead in the force. In contrast to more jaded heroes, I enjoyed reading about his exploits tracking the killer. By no means thrilling or fast-paced, this story embraces the minutiae of policework as well as a healthy dose of history thrown in.
July 24, 2014
A nicely done police-procedural, set in Montreal in 1970. Lots of real events and situations pictured (kidnappings, bombings, FLQ, French-English tensions etc) as a backdrop for a fictional murder story. Introduces a young Anglo/Francophone police constable named Eddie Dougherty. (Clearly lays the basis for a series, following him in his police career - at the end of the book he is advised to take the detective exam.)
I enjoyed it, and the writing was quite fresh and non-formulaic. I liked the characters. I did occasionally find the interjected French phrases too bluntly followed by their translations, though mostly this was not overdone.
I enjoyed it, and the writing was quite fresh and non-formulaic. I liked the characters. I did occasionally find the interjected French phrases too bluntly followed by their translations, though mostly this was not overdone.
January 23, 2015
This book is a bit outside of my normal reading range (set in Canada and in 1970) but I really enjoyed it. I lived in Plattsburgh NY from 1974-1980 which is only 60 miles from Montreal. Plattsburgh is mentioned in the book in a song title. I didn't get to Montreal that often when I was in Plattsburgh (mostly for the 1976 Olympics and a couple of baseball games). I am glad the major troubles were over when I was there.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews