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Murder at Lover's Leap
Inspired by True Events
In 1927, a schoolteacher, Nicholas Peddle, was found dead at the foot of Lover’s Leap, Harbour Grace, with a superficial stab wound to his neck. Just metres away from Peddle, another body, likely an assailant, was also discovered.
The double murder of Nicholas Peddle and his attacker is the only cold case of Sergeant Frank Fallon's long career with the Newfoundland Constabulary. The slain schoolteacher was a man of secrets, and the list of suspects in the investigation continued to grow until—suddenly—the trail went cold.
Fifty years later, the case remains unsolved. And now, a phone call reveals that new evidence has come to light.
The discovery causes retired policeman Frank Fallon to relive four days in August 1927, when he enlisted the help of his estranged partner, Christine Sullivan, an investigative reporter with the Harbour Grace Standard. Together they sought the elusive killer of both men . . . a search that left them with more questions than answers.
In 1927, a schoolteacher, Nicholas Peddle, was found dead at the foot of Lover’s Leap, Harbour Grace, with a superficial stab wound to his neck. Just metres away from Peddle, another body, likely an assailant, was also discovered.
The double murder of Nicholas Peddle and his attacker is the only cold case of Sergeant Frank Fallon's long career with the Newfoundland Constabulary. The slain schoolteacher was a man of secrets, and the list of suspects in the investigation continued to grow until—suddenly—the trail went cold.
Fifty years later, the case remains unsolved. And now, a phone call reveals that new evidence has come to light.
The discovery causes retired policeman Frank Fallon to relive four days in August 1927, when he enlisted the help of his estranged partner, Christine Sullivan, an investigative reporter with the Harbour Grace Standard. Together they sought the elusive killer of both men . . . a search that left them with more questions than answers.
278 pages, Paperback
Published August 19, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 23, 2023
Sometimes wishes come true.
I’ve remarked elsewhere my wish for Sergeant Frank Fallon to return tout de suite for another mosey around Harbour Grace.
Well b’ys, Frank Fallon rides again. Straight from the wishing well, so to speak, here he is moseying through the pages of Pat Collins’ Murder at Lover’s Leap [Flanker Press].
He’s eighty-six years old, wiping drool off his chin and cursing “this so called golden age.”
How the frig did this happen? Where have fifty years gone since Fallon appeared in Body on the Beach, Collins’ previous novel?
Turns out, the years haven’t truly passed. The author has employed a literary convention — a Prologue — to allow for Frank’s rapid ageing, or whatever. Here, in the Prologue, Sergeant Frank is given a definitive clue to an unsolved crime he investigated fifty years ago.
About time for cold case closure, eh b’ys?
Before taking a leap backwards from 1977 to 1927, let me say this: I’m glad Fallon has gotten old, because …
…well, because so have I. Gotten old, that is.
Septuagenarian scribblers need characters with whom to identify. To some degree, I can relate to old Frank Fallon. Maybe not with the drooling so much, but with the falling asleep in my Lay-Z-Boy and some days cursing blue blazes on this “golden age.”
Okay, 1927.
Here’s Sergeant Frank, back in the saddle, straight from rehab in New York, straight from the “inebriate” wing of the Charles B. Towns Hospital.
Frank has hardly pitched on Bowring’s Pier when Christine, his canoodling ducky of seven years, smells whiskey on his breath and dumps him: Be gone, foul Frank.
Frank has had a few nips of Canadian Club on the steamer. So much for rehab, eh b’ys?
Later that same day…
…Frank barely has a chance to dab his arse down in his office chair at the Constabulary police station in Harbour Grace before he is called to the local Lover’s Leap because there’s a body visibly splayed on the rocks at the bottom of the cliff.
The dead man is identified as a schoolteacher named Nicholas Peddle from nearby Bristol’s Hope.
And guess what?
The fisherman who assisted Frank in rappelling down the cliff face points Frank to a second body a little way inshore from Peddle’s corpse.
As Sherlock is inclined to say, “The game’s afoot.”
Suspecting homicide, Sergeant Fallon commences his investigation, using one of Mr. Ford’s Model Ts to enhance his moseying.
An expensive shawl and a stab wound in Peddle’s neck are Frank’s first two clues, clues compounded when a broken WWI knuckle knife is found under the second body.
From this point on, it’s who, what, and why and other familiar questions regarding homicides.
Sergeant Fallon is up for the job.
Wee change of pace.
Readers love titillating tidbits, eh b’ys?
Tidbit — talk of a married woman having a baby (too many) months after her husband has gone to sea.
Tidbit — talk about an incident of “inappropriate behaviour” at a community swimming hole.
Sergeant Fallon jots everything down in his notebook … and ponders.
It’s a good thing Fallon mosies. It allows me to keep pace, considering I have to lodge down the book time and again to check out particulars relating to the history of Harbour Grace. For example, during Fallon’s investigation, I was sidetracked on my own investigation of Harbour Grace’s airport and the town’s role in early aviation.
Not a bad thing.
Before I go.
I’ve been on this planet almost as long as senior citizen Frank. My rheumy ol’ peepers have seen dictionaries stogged full of words. My iAids assisted ears have heard as many or more.
I’ve led a sheltered life.
I’ve often been oblivious.
Nevertheless, I learned a new word while reading this book.
Huckabuck.
I had to look it up.
Thank you for reading.
I’ve remarked elsewhere my wish for Sergeant Frank Fallon to return tout de suite for another mosey around Harbour Grace.
Well b’ys, Frank Fallon rides again. Straight from the wishing well, so to speak, here he is moseying through the pages of Pat Collins’ Murder at Lover’s Leap [Flanker Press].
