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Montreal, 1975. Detective Émile Cinq-Mars is transferring from the Night Patrol - the notoriously tough department of officers in charge of watching over the city as it sleeps - to the day shift. His old superior has seen to it that he's assigned to partner Yves Giroux, another ex-Night Patrol detective some say isn't on the 'up and up'. Getting in a house is easy for thief Quinn Tanner. The stress comes in getting out clean. On finding her getaway driver dead after her latest heist, she goes underground. For his first case on the day shift, Émile is sent to the property that Quinn has just visited, and their paths are set to cross. But has she stolen something more valuable than she realizes . . . and who is hunting for her now?

256 pages, Hardcover

First published July 31, 2019

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70 people want to read

About the author

John Farrow

33 books73 followers
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

John Farrow is the pen name of Trevor Ferguson, a Canadian writer who has written seventeen novels and four plays and has been named Canada's best novelist in both Books in Canada and the Toronto Star. Under the name John Farrow, he has written ten crime novels featuring Émile Cinq-Mars which have been highly acclaimed and popular around the world. He was raised in Montreal and lives in Victoria, British Columbia.

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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
Profile Image for Carolyn Walsh .
1,907 reviews563 followers
February 25, 2020
I once again have only the highest praise for author John Farrow’s crime novels that feature Detective Emile Cinq-Mars of the Montreal City Police. This is the 6th of the series I have read this month, so it appears I have become addicted. The plots are well written, and each one differs from the others. What they seem to have in common is an initial small crime escalates into a wide-ranging conspiracy. The characterizations are brilliant, and the dialogue sparkles. Emile’s moral fibre and his philosophy can be thought-provoking. This was a compelling police procedural which kept me engaged throughout with its suspense and human touch.

The time is 1975. Emile is transferring from the Night Patrol, with its notorious tough and honest police officers, to the day shift. It is said that there is less work for the day shift since the worst criminal activity takes place during the night. His former Superior Officer has assigned him to work with a partner, Yves Giroux, who has the reputation of being a ‘dirty cop’. Giroux crudely ridicules Emile for his ideas and appearance.

On his first assignment working days, Emile and his new partner are assigned to a robbery. The theft was committed by a teenaged girl, Quinn. She broke into the upscale home of an absent physician, but his wife was there with a lover. Quinn managed to escape with her stolen loot, but among the items is something extremely valuable. Her life is in danger from ruthless criminals who will torture and kill her in order to retrieve it.

Her boyfriend had been waiting in the getaway car and is discovered murdered in his vehicle. The detectives who deal with murders are reluctant to cooperate with Emile and Giroux who are working on the burglary, although both seem to be related. The investigation spreads out to include a leading Mafia boss, Mafia gangsters and their punks, and a psychotic Russian criminal. These characters are so well developed they seem real and frightening.

Other characters include a likeable pawnshop owner who fences stolen goods and controls young thieves who work for him, a retired safecracker, and a young dope dealer who grew up without knowing his own name and is afraid of a Mafia worker. Emile befriends Quinn and is determined to protect her from the criminals who will kill her in order to discover where she hid the stolen object. To do so, Emile must connect with his old boss in hopes that he can bring in members of his former Night Shift to help in a risky plan.
It is difficult to guess how Emile’s daring scheme can succeed and if Quinn will be rescued in time.
Profile Image for Sandy.
872 reviews244 followers
September 11, 2020
4.5 stars

Loving this series. So....where do I grovel to get my hands on Lady Jail ?
3,216 reviews68 followers
July 20, 2019
I would like to thank Netgalley and Severn House Publishers for an advance copy of Ball Park, a police procedural featuring Montreal detective Emile Cinq-Mars.

1975 and Emile has just transferred from the notoriously incorruptible Night Patrol to day shift where he is partnered with Yves Giroux, a former Night Patrol Officer with a whiff of corruption around him. Their first case is a burglary with some strange events. The burglar is teenager Quinn Tanner who quickly realises she may have stolen more than she thought.

