The Glenwood Treasure

Tom Venetis is a professional journalist and editor in Toronto.

Moritsugu’s third novel follows Blithe Morrison’s return home to an
affluent Toronto neighbourhood after her divorce. Bored and looking for
something to do, she decides to take on a research project for a local
author on some of the local sites of interest in the community and
possibly find the elusive Glenwood Treasure. The treasure is a supposed
fortune buried somewhere by an eccentric local resident many years back.

Moritsugu’s novel, a finalist in the Crime Writers of Canada 2004
Arthur Ellis Awards, has been praised as being in the tradition of
Daphne du Maurier mixed with the wit of Noel Coward. It is hard to see
what these critics are getting at. The Glenwood Treasure is painfully
clichéd and psychologically one-dimensional, with nary a laugh to be
found. Blithe’s divorce seems more comical than heartbreaking, and her
subsequent affair with a local baker named Patrick seems to be something
out of a Harlequin romance, bodice ripping and all.

Even worse is Moritsugu’s portrayal of Noel, Blithe’s older
brother. A diplomat living in England, Noel seems to have had success
stamped on him from the beginning. Blithe sees her brother as evil,
however, as having somehow destroyed her marriage and constantly
overshadowed her. The problem here is that Noel never comes across as a
credible villain: he is offstage most of the time, and Blithe’s belief
in his corrupt nature is not convincing.