Night's Child: A Detective Murdoch Mystery

Steven Greenhalgh is the research librarian in the Department of Public
Health Sciences at the University of Alberta.

Murder, mayhem, and secret societies take centre stage in this fifth
instalment in the Detective Murdoch series.

Amy Slade is a devoted schoolteacher who comes across a collection of
photos in the desk of her 13-year-old student, Agnes Fisher. One photo
features the young girl in a sexually explicit pose with the caption
“What Mr. Newly-wed really wants.” When Agnes fails to show up for
school, Detective Murdoch must not only find the culprit who has been
taking advantage of Agnes, but save her from possible harm as one man
featured in the photos is found dead, his beaten body locked in a trunk.
Murdoch must also find out who has been sending letters to Inspector
Brackenreid and implicating Sergeant Seymour in shady dealings. The
unknown author threatens blackmail and unwanted publicity for the police
department unless steps are taken to fire the unaware sergeant.

Night’s Child features a collection of fascinating and unusual
characters, including the dedicated schoolteacher, Amy Slade, and the
cantankerous and irascible John Reordan, who resides at the same
boarding house as Amy and Sergeant Seymour. Late-19th-century Toronto,
from the decadence of high society to the often grimy and dismal world
of the working class, is also brought to life in this entertaining
historical novel.