Shadow Play

Note: I wrote this review just before I went away for a Thanksgiving weekend getaway. In my foolish haste, I didn't proofread it. After seeing it up on the blog, I found some glaring grammatical errors but most importantly, I felt the review was too harsh, considering I really did enjoy reading the book (oops... spoiler!). I have updated the review to reflect more of how I truly feel about this worthwhile novel.

For me, it was more marionette than shadow puppets. Strings were being pulled from the very beginning.

And I was happily pulled along for the ride.

In Canadian author Peggy Blair's fifth novel, Shadow Play, she moves away from her Inspector Ramirez series and leaves Cuba behind, while maintaining two characters from that series. One character is integral to the story, while the other only filled a small supporting role—one who could have been brought out from the shadows (get it?) or taken out altogether.

The story is set in my home city of Ottawa and Peggy really brings it to life, where she weaves in the woes of Ottawa's LRT troubles and reminds us of the chaos that was brought to the downtown core by the so-called Freedom Rally, where dozens of trucks blocked off streets near Parliament Hill, for weeks, in early 2022.

But Peggy is a detective novelist, so Shadow Play is all about murder. Gritty murder. Murder most foul.

And it seems as though Peggy gives us the person who dunnit right from the start. But is it as clear as that or is there something else that lurks in the shadows?

Ooh... there's where shadows come into... play.

I have to admit that just beyond the halfway point of the story, I had a strong suspicion as to who did the actual killing of real-estate agent Susan Winchester. And as the story drew to a close, my suspicion turned out to be right.

Still, knowing who did the killing (and really, it was only a strong suspicion until the very end) didn't ruin my enjoyment of the novel. It was a real page turner that had me gripped from beginning to end.

The story begins with an unnamed boss who is close to the goings on in Ottawa, and he wants Winchester, who has some unknown information that can ruin the boss' plans, out of the way. He extorts his lacky assistant, Bobby Hinchey, to take care of Winchester by hiring a Russian hitman, who is none other than Slava Kadun from Peggy's novel, Umbrella Man.

Investigating the murder from the start is Detective Charlie Pike, who Peggy had introduced in Hungry Ghosts. But Pike only makes a short appearance at the start of the investigation, as he is called away from Ottawa. He hands over the case to recently suspended but reinstated Detective Jamie Wallace, who must team up with Detective Michel Tremblay, who is the reason for her suspension, after she had punched him.

The two are more adversaries than partners.

The investigation follows a trail that points to possible corruption within the city's upper echelons, and there is even the suggestion that the murder itself could have been motivated by hate. And it's all set during an upcoming municipal election.

Shadow Play is a page-turner of a novel, and I was especially drawn to it because of my love of the city that I call home, but also because Peggy used a real-life person that I know and have met, lawyer Leslie Kirk. But there are some elements to the story that I didn't like.

For instance, Wallace sees ghosts, much like Inspector Ramirez did. She sees the ghost of the murder victim, Winchester, and she sees the ghost of a young boy, who is in physical distress. Through the course of the story, Wallace solves the murder and gets to the heart of the matter of the boy, but I had figured that end of the story very early on.

I felt that seeing ghosts was a unique quality in Ramirez. Seeing it in another main character, for me, took away that uniqueness.

The development of Wallace, however, is intriguing and sets her up to be a compelling, recurring character in future novels, which I hope Peggy pursues.

I felt, too, that Charlie Pike could have been better utilized other than to introduce Wallace to the murder case, to offer some helpful clues, by phone, and to be at the end to congratulate Wallace for solving the case. I often wondered, while reading the story, if it could have been told just as well if he hadn't been written into it. Or, if he could have played an even greater role by remaining as part of the team.

Maybe, though, three's a crowd?

Peggy's murder story was solid and well-told, and as I said, I really enjoyed it. I even developed sympathy toward the hitman, Kadun. Shadow Play is definitely Peggy's best book to date and I highly recommend it for all murder mystery buffs.

Happy reading!