I thoroughly enjoyed Ball Park which is a clever piece of writing with some great twists. It must be at least fifteen years since I read City of Ice and Ice Lake and, to be honest, all I remember is that I loved them and looked out for more for a few years until recently when I saw the Storm Trilogy, which I haven’t got round to reading yet, and then this became available so I scooped it up. I’m glad I did as my memory hasn’t failed me, despite frequent suggestions of otherwise nowadays. It is a great read and appealed to me on so many levels. Firstly it is a police procedural, my favourite kind of reading. The plot held my attention throughout as it is not a run of the mill murder mystery. It draws in various characters with different motives and these motivations are what drives the novel. The overarching question is why and this is gradually teased out as the novel progresses. I know that sounds a bit woolly but I don’t want to issue spoilers. I also liked the writing which is inviting and I loved the dialogue which seems natural and human, being at times elliptical and ambiguous but always understandable.

I like the relationship between Quinn and Emile which can be feisty but seems like the start of a good friendship. The contrast between their, don’t know what to call it, innocence, idealism, goodness (?) and the self serving cynicism of their opponents is somehow satisfying, as if they can rise above the sewer. It gives the novel a feel good factor.

Ball Park is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.
Profile Image for William.
676 reviews412 followers
November 11, 2020
3.5 Stars rounded down to 3

As usual with my reviews, please first read the publisher’s blurb/summary of the book. Thank you.

This is an uneven book, with inadequate prose and badly needing editing in the first 15 pages or so. After that, the prose and pacing pick up quite nicely for about 50% of the total length, but then bog down again with excessive and repetitive prose and dialogue. However, the final 20% or so of the book pick up pacing again, and result in a good climax and satisfying resolution.

The characters eventually get quite interesting, and mostly well-drawn.

I'm going to recommend much tighter editing by Farrow's publisher.


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Notes and quotes:

In his world, the criminal had a choice between two poisons: paranoia and prison. In his mind, one existed as the antidote to the other.
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While he would not be permitted to examine patients without taking the prerequisite study, he would be allowed to participate in the police laboratory and assist in their morgue. No living person would be entrusted to his care, but stewards determined that he was unlikely to do significant harm to the dead.
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Ezra Knightsbridge worked the edges of truth throughout his days. For him, lying was a practiced art that required both purpose and strategy. Life and death could be at stake. One should never lie out of fear, or from a posture of weakness. That was a game for the segment of society collectively identified as losers.
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People once reused everything, including nails. When they built a door, they pounded big fat nails through the planks and the spike ends went right through to the other side, sticking out, so they’d pound them flat into the wood, bending the nails at right angles. It’s called clenching. That “killed” the nail, so to speak. It couldn’t be reused. Voilà! As dead as a doornail.’
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On the radio, the Captain and Tennille were elaborating on what keeps them together. Cinq-Mars would’ve loved to turn them off but required their high decibel level.


John Farrow

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Profile Image for Kathy.
3,873 reviews290 followers
November 20, 2019
This is my first reading of this Canadian author. This seems to be the seventh book in a series featuring Emile Cinq-Mars, a Montreal Detective, and here he is adjusting to a move from working night patrol to being a day worker - the year is 1975. His first call takes him to what looked like a house burglary complicated by a murder. There's a bit of a turf war over this as two homicide cops arrive on the scene as well, not knowing about the burglary. The house belongs to the daughter of a mob boss.
The star of this story is a teenager, a young girl who breaks into houses and takes things easy to find and run with. On Cinq-Mars' first day of this new shift he is called to the most recent house she broke into while someone kills the boy who is her get-away driver, and one of the items she takes becomes the nervous focus of her pawnbroker as well as major mob figures. The character development of this teenager is well done and was the major reason for me to finish reading the book.
The dialogue and mob humour was not appealing to me. The majority of the banter can be characterized as "dumb and dumber" shtick. I suppose it's TV ready. I don't plan to read another.

Library Loan, Severn House Publishers hardback, 265 pp
55 reviews
October 3, 2019
I did not get a free copy of this book from Net Galley, but this is a terrific novel that’s very cinematic. It could be made into a tense movie.

