Free Reign

Ellis Portal Mystery #1

by Rosemary Aubert

Ellis Portal had once been an esteemed judge. Now, he lives as a vagrant in the wilderness that runs through the heart of Toronto. One day, while working in his garden, he unearths a severed hand—a hand that wears a ring Ellis recognizes. Thirty years ago, on the day he became a lawyer, he and four of his companions had sealed a pact with just such a ring. Now Ellis begins a search for the victim’s identity, returning to world that had cast him out years ago—a world far more dangerous than the one he left behind...

Genres: Mystery, Canada, Fiction, Mystery Thriller

293 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 25, 1997

About the author

Rosemary Aubert, B.A., M.A., C.Cri is the internationally-acclaimed author of the Ellis Portal mystery series. She is the author of five romance novels published around the world and of poems, interviews, articles and reviews over several decades of writing. She has taught workshops from coast to coast in Canada and the United States and is a frequent guest lecturer at colleges, universities, writers' groups and conferences. Rosemary believes that anyone can be a writer if he or she is willing make full use of his or her talent, imagination and ability to work hard.

Series:
* Ellis Portal Mystery

Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award
◊ Best Novel (2000): The Feast of Stephen

Reviews

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Free Reign is the first in the Ellis Portal series. It's the story of a former judge who we meet after he becomes homeless and his home becomes a box in a natural area in or near Toronto. The strength of the novel is its setting and plot. The author describes the society of homeless in Toronto, at the same time making life out of doors sound enviable, beautiful, and free. Details about sights, scents, and sounds draw us in so that we don't think too closely about Portal's fall from grace. The plot is suspenseful, but it wasn't really the mystery surrounding the Second Chance home for girls that kept my attention. Instead, it was the kind of relationships that Portal had with other homeless, as well as with members of the close circle of lawyers he met while in law school that interested me. This novel is worth reading, but something about it just manages to brush against the four-star level without quite attaining it. I think it's Portal's character. I'm probably expecting too much, but Rosemary Aubert, the author, has created an intriguing situation for him, one rich in possibility, but he simply doesn't reveal enough for us to identify with him or be particularly moved by his plight. I think he's not vulnerable enough.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book in a series and it's been unavailable for quite some time ... I'm very happy to see it again. Homeless man Ellis Portal finds a severed hand outside his hand built shelter by the Don River and recognizes the ring on it as belonging to someone from his past when he was an esteemed Toronto judge. He reluctantly investigates and finds himself confronting a number of truths about his past. A far more enjoyable read than one would suspect given the description.

[Steven jb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the pacing was a bit uneven; some parts of the plot were a bit too contrived; and the writing and character development were fair; and yet I enjoyed the characters, the hooks, and the overall plot. I thought it was a good read with a very good central character. My largest criticism is that I never felt I fully understood the motivation behind Ellis' crack-up.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Free Reign is an enjoyable read, starting a bit slow, but then progresses. If you are looking for a hardcore mystery, try someone else like Dorothy Sayers. But for an enjoyable way to spend a summer day, you could do worse.

For more of my thoughts, you can see my blog.

[Alton Motobu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ellis is the most unique and interesting character in the modern mystery genre. He is a disgraced judge who was convicted of assault and had to serve time and is now a vagrant living in an urban forest in Toronto. He usually wants nothing to do with people and can be grumpy and cantankerous. But at other times he is helpful and friendly - mostly to other street people - and helps them get out of trouble. In this book he his caught in a web of crime involving prostitution, homosexuality, abortion, and organ/tissue harvesting among rich clientele. His friend, Queenie, asks him to find out who killed her daughter outside an abortion clinic. HIs other friend, William, asks him to find his missing lover, Matt, who apparently has had his hand severed. It gets unpleasant at times, but for the most part Ellis is a sympathetic character, although he is unlikeable at times.

[Rosie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ellis Portal is a Judge who is living the homeless life in the woods outside of Toronto. Upon graduating from Law School, five students made a pact with 5 rings to be there for each other.

Ellis has let his temper get the best of him and is now out of jail, but is homeless for four years. He receives a severed hand of a black man with one of the rings on it and sets out to find the murderer. (free book from HW Library 2023 Summer Soiree.)

[Mindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good book! I picked it up at a library book sale over 10 years ago and have just now read it! Good mystery and a good amount of suspense. Looking forward to the next in the series!

