Toronto is the setting for this crime story. To begin with
we meet a frustrated cop, Paul Manziuk, who can make no
more progress on the murder of a young woman. Unknown to
him, a very different young woman has just been promoted to
his department, Jacqueline Ryan, who is sure she only got
the raise because she's female and black. But hey, she can
prove herself.
SHADED LIGHT next introduces us to the guests and hosts of
a weekend country house party - unexpected arrivals and
all. Mainly they are two partners in a legal firm and their
wives, with a few younger relatives. There's also a young
man who's been offered a position, but would secretly
rather continue with his downhill skiing; and
embarrassingly the second wife of a man who's there with
his fourth wife also arrives. After they have settled in
and made friends and had disagreements, one young lady is
killed while sitting in a garden area. Manziuk is called
in, less than happy about having an untested second officer
and sure that murder is no place for a female detective.
The deceased was strangled with a cord, was not otherwise
assaulted and is still wearing diamonds. Looks like a
personal motive.
The author JA Menzies says her favourite books are by
Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Georgette Heyer and Jane
Austen, and in SHADED LIGHT she has recreated the world of
English country house living with modern detection added.
Latent fingerprints are discovered on a keyboard, credit
card statements are requested. While this book is mostly
about the characters in the house party and how the murder
changes their lives, the dogged detective Manziuk and
upcoming Ryan also change as they learn to respect each
other and work together to good purpose.
The next in this series is called Glitter of Diamonds
and puts the detective team to work once more.
An already uneasy weekend house party on a Toronto lawyer’s estate turns deadly when one guest stumbles on the body of another, bringing Manziuk and Ryan to take on their first challenge as a team in this contemporary whodunit, written in the classic style.
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