Crime Where the Nights Are Long

Description

172 pages
$19.99
ISBN 0-88924-281-X
DDC C813'.087208

Publisher

Year

1999

Contributor

Edited by David Skene-Melvin
Reviewed by Monika Rohlmann

Monika Rohlmann is an environmental consultant in Yellowknife, Northwest
Territories.

Review

The Canadian north has a longstanding reputation for attracting an odd
mixture of people: adventurers, romantics, imposters, gamblers, and
nature lovers, among others. People don’t automatically fit together;
instead, the vast northern landscape and climate underscores personal
differences. Northern crime fiction is built on a foundation of
geographical uniqueness and Native lore: it both teaches and entertains.

These two books are very different. Secret Tales of the Arctic Trails
contains nine fictional stories that take place in the Canadian Arctic.
The authors have chosen an arctic setting to emphasize elements of
intrigue, isolation, and belief in the otherwise impossible. The nine
stories in Crime Where the Nights Are Long were written between 1897 and
1929, and most are set in remote regions of Quebec, Ontario, and the
prairies. The stories use real-life settings and circumstances and seem
entirely plausible.

While the stories in Crime Where the Nights are Long are intended to
intrigue and entertain, those in Secret Tales of the Arctic Trails were
selected more for their arctic content than for their literary merit.
Both books will appeal to those interested in stories about crimes
committed in unusual settings.

Citation

“Crime Where the Nights Are Long,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed March 28, 2024, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/732.