Grave Deeds

B.J. Busch is associate librarian of academic and information services
at the University of Alberta.

Grave Deeds is poet Betsy Struthers’s second novel involving sleuth
Rosalie Cairns. Rosalie, unaware of any remaining relatives from her
father’s side of the family, is thrilled to receive an invitation to
tea from a great-aunt. Upon arriving, Rosalie discovers that the elderly
woman has just died, and under somewhat strange circumstances. Further,
the family cottage and lakefront property has been bequeathed to her and
not to her newfound cousin. A weekend trip to the cottage becomes a
nightmare for Rosalie. What has happened to her cousin, who was to meet
her at the cottage? Why is there a trunk of Native artifacts under the
bed? By the end of the weekend, many mysteries are solved, but not
without bloodshed.

In this story of greed and betrayal, the reader isn’t sure who the
bad guys are until the very end. Struthers writes with a poet’s eye
for detail and imagery, and leaves the readers looking forward to the
next instalment in the adventures of Rosalie Cairns.