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In this, the eleventh book in this series set largely in Regina, Saskatchewan, Joanne Kilbourn is now very happily married to Zack Shreve, a highly successful trial lawyer who has been wheelchair-bound since an accident in his early years left him a paraplegic. She has also happily returned to her first love, politics, promising to help out in Ginny Monaghan's campaign for a seat in Parliament in the current general election. The murder of a call girl, Cristal Avilia, will tarnish Joanne's joy in both the political fray and her own marriage. Cristal had quite a little black book listing a significant number of prominent members of the Saskatchewan bar and, it seems, someone else has got hold of it and, worse, the DVDs that recorded her meetings with these men, one of whom was Zack himself. While slowly coming to terms with what she saw on the DVD, Joanne throws herself into her role of advisor to Ginny Monaghan's campaign, a task made more difficult by Ginny's involvement in a custody suit that may highlight her lively sex life and so jeopardize her electoral prospects. Both the election and he murder inquiry run from beginning to end and the outcome of each remains in doubt until the final few pages. While the identity of the murderer appears fairly clear mid-way through, the interest is in the motive and in general, the story remains compelling less as a piece of crime fiction than as an adult and intelligent investigation of human relationships. While THE BRUTAL HEART may seem to be a fairly standard cosy - a limited range of suspects, a largely closed social circle, and considerable space given to descriptions of menus, restaurants, and decor, it is rather more than that. Joanne Kilbourne's world appears privileged, expansive, and calmly protected, but it's nothing of the sort. It is ever vulnerable to weaknesses within and attack from without, as the shock of the revelation about Zack's connection to the dead prostitute demonstrates. The book does what better crime fiction always does - bring the evil that we would rather not look at up close to our own world. There is something else that Gail Bowen does superbly well, and that is write Canadian crime fiction. All of her references are Canadian and not explained for an American audience. Just as a British writer would never for one moment define 'riding' or 'minority government', Bowen too assumes that her readership knows exactly what she's talking about. This may seem unremarkable, except that I have read far too many mysteries by Canadian writers that might just as well have been set in Milwaukee or that explain in endless detail how our health system works. But never fear - if you are an American, there's still a lot here for you. What illuminates this novel, as it does all the books in the series, is a generosity of spirit and a maturity of mind that is genuinely rare.
Reviewed by Yvonne Klein, August 2008
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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