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DARKNESS AT THE STROKE OF NOON
by Dennis Richard Murphy
HarperCollins, February 2009
380 pages
$21.95 CAD
ISBN: 1554683211


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

RCMP Sergeant Booker Kennison knows way too much about corruption in the more senior reaches of the force and so he finds himself posted from Ottawa to Yellowknife, capital of the Northwest Territories and not all that far south of the Arctic Circle. Before he has time to warm up, he's sent even further north to an archaeological site investigating the graves of members of the ill-fated 1845 Franklin expedition to navigate the northwest passage. Two of the archaeological team have died, presumably in an accident, and Kennison is required to look things over and bring the bodies back.

What he does not know is that one of the dead scientists, a Dr Kneisser, has found a well-preserved journal kept by a young member of the Franklin expedition, a record that might reveal how far they got, whether they survived by eating one another, and whether they themselves were a source of food for the local Inuit, all questions of intense concern to various interests. What he discovers very quickly is that Kneisser was murdered.

If the expedition had successfully navigated the entire passage, then this information might undermine Canadian claims to full sovereignty over the northern waters that global warming is likely to make increasingly accessible. And so recently divorced ex-FBI agent Ruby Cruz is dispatched to get hold of the journal and bring it and its discoverer safely back to the American corporation that is funding the dig and hoping to exploit the natural resources of the area.

Meanwhile, another group is also worried about the journal - a group of Inuit terrorists who want to establish native sovereignty over the north and fear that revelations about native cannibalism might reflect badly on the cause.

The story of the Franklin expedition and the mystery of its fate is one of the central Canadian national myths (so central, indeed, that one is puzzled when Kennison confesses total ignorance of it) and of course questions of native rights, national borders, and the exploitation of natural resources are all of current concern. The problem is that in trying to deal with all of them in a single narrative that essentially takes place over a couple of days Murphy strains our credulity. Admittedly, thrillers often do take enormous liberties with probability, but in this case it is hard to see why the contents of the imaginary journal, which is tucked here and there inside the main narrative, while affecting, would in any way justify all the murders that are committed to possess it.

Dennis Richard Murphy spent most of his career as a documentary filmmaker and the most effective parts of this book are the striking visual effects that he is able to produce. The final showdown, played out under the crackle and snap of a display of northern lights, cries out to be filmed.

It may be that Murphy overloaded his narrative because he suspected that this would be his only novel and he wanted to say as much as he could while he was able. Sadly he was right. Murphy died without seeing it in print. And what a pity that is. Ordinarily, I would be looking forward to the next one, with Kennison, newly aware of his stake in the Canadian north, dedicated to defending the arctic against those who would destroy it. I wish I could read that book, but as it is, I am glad I got to read this one.

Reviewed by Yvonne Klein, April 2009

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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