Tip of the Halo

Jo-Anne McBride is a renewable resource specialist in Vancouver, B.C.

A body in the library may be a standard in the mystery genre, but this
time it’s the library of the Catholic School Board in a town 50
kilometres from Edmonton, and the body belongs to a senior administrator
who was murdered in broad daylight. What’s even more strange is that
no one saw or heard anything. RCMP Staff Sergeant Dan Laurenson is
called to the scene. What he soon discovers is that underlying all the
board’s bureaucratic restructuring and budget cuts is a trail of
jealousy, sex, and deceit.

This is a well-written, low-key mystery, with much thoughtful
rumination on various aspects of crime, revenge, and motivation by the
principal characters, Detective Laurenson and his main suspect. The
story is tight in scope and stays focused on the workings of the school
board and the life of our detective. It is also contemporary, but not
gadget driven; Canadian, but not geographically driven; character
driven, but not aggressively so. Laurenson is an intelligent, observant
person, but has no trendy quirks or demons.

Tip of the Halo is good, thoughtful writing, and if it is the beginning
of a series, then we are in luck.