Deadly by Nature

Trevor S. Raymond is a teacher and librarian with the Peel Board of Education and editor of Canadian Holmes.

This first novel by journalist and award-winning travel writer Meredith
Andrew is described on its cover as a “murder mystery” and indeed it
is, but we’re not certain until chapter 30 that anyone has been
murdered. It is rather a long wait.

The focus of the tale is an investigation of a possible attempted
murder of an environmental activist who is blamed for causing loggers to
lose jobs, and for sabotage that left a young man more dead than alive.
Unfortunately, by the time we learn that a killing has taken place, the
investigation has dragged on too long and the reader’s interest may
begin to wane. Still, there are entertaining scenes, good local color
(the settings are Toronto and a small Muskoka town), and some
interesting characters, although the portrayal of an insubordinate and
ignorant policeman is an embarrassing caricature.