He’s eighty-six years old, wiping drool off his chin and cursing “this so called golden age.”
How the frig did this happen? Where have fifty years gone since Fallon appeared in Body on the Beach, Collins’ previous novel?
Turns out, the years haven’t truly passed. The author has employed a literary convention — a Prologue — to allow for Frank’s rapid ageing, or whatever. Here, in the Prologue, Sergeant Frank is given a definitive clue to an unsolved crime he investigated fifty years ago.
About time for cold case closure, eh b’ys?
Before taking a leap backwards from 1977 to 1927, let me say this: I’m glad Fallon has gotten old, because …
…well, because so have I. Gotten old, that is.
Septuagenarian scribblers need characters with whom to identify. To some degree, I can relate to old Frank Fallon. Maybe not with the drooling so much, but with the falling asleep in my Lay-Z-Boy and some days cursing blue blazes on this “golden age.”
Okay, 1927.
Here’s Sergeant Frank, back in the saddle, straight from rehab in New York, straight from the “inebriate” wing of the Charles B. Towns Hospital.
Frank has hardly pitched on Bowring’s Pier when Christine, his canoodling ducky of seven years, smells whiskey on his breath and dumps him: Be gone, foul Frank.
Frank has had a few nips of Canadian Club on the steamer. So much for rehab, eh b’ys?
Later that same day…
…Frank barely has a chance to dab his arse down in his office chair at the Constabulary police station in Harbour Grace before he is called to the local Lover’s Leap because there’s a body visibly splayed on the rocks at the bottom of the cliff.
The dead man is identified as a schoolteacher named Nicholas Peddle from nearby Bristol’s Hope.
And guess what?
The fisherman who assisted Frank in rappelling down the cliff face points Frank to a second body a little way inshore from Peddle’s corpse.
As Sherlock is inclined to say, “The game’s afoot.”
Suspecting homicide, Sergeant Fallon commences his investigation, using one of Mr. Ford’s Model Ts to enhance his moseying.
An expensive shawl and a stab wound in Peddle’s neck are Frank’s first two clues, clues compounded when a broken WWI knuckle knife is found under the second body.
From this point on, it’s who, what, and why and other familiar questions regarding homicides.
Sergeant Fallon is up for the job.
Wee change of pace.
Readers love titillating tidbits, eh b’ys?
Tidbit — talk of a married woman having a baby (too many) months after her husband has gone to sea.
Tidbit — talk about an incident of “inappropriate behaviour” at a community swimming hole.
Sergeant Fallon jots everything down in his notebook … and ponders.
It’s a good thing Fallon mosies. It allows me to keep pace, considering I have to lodge down the book time and again to check out particulars relating to the history of Harbour Grace. For example, during Fallon’s investigation, I was sidetracked on my own investigation of Harbour Grace’s airport and the town’s role in early aviation.
Not a bad thing.
Before I go.
I’ve been on this planet almost as long as senior citizen Frank. My rheumy ol’ peepers have seen dictionaries stogged full of words. My iAids assisted ears have heard as many or more.
I’ve led a sheltered life.
I’ve often been oblivious.
Nevertheless, I learned a new word while reading this book.
Huckabuck.
I had to look it up.
Thank you for reading.
January 15, 2025
I truely enjoyed this book
Exactly why I have taken my dead time reading it
Taking it all in page by page
And it left me wanting more every time
This book draws you in you feel like your right there in the story ( which isn’t a easy thing to do as a writer )
I loved it
Ending wasn’t what I expected but turned out good
I highly recommend it
Read while at work On Tanker Sarah Desgagnes ⚓️
Exactly why I have taken my dead time reading it
Taking it all in page by page
And it left me wanting more every time
This book draws you in you feel like your right there in the story ( which isn’t a easy thing to do as a writer )
I loved it
Ending wasn’t what I expected but turned out good
I highly recommend it
Read while at work On Tanker Sarah Desgagnes ⚓️
September 29, 2022
A riveting crime thriller rooted in Newfoundland history, Patrick J. Collins crafts yet another tale with Sergeant Fallon at the helm. Check out my review of Murder At Lover's Leap as it appears in Atlantic Books Today!
https://atlanticbooks.ca/stories/step...
https://atlanticbooks.ca/stories/step...
May 25, 2023
An engaging mystery involving a cold case that finally gets solved. The story takes place in Newfoundland where the terrain is rugged but beautiful. The same can be said for the characters in this book who struggle with flaws but have strength and determination to carry on despite hardships .
July 6, 2023
Set in 1927, a Sergeant of the Newfoundland Constabulary investigates when the bodies of two men are found at the bottom of Lover's Leap. It becomes a cold case until 50 years later.
Vivid descriptions of the time period and setting. Great characters.
Vivid descriptions of the time period and setting. Great characters.
October 7, 2023
Not exactly a riveting page turner but a decent plot line that keeps you entertained. I’m not sure why the author decided to add an odd twist for the main character that seems out of place towards the end. Lacks punch and wraps up way too quickly.
November 1, 2023
It was pretty decent! Interesting story, well written. Characters were well developed.
Some flat areas, and a lot of walking.
Some flat areas, and a lot of walking.
December 4, 2024
I bought this during a trip to Newfoundland this fall. I like the references to local history and landmarks.
January 5, 2025
Bit slow but I got hooked and couldn’t put it done.
Love the Newfoundland setting, references, and feel!
Love the Newfoundland setting, references, and feel!
February 18, 2023
An easy book to read and a delightfully entertaining murder mystery. Love that it took place in Newfoundland, Canada.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews