Hands Like Clouds

Ted Thring is a book reviewer for the Queen’s University radio
station.

The setting for this mystery-thriller is the area around Tofino on the
west coast of Vancouver Island. The background for the action is the
conflict over the proposed logging of the primeval forest in the
Clayoquot Sound area.

The body of Ira Connaught, an anti-logging activist, is found hanging
from a cedar tree in the woods outside of town. The local RCMP sergeant
suspects suicide, but Elias Mcann, the coroner, disagrees and decides to
mount his own investigation. His probing brings him into contact with
both sides of the fight—loggers and environmentalists—and provokes
more violent deaths, as well as threats against Mcann and his lover. The
action culminates in an attempt to assassinate a U.S. Senator who is
paying a fact-finding visit to the area.

The author does an excellent job of describing the countryside and the
waters around Tofino. The complex plot moves smoothly and quickly from
one location to another, and the final showdown is both exciting and
unexpected. If the book has a weakness, it is the stereotypical
characters: the dull, plodding RCMP sergeant; the tough, rugged loggers;
the woodsy activists.

All in all, Hands Like Clouds is a fast-paced, well-plotted murder
mystery.