In my search for Canadian crime fiction writers, I discovered Laurence Gough. Gough wrote 13 books in his series about Vancouver police detectives Jack Willows and Claire Parker. The first title is The Goldfish Bowl (St. Martin’s Press, 1987), which won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel from Crime Writers of Canada.
A random sniper is terrorizing Vancouver, taking out citizens with no apparent rhyme or reason. (Residents of the Washington DC area in October 2002 will remember clearly what the DC sniper attacks were like.) One of his victims is police detective and colleague David Atkinson, which makes the case personal for Willows and Parker.
The lack of connection across the victims and the inconsistency in the minimal information the police can get about the shooter’s appearance serve as significant obstacles to the investigation. World-weary Willows and new to the force Parker both bring relevant insights that move the story along believably despite the oft-used trope.
Some chapters are written from the killer’s perspective, documenting his deteriorating mental state while offering no clues to his identity, making the revelation at the end even more of a shock. Readers who don’t want to get inside the killer’s head should be warned.
I especially like the bits about Vancouver, the streets, the shops, the weather, and the people that are effortlessly woven in and result in a vivid word picture of the city. It’s this kind of detail that makes regional mysteries such a pleasure to read.
Readers looking for a new crime fiction series should consider these books. They are readily available on the secondary market and Joffe has recently released the first seven titles in an ebook set.