Farrow has an uncanny ability to describe characters, and every one of them comes to life. My favorite is Ezra, the pawnshop owner. The plot is superb, one of those thrillers beginning small but developing into a major and far reaching story. The juvenile at the center of this plot is not your typical innocent youth but is a thief who somehow endears herself to the reader. The police detectives also come across more real than usual for a police procedural.

If there is a single flaw, it’s the absence of a sense of place. It is set in Montreal, but it could be almost any large city. I’m not certain whether that is actually a flaw or works to the novel’s advantage.

This is one of the best and most memorable mysteries I’ve read in a long time.
Profile Image for Joanne Hurley.
479 reviews10 followers
August 8, 2019
Thank you #NetGalley and #Severn for the opportunity to read #BallPark by #JohnFarrow in return for a fair review.

I have read all of the Emile Cinq-Mars novels by John Farrow but one - River City - and that one I plan on getting back to.

Although this is listed as the sixth book in the series, we're actually back in time to 1975, the year before the Montreal Olympics (a time I remember well, as it precipitated my moving from my hometown of Montreal to my adopted hometown of Toronto) and Cinq-Mars is leaving the Night Patrol, having been moved on by his mentor who is about to retire.

On his first Daytime case, he's pitched headlong into a robbery, murders, kidnapping, mobsters, lions, tigers and bears (oh, my) - okay, no lions, tigers or bears but what the hey.

Getting off on the wrong foot with his new partners, courtesy of an all-night going away binge with is old boss, Emile is sent to the home of a prominent Montreal doctor and his wife, them having experienced a break in overnight and the loss of a number of items including a signed 'Jackie Robinson' baseball. While Emile's partner is convinced that this is an insurance scam, Cinq-Mars isn't so sure.

Then, when a body shows up in a car around the corner, a car that contains evidence, Emile's off and running with both cases.

Without giving anything away, the case includes a thief, a fence, a godfather and a smattering of violence.

Mr. Farrow writes with a great fluidity of language; you can almost hear what's said in French and what's in English although the entire book IS in English (except for the occasional swear word). It's almost poetic at times. The chapters in this book have interesting titles, but they grow on you quickly and actually makes sense.

Strongly recommended. You don't have to have read the other books in the series - this actually would make a good jumping off point.
Profile Image for Colin Mitchell.
1,244 reviews17 followers
January 10, 2020
Detective Cinq-Mars has move onto the day shift from Montreal's Night Patrol but becomes embroiled with his old boss when a burglary turns into a murder investigation. Emile seems at times naive and at times strong when his superiors taken a back seat. I wonder if this would happen. in the real world. Lots of police seemingly treading a thin line with corruption.

Story flows along at a good pace and apart from the silly name comes over as a competent novel of this type. Quite an enjoyable read but not outstanding. I liked it well enough.
Profile Image for Elite Group.
3,112 reviews53 followers
November 18, 2019
An absolute pleasure to read!

This is a Swiss watch of a book – concise, beautifully crafted, effortlessly effective.

Seventh in the Cinq-Mars series, this thriller sees the Montreal detective, Emile Cinq-Mars transfer from the elite Night Patrol to the less demanding day shift. Well, that’s the theory……. until he encounters wild child, Quinn Tanner, daredevil thief, who inadvertently steals something far more valuable than she imagines and all hell breaks loose.

This book would make a wonderful film – strong as it is on visual images and impact, pacy narrative, vivid and diverse characters and snappy, wise-cracking dialogue.

As Farrow leads us deftly through the twists and turns of his labyrinthine plot more and more about the characters, the nature of the Mob and the corruption and collusion of the police is revealed.
This critically acclaimed Canadian writer is at the top of his game here and it is an impressive one. He is a master of the thriller genre. His spare, deceptively simple use of language drives a clear and powerful narrative.

“Ball Park” is an absolute pleasure to read.

