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Dana Leoni Mystery
Last Stop Sunnyside
This is Pat Capponi’s world. No tourist on the mean streets ofToronto’s once prosperous Parkdale neighbourhood, Capponi—a psychiatricsurvivor who has chronicled her experiences in several bestselling non-fictiontitles—has lived there. Now, in this compelling debut novel, Capponi turns herauthentic voice and imagination to a gripping murder mystery.
Dana Leoni is Capponi’s heroine, a traumatized woman who hasretreated from life to a rough rooming house. Surrounded by the marginalized andthe mad, she is devastated when one of her housemates turns up dead. When,despite the disappearance of another neighbourhood woman, the police reach adead end, Dana and her rag-tag posse of housemates—inspired by the novels ofJanet Evanovich—decide to go detective and take matters into their own hands.The result is a terrific mystery read, peopled with authentic characters andevocative in its gritty portrayal of a world few of us know. Infused withcompassion and wit, Last Stop Sunnyside marks the beginning of abound-for-bestseller series.
Dana Leoni is Capponi’s heroine, a traumatized woman who hasretreated from life to a rough rooming house. Surrounded by the marginalized andthe mad, she is devastated when one of her housemates turns up dead. When,despite the disappearance of another neighbourhood woman, the police reach adead end, Dana and her rag-tag posse of housemates—inspired by the novels ofJanet Evanovich—decide to go detective and take matters into their own hands.The result is a terrific mystery read, peopled with authentic characters andevocative in its gritty portrayal of a world few of us know. Infused withcompassion and wit, Last Stop Sunnyside marks the beginning of abound-for-bestseller series.
328 pages, Paperback
First published April 3, 2006
9 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
Pat Capponi
14 books9 followersPat Capponi (born 1949) is a Canadian author and an advocate for mental health issues and poverty issues in Canada. She lives in Toronto. Her works include several nonfiction titles and a mystery novel series.
She has also served as a board member at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto and as a member of the Advocacy Commission in Ontario.
She has also served as a board member at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto and as a member of the Advocacy Commission in Ontario.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 25, 2013
When I began reading Last Stop Sunnyside, I was drawn in by the location (Parkdale in Toronto, my city) and the characters. The mystery sounded interesting too. But then, I'm not sure what happened, but as I read on, my interest waned till by the end I was skimming. I don't know if it was the typos or the verb tense changes -- when writing in present tense, you have to be so careful not to slip into past tense, which did happened here and so I couldn't figure out what tense the book was supposed to be in, very confusing. I don't know if it was the characters were missing some fleshing out, not turning them from 2D to 3D, or if it was because the mystery was solved quickly within the story itself, thus not leaving much suspense to keep the reader hooked, but in any case, I lost interest. It's too bad because I'm always looking for a good Canadian mystery author.
January 15, 2013
I read Upstairs in the Crazy House when it was first published, and was very impressed by Pat Capponi’s warm, real, sympathetic yet unflinching style of writing about the people and issues many of us turn away from: madness, homelessness, poverty, and experiencing all of those things in a big city—a Canadian city. I had heard she’d written a couple of mysteries, but I didn’t pick them up until recently, not being much of a fan of the mystery genre.
But I live in Parkdale, and I was curious how a writer of Ms Capponi’s calibre would handle the task she set herself: to write an engaging story in the mystery category and center it around the people she knows so well: the homeless, the dirt-poor and the psych-ward survivors and the other “crazies” of a neighbourhood that stubbornly resists gentrification. I also wanted to read about the neighbourhood that’s been my home for many years and that I have seen change so much… and yet stay the same in so many ways.
Capponi’s characters show a typical humanity and warmth, even when they are not easy to relate to—there are drunks, thieves, and bums everywhere, who are compassionately drawn and have tons of personality, which however can’t be said for some of her other, more mainstream characters. Characters such as Pete and the theatre people tended to all sound the same. I would like to see Ms Capponi develop that aspect of her “voice” so that everyone is as recognizable and unique as Dana, Diamond, Jerry and Miss Semple. When you have this many characters, it’s a good idea to take a page out of Dickens’ book (whom I think would approve wholeheartedly of making the disenfranchised into detectives) and give each character distinct attributes.
The mystery aspect of it was enjoyable too, although the finale in both books seemed like a stretch to me, but I couldn’t speak with authority on what happens in mysteries. But having been poor myself, and having had to struggle to find money for food and bus fare, I really liked reading about how resourceful the folks at Delta Court were.
