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Émile Cinq-Mars #10
A Patient Death
In John Farrow’ s riveting 10th novel featuring his iconic detective É mile Cinq-Mars, an investigation into a peculiar rash of deaths, in which the elderly sitting up straight suddenly “ pop off,” lays bare the roots and intricacies of the opioid crisis. Retired from the Montreal Police Service, Cinq-Mars is tapped by a State Trooper to look into deaths being booked as “ natural causes.” Should they perhaps be viewed differently, as suspicious? Cinq-Mars’ s foray draws him into a mysterious clique of elderly women, working women, and a teenaged girl on crutches, which leads to a harrowing ordeal when he’ s struck by an assassin’ s bullet. Will death be sufficiently patient with him that from his hospital bed he can resolve how and why the elderly on one side of a state line die quickly and mysteriously while on the other their deaths are slow and agonizing? What is the scheme? Who is behind it all? Will his assassin strike again? As he investigates, and considers a move with his wife to her family home, É mile Cinq-Mars encounters the secrets of a New Hampshire community wracked by tragedy, and meets the valiant women who will struggle to save him, as he has struggled to save them.
305 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2023
About the author
John Farrow
30 books74 followersLibrarian 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.
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 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 19, 2024
Hey, this was GOOD! Enjoyed this character and his detective mind. Will be looking forward to more. Later. Keep Reading.
April 20, 2024
I have been a fan of John Farrow/Trevor Ferguson’s “Cinq-Mars” novels ever since I picked up City of Ice on a whim when I was working at Chapters a lifetime ago. I eagerly anticipate the release of each new instalment, so I was thrilled to get my hands on this one. I did not enjoy this one as much as the previous books, but I can’t really put my finger on why. I might be getting tired of the New Hampshire setting of that last few, because I do prefer the books set in Montreal and environs. That said, it is still a very good and enjoyable read. Despite starting g to tire of the American setting, I do like the professional friendship between retired Montreal detective Emile Cinq-Mars and New Hampshire State Trooper Hammond, there is still gold to mine there. Hoping there are many more Emile Cinq-Mars books to follow, I eagerly anticipate the next one.
March 21, 2026
DNF TOO GRIM. Don’t read any more of these.
January 18, 2024
This is the 10th book in the critically acclaimed and popular Émile Cinq-Mars series. These thrillers are written under the pen name John Farrow, otherwise known as Trevor Ferguson, who critics had mentioned as the best Canadian literary novelist. The police procedurals have been mainly set in Montreal. The crime thrillers featuring Émile Cinq-Mars have been called 'the best series of all time' by Die Zeit (Germany), and Booklist (NY) says, 'They must be considered among the best series of our time.' They have been published in 17 countries.
These books have featured Émile as a young Montreal police officer and after he retired from active service. They offer complex, suspenseful plots with mainly sympathetic, colourful characters who are described in depth and are believable.
A Patient Death finds Émile and his wife in New Hampshire, where she grew up and is now involved in legal work on a farmhouse left by her late mother. The lawyer is an outgoing blind man who offers friendship to the newcomer. Mrs. Cinq-Mars wants to sell their horse farm in Quebec and settle in New Hampshire. Émile is not opposed to considering a riverfront cottage, but the real estate agent keeps them busy
looking at homes of no interest to them.
His wife is annoyed that a State trooper has asked Émile to investigate the strange death of Muriel, an elegant eighty-year-old woman. The lady was found dead, sitting peacefully upright in her chair. She had been robbed. The death was suspicious when it was learned that other older adults had been found dead, sitting up with a peaceful expression. They had not been robbed. Their deaths had been considered natural, but now it is a quandary as those who have died across the state border have died in agony of the same causes. What was the difference?
Émile has learned that his first case, Muriel, was a member of an unusual Support Group. It was a group formed for help and friendship by people addicted to drugs but without any attempt to get them to stop using. Muriel had been important to three other women of various ages and lifestyles who also belonged to the group. Penny was 20 years younger than Muriel, was sloppy, and loved gossip and tweeting. Bitz was 20 years younger than Penny, and her addiction caused her two young children to be undisciplined. Then there was 17-year-old Libby, who had severe, painful injuries from a fall while cliff climbing. She became addicted as a way to relieve her pain. The drug of choice was heroin, which could be bought cheaply from drug pushers. These three women were distraught over Muriel's unexpected death and came to admire Émile's attention to the case and his respectful interaction with them.
He has been known to prefer to investigate crimes independently and use logic and intuition to draw the various elements together, eventually coming up with a solution. He knows the drug dealers may resort to violence to protect their monopoly. While fishing in the river, his intelligent mind is working on the case. A sharpshooter targets him, and he falls into the river with a severe injury. How is he rescued and ends up in the hospital in intensive care? He is in and out of consciousness and on life support. If he lives, the criminal(s) intend to finish the job by murdering him in his hospital bed. When alert, he has figured out what has been going on, and the solution is complicated. How will anyone save his life from criminals bound to quiet him forever? Is there any way he can survive?
Recommended, but the reader should start with a couple of earlier books in the series.
These books have featured Émile as a young Montreal police officer and after he retired from active service. They offer complex, suspenseful plots with mainly sympathetic, colourful characters who are described in depth and are believable.
A Patient Death finds Émile and his wife in New Hampshire, where she grew up and is now involved in legal work on a farmhouse left by her late mother. The lawyer is an outgoing blind man who offers friendship to the newcomer. Mrs. Cinq-Mars wants to sell their horse farm in Quebec and settle in New Hampshire. Émile is not opposed to considering a riverfront cottage, but the real estate agent keeps them busy
looking at homes of no interest to them.
His wife is annoyed that a State trooper has asked Émile to investigate the strange death of Muriel, an elegant eighty-year-old woman. The lady was found dead, sitting peacefully upright in her chair. She had been robbed. The death was suspicious when it was learned that other older adults had been found dead, sitting up with a peaceful expression. They had not been robbed. Their deaths had been considered natural, but now it is a quandary as those who have died across the state border have died in agony of the same causes. What was the difference?
Émile has learned that his first case, Muriel, was a member of an unusual Support Group. It was a group formed for help and friendship by people addicted to drugs but without any attempt to get them to stop using. Muriel had been important to three other women of various ages and lifestyles who also belonged to the group. Penny was 20 years younger than Muriel, was sloppy, and loved gossip and tweeting. Bitz was 20 years younger than Penny, and her addiction caused her two young children to be undisciplined. Then there was 17-year-old Libby, who had severe, painful injuries from a fall while cliff climbing. She became addicted as a way to relieve her pain. The drug of choice was heroin, which could be bought cheaply from drug pushers. These three women were distraught over Muriel's unexpected death and came to admire Émile's attention to the case and his respectful interaction with them.
He has been known to prefer to investigate crimes independently and use logic and intuition to draw the various elements together, eventually coming up with a solution. He knows the drug dealers may resort to violence to protect their monopoly. While fishing in the river, his intelligent mind is working on the case. A sharpshooter targets him, and he falls into the river with a severe injury. How is he rescued and ends up in the hospital in intensive care? He is in and out of consciousness and on life support. If he lives, the criminal(s) intend to finish the job by murdering him in his hospital bed. When alert, he has figured out what has been going on, and the solution is complicated. How will anyone save his life from criminals bound to quiet him forever? Is there any way he can survive?
Recommended, but the reader should start with a couple of earlier books in the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews