As We Forgive Others: A Northern Gothic Mystery by Shane Peacock
A Fiction Review by Pamela Sinclair
In As We Forgive Others, Hugh Mercer is an NYPD detective taking a break from life in the big city. He is haunted by problems of his own making in both his personal and professional life. Mercer is isolated from his wife, who asks him to leave the family home. His grown children don’t respond to his texts. He’s left his home to work through his troubles brought on by the intensity he brings to his job that tipped him into the zone of professional misconduct. Set in a small Canadian northern town in winter where like the snow that covers farmer’s fields, politeness hides the darkness lurking below the surface of the locals. It seems everyone has something to hide.
“Readers of Louise Penny and Linwood Barclay will want to add this new mystery title, the first in its series, to their reading lists.”
Mercer starts a relationship with Alice Morrow, but time passes before he discovers that she, too, is a police officer. Alice has secrets too, and Mercer hopes to unravel the mystery surrounding her. Everyone he meets he finds opaque; their real personalities are guarded by a screen of politeness or jokes that don’t land like jokes to his ears. Immersed in Canadian culture, which is simultaneously familiar with what he is accustomed to in the States and foreign, the unfamiliar destabilizes him and keeps him off balance. His American instincts have no interpretive powers in Canada, he cannot always tell when, or if, someone is serious.
Early one morning, Mercer is visited by a stranger who tells him of a crime that has not yet been committed – a local woman Elizabeth Goode, is about to disappear, and her wellbeing is at risk. He blows the information, and the person delivering it, off as a prank. When the disappearance takes place, Mercer is drawn into the investigation with Alice in charge. However, she doesn’t seem to trust him, and at times, though he is helping with the investigation, he feels like a suspect. Alice’s withholding of information keeps Mercer off balance and makes him wonder if she knows what she is doing.
The past haunts the characters in this gothic mystery novel, and sometimes their full stories lurk just out of reach. Carefully and intricately plotted, mystery readers, particularly those who enjoy police procedurals, will find this a comfortable read. Readers will be kept wondering about Elizabeth’s fate until the conclusion. Readers of Louise Penny and Linwood Barclay will want to add this new mystery title, the first in its series, to their reading lists.
About the Author:
Shane Peacock is the author of over twenty books. He has received several awards for his children’s literature titles, including the Arthur Ellis Award, Libris Award, and Junior Library Guild of America honours. As We Forgive Others is his first detective novel for an adult audience. A second novel for adults, A Place of Secrets, will be published in 2025.
About the Reviewer
Pamela Sinclair is a writer and lifelong reader. She enjoys reading multiple genres, both fiction and nonfiction. She lives in Halifax, NS, with her husband, daughter, and a grumpy grey cat named Ben. She is currently working on her first novel.
Book Details
Publisher : Cormorant Books (Nov. 9 2024)
Language : English
Paperback : 312 pages
ISBN-10 : 1770867627
ISBN-13 : 978-1770867628