swfountaine's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
heathersbike's review against another edition
5.0
This was very good. Looking forward to listening to the next one.
mercar's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyable crime novel. Listened as an audiobook and there are too many characters introduced at the same time. It was hard to keep track of who is who as the main family under investigation is large and there are several policemen in the picture. Perhaps it would be easier when reading a book.
as I was mostly confused about who is who, I did not guess the murderer.
as I was mostly confused about who is who, I did not guess the murderer.
agrec1205's review against another edition
2.0
Boring, slow burn, strange beginning that didn’t fit the rest of the book.
brelee's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
reallyintoreading's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
myrdyr's review against another edition
4.0
3.7/5 stars. I enjoyed this first book in a new series. The writing faltered on a couple of occasions in the last quarter of the book, but the book was good enough to carry it. I liked the Canadian setting, but the characters are what made this book for me. I look forward to reading the next in the series.
weaselweader's review against another edition
3.0
“You little girls like to go riding with strangers?”
Kala Stonechild is damaged and complicated, a lone wolf and difficult to understand. But she’s a self-assured, strong-willed survivor. From a background of alcohol, absentee parents and violent sexual abuse, Stonechild is a new police recruit who has left her northern Ontario detachment to join a specialized Ottawa crime unit. Her new boss, Detective Jacques Rouleau, a capable, confident, and compassionate supervisor and mentor, himself uncertain of his future in Ottawa law enforcement, assigns her to locate Tom Underwood, a high profile missing person case that may well have political fall-out. When Underwood’s body is found frozen and stuffed in the trunk of his car, the missing person case becomes a complex murder investigation in which every member of a grossly dysfunctional family becomes suspect.
In many ways, Kala Stonechild’s back story is, sadly, not unexpected. Predictably, her First Nations upbringing and everything related is at issue – misogyny, racism, sexism, alcohol, education, background, personal history, abuse. But despite that, Chapman does a good job of filling out a strong and credible story of a female aboriginal that readers will be willing to get behind and support. And, as was the case with Louise Penny’s Three Pines, Scott Thornley’s Hamilton or Giles Blunt’s small northern town of Algonquin Bay, for example, Chapman has brought her real life chosen locale of Canada’s national capital, to vivid life.
A good but not great introduction to a new series, I would have preferred a little peppier pacing in the plot development. That said, COLD MOURNING is definitely recommended and #2, BUTTERFLY KILLS, comes to the top of my TBR list for reading sooner than later.
Paul Weiss
Kala Stonechild is damaged and complicated, a lone wolf and difficult to understand. But she’s a self-assured, strong-willed survivor. From a background of alcohol, absentee parents and violent sexual abuse, Stonechild is a new police recruit who has left her northern Ontario detachment to join a specialized Ottawa crime unit. Her new boss, Detective Jacques Rouleau, a capable, confident, and compassionate supervisor and mentor, himself uncertain of his future in Ottawa law enforcement, assigns her to locate Tom Underwood, a high profile missing person case that may well have political fall-out. When Underwood’s body is found frozen and stuffed in the trunk of his car, the missing person case becomes a complex murder investigation in which every member of a grossly dysfunctional family becomes suspect.
In many ways, Kala Stonechild’s back story is, sadly, not unexpected. Predictably, her First Nations upbringing and everything related is at issue – misogyny, racism, sexism, alcohol, education, background, personal history, abuse. But despite that, Chapman does a good job of filling out a strong and credible story of a female aboriginal that readers will be willing to get behind and support. And, as was the case with Louise Penny’s Three Pines, Scott Thornley’s Hamilton or Giles Blunt’s small northern town of Algonquin Bay, for example, Chapman has brought her real life chosen locale of Canada’s national capital, to vivid life.
A good but not great introduction to a new series, I would have preferred a little peppier pacing in the plot development. That said, COLD MOURNING is definitely recommended and #2, BUTTERFLY KILLS, comes to the top of my TBR list for reading sooner than later.
Paul Weiss
carrix2's review against another edition
3.0
Not the best detective novel I've read, but not the worst either. The characters were interesting, if not completely fleshed out. The detectives themselves seemed to overlook some obvious "clues" while also jumping to assumptions they had not evidence to support. I saw who the killer was pretty early on. That said, it was an enjoyable quick read.