The Inuk Mountie Adventure

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

Wilson’s 18th mystery involving one of the Austen siblings finds
15-year-old Tom immersed in another life-threatening adventure. Although
the fast-paced story begins in Winnipeg, much of the action occurs in
Canada’s Far North, specifically the remote hamlet of Gjoa Haven on
King William Island. As is common in juvenile mysteries, chance plays a
large role in plot development. Thus Tom overhears a hit man, code-named
ZULU–1, kill Professor Dunbar, the father of Canada’s prime
minister, on the orders of the PM’s chief adviser, Blake Decker.
Chance also places Tom outside Decker’s hotel room when ZULU–1 kills
Decker. At the heart of the murders is a national referendum (supported
by the charismatic PM, James Dunbar) that would merge Canada with the
United States. This mystery makes effective use of the genre’s usual
ingredients while at the same time incorporating information about
various aspects of contemporary Inuit life. Recommended.