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Winter is cold and snowy in Canada but life goes on for the people living in the wilds of Quebec. Meg Harris, a white woman who moved to the wilderness, is part of a crew that's helping to open land for a cross-country ski trail. After clearing out some land Meg is separated from the rest of her crew and soon finds herself in the midst of a snowstorm. When the storm subsides Meg goes home only to discover that two of her crew, Chantal and John-Joe, have also gone missing. In searching for them, Meg goes to John-Joe's cabin on the Migiskan Reserve. There she finds the frozen, beaten body of Chantal, the missing young woman. All the evidence points to John-Joe as the murderer but Meg is positive that he is innocent and wants to do her best to prove it. Thus starts a long complicated story of murder in the wilderness. RED ICE FOR A SHROUD by MJ Harlick is a fine murder mystery with a good ending. The only problem is that it is slowed down by too much repetition. John-Joe, on the loose, gives himself up to the police, only to escape again. Twice he goes to Meg's cabin to hide as the evidence builds up against him. Even his own tribe doubts his innocence but Meg is sure John-Joe is not a murderer and we hear about her feelings over and over again. Then we have one sub-plot dealing with Meg and her on-again, off-again boyfriend Eric Odjik, who is also a Native and a leader of his tribe. Meg and Eric's relationship goes under when Meg sees Eric with a younger woman. Of course this sub-plot could have ended within a page if Meg just asked Eric who the girl was, but that didn't happen. The readers have to endlessly hear about Eric and how Meg loves him or hates him depending on her mood. To make matters even worse, this whole plot could have been left out since nothing really came of it. The other major sub-plot has to do with a family whose members have dark secrets that become intertwined with the murder. Harlick is a good writer. She describes the Canadian winter wilderness scenes beautifully and made me want to go up north to check it out myself. She also describes the prejudices that the Native Canadians face, not unlike in the States. There is a wonderful scene where the tension agonizingly builds up as the police search Meg's cabin for John-Joe. I really didn't see the ending coming! I had a glimpse of who the killer was but Harlick put a nice twist on it. Although in reality, I don't think something like that could actually happen. Meg is a good enough main character, but just a bit annoying. But something like that can be overlooked since the rest of the book is so well written. RED ICE FOR A SHROUD is not one of the best murder mysteries around, but it's enjoyable enough with a very different ending.
Reviewed by Sharon Katz, October 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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