The reason I picked up Last Stop Sunnyside was because I loved the blurb on the back, describing this motley group of self-dedicated detectives who don’t have phones, bus fare or cars to tail their suspect. Personally, I am so tired of the modern era and all the cellphones and what I call the “white couch syndrome” of Hollywood movies (why is it that everyone in conventional movies and TV shows all have huge houses and pristine white couches? Look next time.You’ll see what I mean). How about showing some characters who live a little less opulently? Well, that’s just what Capponi does here. She unapologetically, even lovingly, describes the rooming house where Dana Leoni lives, with its attendant garish paint, cracked vinyl furniture and grimy windows… a Parkdale staple.Yet she also conveys the peace, security and honesty this environment has for Dana, a survivor of a traumatic attack. I’m an artist and I’ve lived in shabby apartments aplenty in my years in Toronto. In fact, that was the Toronto I knew and liked—not the glossy condo ghetto it’s become, where every major intersection looks the same and everyone apparently can afford $2000 rents. So there was an element of comfort for me, too, in reading about Parkdale as it was—and still is, in some respects (thank god). Here, you can still find many of the things Capponi talks about in her two mysteries in Parkdale, although I understand she herself stopped living here some time ago. You’ll still see the junky cafes, bars, dollar stores and rundown Victorian homes carved up into rooming houses. In fact, I was very moved when I recognized several real Parkdale “characters” in the mysteries—people who have disappeared in the last ten years, as people under the radar tend to do. To humanize these folks is a wonderful act of literary talent, but to write them into a homeless murder mystery is a stroke of genius. The day after I read the first book I went out into Parkdale and looked at it with fresh eyes: the eyes that are so well-trained to look away, to duck the “weirdos” and panhandlers. Sadly, sometimes that is the only real way to cope in Parkdale. But I found it wonderful to see the “local colour” through new and hopefully more compassionate eyes.
One complaint I have is that to portray Parkdale without describing the old high-rises is a missed opportunity, as is leaving out the large immigrant population. Here you have a little of everything, which makes Parkdale like a neighbourhood in New York or London. What’s Parkdale without a West Indian food shop? And the distinctive Jameson slumlord architecture is something any Torontonian can tell you about, so it would have been nice to read about it here too. But it was fun trying to guess where exactly Dana lives (I figured it out—I’ve passed that house a million times) and imagine her in the local McDonalds and walking up to the library on Queen Street and over to the shelter—all real places. Everything Ms Capponi writes about Parkdale and its denizens has a vibrancy that I really enjoyed. These people aren’t drinking Starbucks, driving new cars to their ordinary jobs and going home to watch TV on a big screen. No, they are heating up their Nescafe while they volunteer, find a free lunch or huddle in their dingy rooms… and they talk, really talk, to each other. The idea of a group of disparate characters coming together for a common cause is a popular one, although I’ve never heard of someone doing this echelon of society before. But for those of us who’ve been abandoned or rejected by “normal” society and/or our families—or who have rejected it ourselves—the bonding of the Delta Court “family” is moving and uplifting to read about.
What people reading these books will hopefully learn to understand about Parkdale is how rich it is in life. All the different walks of life are here and they are all unique—this is not a homogenous place where you have to blend in, like downtown has become… like Queen West has become. Here, you can look different. Here, you can be poor and not be looked down on. Here, you can live in an apartment you can afford. Here, you can see other cultures coexisting. And it’s also true that here, you can be mugged. Here, you can see human misery on a scale that makes it hard to bear. Here, you see rich and poor cheek-by-jowl—the million-dollar Victorian pile next to the rooming house; the derelict donut shop across the street from the upscale chi-chi restaurant.
I hope Pat Capponi will write more mysteries featuring Dana Leoni, who is a bit of an enigma. I would like to see Dana start to change her life. It is mentioned in The Corpse Will Keep that she is taking a course on becoming a detective, but we never see her on the computer working on that, or even dreaming a little about how she wants her life to be ultimately. I think that Dana would be an even stronger draw if we saw her start to aim for bigger things for herself and the community she loves so much and understands so well. These books prove the old saying: that it pays to write about what you know.
But I live in Parkdale, and I was curious how a writer of Ms Capponi’s calibre would handle the task she set herself: to write an engaging story in the mystery category and center it around the people she knows so well: the homeless, the dirt-poor and the psych-ward survivors and the other “crazies” of a neighbourhood that stubbornly resists gentrification. I also wanted to read about the neighbourhood that’s been my home for many years and that I have seen change so much… and yet stay the same in so many ways.
Capponi’s characters show a typical humanity and warmth, even when they are not easy to relate to—there are drunks, thieves, and bums everywhere, who are compassionately drawn and have tons of personality, which however can’t be said for some of her other, more mainstream characters. Characters such as Pete and the theatre people tended to all sound the same. I would like to see Ms Capponi develop that aspect of her “voice” so that everyone is as recognizable and unique as Dana, Diamond, Jerry and Miss Semple. When you have this many characters, it’s a good idea to take a page out of Dickens’ book (whom I think would approve wholeheartedly of making the disenfranchised into detectives) and give each character distinct attributes.
The mystery aspect of it was enjoyable too, although the finale in both books seemed like a stretch to me, but I couldn’t speak with authority on what happens in mysteries. But having been poor myself, and having had to struggle to find money for food and bus fare, I really liked reading about how resourceful the folks at Delta Court were.
The reason I picked up Last Stop Sunnyside was because I loved the blurb on the back, describing this motley group of self-dedicated detectives who don’t have phones, bus fare or cars to tail their suspect. Personally, I am so tired of the modern era and all the cellphones and what I call the “white couch syndrome” of Hollywood movies (why is it that everyone in conventional movies and TV shows all have huge houses and pristine white couches? Look next time.You’ll see what I mean). How about showing some characters who live a little less opulently? Well, that’s just what Capponi does here. She unapologetically, even lovingly, describes the rooming house where Dana Leoni lives, with its attendant garish paint, cracked vinyl furniture and grimy windows… a Parkdale staple.Yet she also conveys the peace, security and honesty this environment has for Dana, a survivor of a traumatic attack. I’m an artist and I’ve lived in shabby apartments aplenty in my years in Toronto. In fact, that was the Toronto I knew and liked—not the glossy condo ghetto it’s become, where every major intersection looks the same and everyone apparently can afford $2000 rents. So there was an element of comfort for me, too, in reading about Parkdale as it was—and still is, in some respects (thank god). Here, you can still find many of the things Capponi talks about in her two mysteries in Parkdale, although I understand she herself stopped living here some time ago. You’ll still see the junky cafes, bars, dollar stores and rundown Victorian homes carved up into rooming houses. In fact, I was very moved when I recognized several real Parkdale “characters” in the mysteries—people who have disappeared in the last ten years, as people under the radar tend to do. To humanize these folks is a wonderful act of literary talent, but to write them into a homeless murder mystery is a stroke of genius. The day after I read the first book I went out into Parkdale and looked at it with fresh eyes: the eyes that are so well-trained to look away, to duck the “weirdos” and panhandlers. Sadly, sometimes that is the only real way to cope in Parkdale. But I found it wonderful to see the “local colour” through new and hopefully more compassionate eyes.
One complaint I have is that to portray Parkdale without describing the old high-rises is a missed opportunity, as is leaving out the large immigrant population. Here you have a little of everything, which makes Parkdale like a neighbourhood in New York or London. What’s Parkdale without a West Indian food shop? And the distinctive Jameson slumlord architecture is something any Torontonian can tell you about, so it would have been nice to read about it here too. But it was fun trying to guess where exactly Dana lives (I figured it out—I’ve passed that house a million times) and imagine her in the local McDonalds and walking up to the library on Queen Street and over to the shelter—all real places. Everything Ms Capponi writes about Parkdale and its denizens has a vibrancy that I really enjoyed. These people aren’t drinking Starbucks, driving new cars to their ordinary jobs and going home to watch TV on a big screen. No, they are heating up their Nescafe while they volunteer, find a free lunch or huddle in their dingy rooms… and they talk, really talk, to each other. The idea of a group of disparate characters coming together for a common cause is a popular one, although I’ve never heard of someone doing this echelon of society before. But for those of us who’ve been abandoned or rejected by “normal” society and/or our families—or who have rejected it ourselves—the bonding of the Delta Court “family” is moving and uplifting to read about.
What people reading these books will hopefully learn to understand about Parkdale is how rich it is in life. All the different walks of life are here and they are all unique—this is not a homogenous place where you have to blend in, like downtown has become… like Queen West has become. Here, you can look different. Here, you can be poor and not be looked down on. Here, you can live in an apartment you can afford. Here, you can see other cultures coexisting. And it’s also true that here, you can be mugged. Here, you can see human misery on a scale that makes it hard to bear. Here, you see rich and poor cheek-by-jowl—the million-dollar Victorian pile next to the rooming house; the derelict donut shop across the street from the upscale chi-chi restaurant.
I hope Pat Capponi will write more mysteries featuring Dana Leoni, who is a bit of an enigma. I would like to see Dana start to change her life. It is mentioned in The Corpse Will Keep that she is taking a course on becoming a detective, but we never see her on the computer working on that, or even dreaming a little about how she wants her life to be ultimately. I think that Dana would be an even stronger draw if we saw her start to aim for bigger things for herself and the community she loves so much and understands so well. These books prove the old saying: that it pays to write about what you know.
February 12, 2022
4.5 stars rounded up.
This novel, while a work of fiction, takes place in the Parkdale neighbourhood where Capponi lived in a boarding home in the 1970s (the subject of her memoir Upstairs in the Crazy House). It makes the Parkdale Capponi knew and loved come alive. The story revolves around Dana, a sexual assault survivor whose life was undone by the physical and mental trauma she experienced. Dana has since found a home and sense of community in a Parkdale boarding home, where she ekes out a living writing and working at a drop-in centre clearly based on the real life Parkdale Activity and Recreation Centre (PARC).
I adored Capponi's scrappy band of misfits who band together to solve the case of the disappearance of two of their comrades, who have gone missing.
Although the story touches on the grim reality of elder abuse, poverty, ageism and sanism, it had an overall lighthearted feel because of Dana and her friends' comical amateur investigation attempts. Janet Evanovich was a clear source of inspiration (and is even referenced in the course of the story). It made me want to give Stephanie Plum another shot.
There was a side-plot that felt a bit tacked on to me, revolving around a community theatre run by a friend of Dana's. Although this side-plot didn't really grab me, its denouement was hilarious, so that made it feel justified.
Dana's relationship with Ed, the cop initially assigned to the case, felt like it dropped off a bit awkwardly and then was hurriedly picked back up again, but for any little faults in pacing or structure, this novel has such vivacity of character and community, I couldn't help but love it.
This novel, while a work of fiction, takes place in the Parkdale neighbourhood where Capponi lived in a boarding home in the 1970s (the subject of her memoir Upstairs in the Crazy House). It makes the Parkdale Capponi knew and loved come alive. The story revolves around Dana, a sexual assault survivor whose life was undone by the physical and mental trauma she experienced. Dana has since found a home and sense of community in a Parkdale boarding home, where she ekes out a living writing and working at a drop-in centre clearly based on the real life Parkdale Activity and Recreation Centre (PARC).
I adored Capponi's scrappy band of misfits who band together to solve the case of the disappearance of two of their comrades, who have gone missing.
Although the story touches on the grim reality of elder abuse, poverty, ageism and sanism, it had an overall lighthearted feel because of Dana and her friends' comical amateur investigation attempts. Janet Evanovich was a clear source of inspiration (and is even referenced in the course of the story). It made me want to give Stephanie Plum another shot.
There was a side-plot that felt a bit tacked on to me, revolving around a community theatre run by a friend of Dana's. Although this side-plot didn't really grab me, its denouement was hilarious, so that made it feel justified.
Dana's relationship with Ed, the cop initially assigned to the case, felt like it dropped off a bit awkwardly and then was hurriedly picked back up again, but for any little faults in pacing or structure, this novel has such vivacity of character and community, I couldn't help but love it.
September 13, 2020
Had this book given to me by a friend, and did not take it up right away. But now, I am so, so happy that I did. I enjoyed this book, enjoyed the story and thought the writing was very good. For me, it was hard to put down, and stayed up way too late last night reading it.
However, a big part of what I totally enjoyed about this book, was that it was set in the neighbourhood that I lived for 3 decades. Starting in the 1980's, which I learned is the same time period that Pat Capponi lived here, herself. I loved all the references to the places that I knew, places I walked by, streets that I took the streetcar on so, so many times. She shows the readers the Parkdale that I knew, liked and called home for so long.
But don't get me wrong, the storytelling is very engaging, and very enjoyable.
Please give it a chance.
However, a big part of what I totally enjoyed about this book, was that it was set in the neighbourhood that I lived for 3 decades. Starting in the 1980's, which I learned is the same time period that Pat Capponi lived here, herself. I loved all the references to the places that I knew, places I walked by, streets that I took the streetcar on so, so many times. She shows the readers the Parkdale that I knew, liked and called home for so long.
But don't get me wrong, the storytelling is very engaging, and very enjoyable.
Please give it a chance.
December 22, 2017
Much more than a cozy mystery!
The way the synopsis read, I thought it sounded like a cute cozy mystery. I was wrong – it was so much more! Well written, characters fleshed out beautifully. Their flaws were not glossed over but these wonderful characters were humanized so well, they felt like real people.
VERY satisfying read.
The way the synopsis read, I thought it sounded like a cute cozy mystery. I was wrong – it was so much more! Well written, characters fleshed out beautifully. Their flaws were not glossed over but these wonderful characters were humanized so well, they felt like real people.
VERY satisfying read.
November 20, 2017
A little slow at first, wasn't sure I'd like it, but as the story developed, the character development and the setting were very interesting. Enjoyable. I'll read more by this author.
March 14, 2018
Loved it! Definitely recommend it.
September 21, 2024
Road trippin'..good fast read on a road trip.
March 31, 2015
Loved this book.
The book takes place in Parkdale, an area of Toronto I used to live in. There was lots of wandering around the neighbourhood and I could picture the area quite clearly, which was nice. I read this book as part of an effort to read more books set in Toronto and this certainly lived up to that.
At the heart of the book is a group of people sharing a rooming house, all with different mental or physical issues, and a group that too often we tend to think of as "them". I lived there and had mental issues of my own for a period and I would still refer to these people as "them" and not "us" so this book was a great reminder that we are all in this together and have more similarities than differences.
The mystery in the book was good, there's the main one and a sub-mystery. There is a slight complaint that neither one could have been figured out by the reader, there are no clues per se, and the story just unfolds. Still the main character was charming, the romance didn't go too far and the drop in-centre was a great place for the reader to drop in to.
Can't wait to read the next in the series, I've already started it.
The book takes place in Parkdale, an area of Toronto I used to live in. There was lots of wandering around the neighbourhood and I could picture the area quite clearly, which was nice. I read this book as part of an effort to read more books set in Toronto and this certainly lived up to that.
At the heart of the book is a group of people sharing a rooming house, all with different mental or physical issues, and a group that too often we tend to think of as "them". I lived there and had mental issues of my own for a period and I would still refer to these people as "them" and not "us" so this book was a great reminder that we are all in this together and have more similarities than differences.
The mystery in the book was good, there's the main one and a sub-mystery. There is a slight complaint that neither one could have been figured out by the reader, there are no clues per se, and the story just unfolds. Still the main character was charming, the romance didn't go too far and the drop in-centre was a great place for the reader to drop in to.
Can't wait to read the next in the series, I've already started it.
July 4, 2012
I met Capponi once, back in the late 1990s. I volunteered at the Gerstein Centre for a couple years and there was a four week training period. Capponi was one of the guest speakers during the training. She was an excellent honest speaker and that prompted me to read her memoirs, Upstairs in the Crazy House and Dispatches from the Poverty Line, at that time.
This was her first fiction book (there's sequel that follows). It takes place in my 'hood and it was interesting to read some history of the area.
The characters are very true to life with some of the residents in the 'hood. They live in the rooming house and have nothing but each other. When one disappears and turns up dead, they band together to find out what happened when the police deem it to be a suicide.
Despite the topic and characters, it's not a heavy read and I'd recommend it.
This was her first fiction book (there's sequel that follows). It takes place in my 'hood and it was interesting to read some history of the area.
The characters are very true to life with some of the residents in the 'hood. They live in the rooming house and have nothing but each other. When one disappears and turns up dead, they band together to find out what happened when the police deem it to be a suicide.
Despite the topic and characters, it's not a heavy read and I'd recommend it.
September 30, 2009
Read this in my attempt to read more Canadian authors. Good debut mystery set in Toronto with an interesting cast of characters. The protagonist is Dana Leoni, a woman who dropped out of her life after an attack. She eventually ends up in a boarding house in Parkdale, and starts looking into the disappearance of another resident of the boarding house. An interesting glimpse into the lives of people living on the outskirts of 'society', and the community they have develop. I'll definitely read the next in the series.
November 25, 2008
Pats heroine Dana Leoni and her ragtag sleuths solve the mystery behind the disappearance and death of a friend. Capponi catches street life in Toronto's Parkdale and paints an accurate and poignant picture of the homeless, marginalized and mentally ill. Not your everyday heros but this group came out on top.
February 11, 2010
A resident at a rooming house is murdered and her housemates set out to solve the crime. The first book in the Dana Leoni series. I liked the book a lot and appreciated Capponi's original band of detectives. Read the full review.
March 6, 2014
Really enjoyed these characters and the social commentary about the marginalized population
January 9, 2015
Great! What more can I say
Want to read
October 31, 2018Synopsis: Toronto's Parkdale neighbourhood used to be prosperous. Dana Leoni lives in a rooming house and a housemate turns up dead.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews