The Wandering Soul Murders

A Joanne Kilbourn Mystery #3

by Gail Bowen

Murder is the last thing on Joanne Kilbourn’s mind on a perfect morning in May. Then the phone rings, and she learns that her daughter Mieka has found the corpse of a young woman in an alley near her store. So begins Joanne’s chilling collision with evil in Gail Bowen’s riveting third mystery, The Wandering Soul Murders.

Joanne is stunned and saddened by the news that the dead woman, at seventeen, was already a veteran of the streets. When, just twenty-four hours later, her son’s girlfriend is found dead, drowned in a lake in Saskatchewan’s Qu’Appelle Valley, Joanne’s sunny world is shattered. Her excitement about Mieka’s upcoming marriage, her involvement in the biography she is writing, even her pleasure at her return to Regina all fade as she finds herself drawn into a twilight world where money can buy anything and there are always people willing to pay.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Canada, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Cozy Mystery, Audiobook

216 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Gail Dianne Bowen (née Bartholomew) is a Canadian playwright and writer of mystery novels. Born in Toronto, Ontario, Bowen was educated at the University of Toronto, the University of Waterloo and the University of Saskatchewan. She subsequently taught English in Saskatchewan, and is currently a professor of English at First Nations University of Canada. Bowen's mystery novels feature Joanne Kilbourn, a widowed mother, political analyst and university professor who finds herself occasionally involved in criminal investigations in various parts of Saskatchewan. Many have been adapted as Canadian television movies by Shaftesbury Films.

Series:
* Joanne Kilbourn Mystery

Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award
◊ Best Novel (1995): A Colder Kind of Death

Reviews

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off feeling like a wacky cozy mystery, took a VERY dark turn at the end. Dated pop culture references that did not age well. The "clues" were so obvious early in the story. Cheesy dialogue. Still, a total page turner.

A lot in this series is incredibly unrealistic but honestly, I find it very fun overall, even though the attempts to insert grittiness can be a bit off-putting. I just can't get enough of these wildly improbable plots set in Saskatchewan. What can I say, I am biased, and when you live somewhere that no fictional stories are EVER set, you take what you can get haha.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Joanne Kilbourn mystery involving child prostitution is disturbing but well plotted and comes to a satisfying conclusion. One has to suspend disbelief in this sort of mystery series. How on earth does an innocent academic and her family keep being drawn into murder cases and manage to solve them when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police don't!

[M.L.D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite some implausibilities that nearly wrecked the ending (out in the middle of nowhere, knowing that there are, to say the least, unsavory types in the area, the protag leaves her small daughter alone with a complete stranger), I was pleasantly surprised by the grittiness of the story/crime. It was a quick, enjoyable read.

[Elinor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my third book in the Joanne Kilbourn series and because there are 19 in total, I wonder whether I can ever catch up to this prolific author, Gail Bowen. Her amateur detective is a widow, a university professor who lives in Saskatchewan (since I grew up there, the settings are very familiar). Although Joanne lives in a leafy suburb, raising her kids in an average Canadian household, she encounters some pretty grisly murders -- and this book is the grisliest so far. Several bodies of young street girls are found in dumpsters, each bearing a teddy bear tattoo. Joanne is haunted by these wandering souls, and in spite of being warned off, she begins to trace their origins. What she uncovers about these girls is truly horrendous and totally unexpected.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Should have read this after Murder at the Mendel. However it didn't hurt the mystery at all. Sally's daughter is now part of Joanne's family, which seems to be a good outcome. It was a little confusing to find Peter's girl friend portrayed extremely negatively in this book when she just appeared to be your average girlfriend in the previous one. People die weirdly, unpleasantly, in this and Joanne's daughter becomes involved when she finds a girl murdered and left out side the cafe Mieka is readying to open. The wandering soul reference is to a silver bracelet Christy (Peter's girlfriend) gives to Joanne, a bracelet with the request that "wandering soul pray for me". I have the feeling that MS Bowden saw a bracelet like this and really wanted to work it into a book, but I think it's a bit confusing. The discovery of what went on on a lake in the north is almost believable because it is astounding what people will swallow and deal with if they have enough incentive.
Again, quite well written.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read a Joanne Kilbourn mystery for a while, but I seamlessly fell into this one and once more became a part of the woman's family. Two deaths close to home lead Joanne to investigate the background of her son's former girlfriend and her daughter's employee who seems to be one of the Little Flower murders. The facts lead to some horrific conclusions and Joanne's adopted daughter is threatened by a shadowy, but powerful group.

Gripping, yet vastly entertaining.

[Eunira · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy Gail Bowen's books, this one more than ever. The characters'family life is realistic and I'm interested to see how it will evolve.
Though the plot may be predictable (I guessed whoddunit early in the book), the death still shocked and made me feel for these wandering souls.

[Grey853 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn't care for the main character in the book or the storyline. The writing was okay, but a little flat. I doubt I'll be reading more in the series.

[Andrea Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good. Not great. Some of the characters are Just Not Right.

[Joey Patapas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well crafted story. I like this author’s dive into the underbelly of society. She looks at things we all know exist, but wish it didn’t, and best look away; this time human trafficking and child exploitation. She also had crafted a reasonable protagonist who, while a bit more meddlesome than most people, still behaves as a normal person would. Far too often I find female mystery/thriller authors create female protagonist that just act dumb, and get themselves into situations a real person would not. Great job Ms. Bowen!
While I did predict who the big bad was, and I did figure out what the old man was trying to say, there were enough twists at the end of the book to provide me with some surprises. I was happy how it turned out.
Just one thing that I kinda wish happened towards the end (not really a spoiler, but those who have read the story know what I’m referring to): if someone were to kidnap my child, and even if my child was unharmed, I would have shot them in the gut!

[Jovdb · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a smart woman, Joanne makes some terrible choices. That aside, this is a good but disturbing story.

Joanne's daughter, Mika, finds a body of a young woman. She knew this young girl and is very disturbed to have found the body.

Joanne's son, Peter, has had a relationship with a very disturbed young woman. Joanne thought it was over, but she turns up again, just in time to go celebrate Mika and Greg's engagement party. At this party, this young woman is also killed.

Against all advice, Joanne follows these murders and becomes involved in the mystery surrounding these girls and their deaths. She follows the trail up north to a native community.

The degradation of human behaviour to other humans is at the fore of the story. It never ceases to amaze me how the wealthy assume they can do anything, that money gives them the right to do anything to anyone. Society is quite sick.

[Neill Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

The young street girl Mieka Kilbourn had hired to help her renovate her new catering place was brutally murdered and left in a dumpster behind the building one night. The police who had sponsored her for the job knew she had been a prostitute for a local street gang before she began working as part of her rehabilitation. She was the fourth girl to be murdered in this particular way. Mieka’s brother’s aspiring girlfriend had a rather intense enmity towards street girls in general and expressed her outrage to Joanne. As events developed this became key to a case that involved a collusion of people who protected and enhanced their obsessions. This is a disturbing story but very well developed. I recommend it.

[Wendell Hennan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joanne's daughter is getting married and Joanne has difficulty being comfortable with the groom's mother. At the same time a young girl who was working for Joanne's daughter in her restaurant was murdered and left stripped and hanging from the edge of the back alley dumpster. The story progesses as wedding plans unfurl and Joanne is drawn further and further into the murder, part of a series of murders of very young prostitutes. Filled with family interaction and the thought processes of a mother of a young family, often touching. The mystery is full of twists, a well laid out story line. Most excellent read.

[Marianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked the first two books, but this one didn't make sense. After hearing the two guys in the next room at the hotel, why wouldn't you just rush out of the area with your young daughter? So stupid to stay that the rest just seemed unbelievable. There was a lot of innuendo in the book and the power of the few villains we saw didn't live up to the fear shown by the characters in the know. Maybe we'll see the real villains in a subsequent novel.

I'll try a few more because I really liked the first two novels.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gail Bowen has done it again—made me cry about a mystery. Having said that, I think if I saw Joanne Killbourn heading my way, I’d pretend I hadn’t seen her and run the opposite direction. People around her are susceptible to murder & mayhem; some are even killers! And the social events—someone is bound to die! Bowen writes so beautifully that only on the other side of each book have I realized just how dangerous Saskatchewan must surely be!

[Cathryn Wellner · Rating 4 out of 5]

When will I ever learn? I started this new-to-me author's book after tucking myself into bed to read a few pages the night before a big trip. Hours later, I gave up on sleep and just allowed myself the pleasure of a good read on a dark subject. Child trafficking is an ugly reality that traps many a lost and hopeful young person. I was horrified by the story but could not put the book down. Now I'm looking forward to reading more of Gail Bowen's books.

[Frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I am enjoying this series and found the first 80% of this one a great read, the ending seemed to go a bit off the rails with a very strange and unbelievable denouement/resolution. However the likeable and interesting lead character and otherwise engaging storyline makes we want to give the series another chance. Again, this appears to be a series that warrants being read in order.

[Jehnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggle with Bowen's pacing. I find there is too much telling to catch the reader up to the characters necessary for this book's mystery/murder that doesn't always track with where the characters left off in the previous book. And the culmination is always too abrupt and easily wrapped up.
But the overarching story and location are enough to keep me reading.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gail Bowen books are always a nice change, in that they are set in a very Canadian context, with locations in and around Regina, Saskatchewan.
Wandering Soul Murders is well written, with great characters, as usual for this author, but the content became increasingly disturbing as the book progressed. May not be an issue for some readers, but it was for me.

[Larry Epp · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a while since I've read one of Bowen's mysteries -- nice to have a story set in a place(s) I know -- mostly Regina, but other places in Saskatchewan too. Not great literature, but good basic murder mystery.

[Janet LoSole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sophisticated use of language made this an enjoyable read. I also liked that it took place in a small Canadian city because I understood the references. I began a second Joanne Kilbourne mystery because of this one.

[Natasha Bosell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a slow start but it picked up in the back half. I came into the series from the Canadian TV movies with Wendy Crewson. The book is way different than the movie, but I definitely prefer the book. Probably wouldn't read this again, but it hasn't scared me away from finishing the series.

[Amanda T · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. As soon as the old man blurted out the first of the total of 3 words he says in this book, I knew what happened, who had done it and why. I was hoping I was wrong and it was all misdirection, but nope.

The writing was fine. But it does read like a product of its time - 1992.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it — taking place in our own backyard

[Allison Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dated, but still a series that I love. Jo is a great MC, the politics are just interesting enough without being too preachy and the mysteries keep me guessing.

[Julie Sandel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tried to get into this series,but just couldn’t.

[Heather(Gibby) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read the previous two in this series, but that didn't take away from the riveting read.

[Valerie Colquhoun · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot is somewhat unbelievable but the child prostitution theme is unfortunately too true and too prevalent.

[Nancee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tough subject matter.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this series set in Canada and featuring a strong woman who is not a private eye but does know how to solve a mystery. Each book seems to deepen the characters while still telling well-plotted murder mysteries. I’m already looking forward to the next one.