The Endless Knot

Michael Payne is the City of Edmonton archivist and the co-author of A
Narrative History of Fort Dunvegan.

The tenth novel in Bowen’s popular series featuring Joanne Kilbourn
takes on the emotional havoc caused by a bestselling author’s
publication of a book detailing the messed-up lives of the children of
prominent Canadians. The book effectively re-victimizes its subjects,
but the author, Kathryn Morrissey, is unrepentant. The father of one of
the children, a noted conservative politician named Sam Parker,
confronts Morrissey over her revelations. In the ensuing argument,
Morrissey is shot and Parker is charged with attempted murder. Zach
Shreve, Kilbourn’s new romantic partner, agrees to defend Parker, and
Kilbourn is hired to cover the trial as a television commentator. The
web of coincidence becomes even more tangled when it is revealed that
Kilbourn is connected in some way to almost all of the key characters.

The trial raises some interesting issues, including the morality of
writers revealing information given to them by informants who naively
believe that their confidences will not be misused. For Kilbourn,
however, the big issue is how she feels about her relationship with
Shreve, who is determined to stop at nothing to secure the acquittal of
his client. Kilbourn is also forced to reflect on parent–child
relations and the dynamics of her own complex blended family.

On the eve of the verdict in the trial, Morrissey is killed. A subplot
becomes central to the novel’s resolution, which turns out to be
something of a personal revelation for Kilbourn. The Endless Knot ends
neatly poised for a subsequent volume in the series as Kilbourn and
Shreve enter a new stage in their relationship.