Charlotte Gower

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review
Profile Image for Greer Andjanetta.
1,426 reviews7 followers
April 26, 2020
A very readable and enjoyable murder mystery, very low-key with minimal profanity (cops are involved, after all). The story is set in Montreal, which does not affect the plot in any way but the inclusion of several familiar street and place names adds a level of comfort to the story. An intrigueing and believeable plot without the extreme violence, gore and superhuman heroics so common in American-based stories. A real winner!
1,682 reviews5 followers
November 30, 2019
This mystery is set in Montreal and involves organized crime. It starts with a young teen, who happens to be a burglar, who discovers her partner has been killed. With the aid of a young police detective, she might manage to stay alive.
Profile Image for Race Bannon.
1,253 reviews8 followers
June 25, 2024
A jump back in time for this detective, when he
was a rookie and unmarried. Kind of a silly
initial crime but then everything unravels.
Not as clever as previous entries and filled with
curious dialogue. The ending is long and drawn
out and a complete mess.
17 reviews1 follower
January 27, 2020
Loved the book, the character of Quinn was great. I hope she comes back in a future book. It's hard to write/read an Italian accent. That's the only thing that bothered me.
Profile Image for Richard.
619 reviews1 follower
June 4, 2023
A very strong four stars, unfortunately now I only have two more reads of this series.
Profile Image for Ronald Kelland.
301 reviews8 followers
March 28, 2020
There is really very little that I can say about the Farrow/Ferguson Emile Cinq-Mars novels. They are great fun and have an intelligence to them that is not often found in other examples of the genre. I have loved these novels ever since I picked up City of Ice on a whim so many years ago. My only complaint, and I have said this before, is that Ball Park, like some of other more recent books is too short. The story is fully fleshed out within the pages, but I would love to be able to just immerse myself for days into a nice think Cinq-Mars novel again. I look forward eagerly to the next entry in the series.
Profile Image for Michael Martz.
1,140 reviews47 followers
June 26, 2023
"Ball Park" is an interesting little peek into the early detective career of Montreal's Emile Cinq-Mars. In it, young Emile has just exited his role in the Night Patrol division and is assigned to a day shift team to work with another veteran of the Night Patrol, Giroux. After a late night drinking session with his old superior, Touton, he shows up hung over on the first day of his new role and finds himself involved in a burglary case, which is tied to a murder case, which is tied to another murder case.... and so on. In interspersed chapters we also follow the career of the fledgling burglar, a young woman named Quinn Turner, as she plans the original crime and is subsequently involved in the investigation. Turns out for young Quinn it was not only a bad idea to rip off the house of a mafia wife but also to steal an item that has sentimental as well as monetary value to some pretty important and dangerous people.

John Farrow does a great job developing the characters in Ball Park, especially those of the cops and the young burglar lady. His writing is fine and the idiosyncrasies of the Montreal scene, with its ever-present French/English bifurcation, is deftly handled. I did have a problem with how the main issue is resolved, not believing anything like how the problem was addressed could happen in a city the size of Montreal. It was an exciting and creative resolution, but very unlikely even in the book's period (1970's). That sort of spoiled it for me, but otherwise it's a nice addition to Farrow's series.
Profile Image for Dianne Laheurte.
86 reviews13 followers
January 30, 2022
Ball Park by John Farrow, aka Trevor Ferguson, did not disappoint. Ball Park could be described as a prequel to the Detective Emile Cinq-Mars City of Ice/Ice Lake series, a view of Montreal's underbelly as not seen by many, and an excellent prequel, at that!

We are thrown back to Montreal 1976, the Italien Mafia and corrupt cops where we meet 30 year old Emile Cinq-Mars, complete with excellent characters Quinn, Ezra et al to round out this mobster story. One could easily read this as the first book rather than 7th in this series.

Make sure you have uninterrupted time to spend devouring this book!

Update: January 2022 - I am taking advantage of the cold weather compounded by the pandemic and am doing a re-read of all of the Trevor Ferguson aka John Farrow Detective Emile Cinq-Mars novels. Ball Park hit the ball out of left field! The first 7 are down, and Roar Back is up next!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews

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