[Barbara Brydges · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uneven in execution but I appreciated the Toronto setting and the unpredictability of the mystery.

[Cindy Su · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it.

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once a powerful judge, Ellis Portal was convicted of a felony and disgraced. His life style has changed drastically. He is now living as a homeless person in a ravine along a Toronto river. While working in his vegetable garden, he finds a ring with a black hand attached to it. Ellis recognizes the ring as one of five that was exchanged between himself and four other law school graduates (all of whom were white). When the rings were exchanged, they were accompanied by a vow that each of them would perform one favor, no questions asked, for each of the others. During the book, this favor is called in twice for Ellis.

In order to solve the mystery of the ring, Portal needs to go back into the civilized world. When he does so as a vagrant, he is treated without respect. When he goes through great lengths to appear “normal”, he is accepted. He first visits another street person, Queenie, who cannot help him but asks him to see how a young woman named Moonstar is doing. Moonstar is a prostitute who spent some time at a hostel called “Second Chances”. She is convinced that the well- to- do hostel is responsible for spiriting away several people, including newborn babies of some of the women who reside there. Although this seems implausible to Ellis, he agrees to look into it.

The main connection who helps in his investigation is a reporter named Aliana who treated him fairly during his worst ordeals. She is kind and helpful. She also serves a useful purpose in the story of being able to tap into information that Ellis needs to investigate Second Chances and the other lawyers with whom he made his pact.

The first two-thirds of the book were thought- provoking as it made the reader consider attitudes toward the unfortunates of society. However, the last third veered off into fantastic events, clichés and unbelievable happy endings for almost everybody. Aubert writes with great sensitivity about the intricacies of life on the streets as well as other issues such as prostitution, homosexuality and the vagaries of the justice system, all of which make this a book worth reading in spite of the overly fortuitous plot resolutions.

[Morgan Osborn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ellis Portal, like every judge, had friends within the Law system that he became very close to. The group of friends that he managed to conjure up during his time during Law school, got together one evening to exchange rings that would externally bond them forever. Years later, Ellis now lives within the woods of his hometown after getting into trouble with the law and being excluded from his family. After waking up one morning and finiding a severed hand with the same ring he has attached to the hand, Ellis sets out to find exactly whose ring it is and exactly whose hand it is... Free Reign by Rosemary Aubert is a suspense novel that will send your mind on a wild mystery ride with Ellis in the hopes of finding out the mystery of the severed hand.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really different detective, here's a man who used to be on top of the world and is found living in a box on land he where he should not be. I liked the way the author slowly brings out the reason he has fallen so far, yet holds on to his integrity, and tries his best to keep promises. Has some twists in it, who I thought would be the villain isn't really. It will be nice to see if the author continues with this character or it ends up being a one-time appearance. Personally, I'd like to see him again, but don't know where a succeeding novel would go.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best mysteries I have read in a long time. The characters leap of the page and you are drawn in to the life of Ellis Portal, a Judge who has been judged and found wanting. He now is a homeless man, living off the land, with few creature comforts. The story of his rise and fall is very well done, and very believable. He still has his character flaws and he has to over come these to try a help someone from his past as well as someone from his present.

[Mimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Introduction to former Toronto judge Ellis Portal whose uncontrolled temper led to his confinement in a mental hospital and then to living in the Don river valley and fending for himself. His past catches up to him in the form of the death of an unknown man and possible misdoings in a local charitable home for pregnant teens started by two former classmates and friends.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ellis Portal, a homeless man who was once a judge, is a fascinating protagonist. This was an absorbing read, though I felt some ends were left dangling at the conclusion.

[Karen]

I liked this book - set in Canada; first in a series about a 'fallen' judge who tries to solve a crime while living on the streets.

[Sue Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Toronto mystery. Homeless man who was formerly a judge is the detective

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite a mystery, but that is the genre. The view into the culture of the homeless is well worth the read. I was pulling for the main character from the first page.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intelligently written, not as formulaic as many mysteries. I liked how she treated the characters from the street, gave them innate dignity, and their distrust of authority seemed spot-on.

[Violet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slow reading the author left you the dark for to long.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: offbeat sleuth Ellis Portal lives as a vagrant in Toronto. One day, he unearths a severed hand.