The Calling

Police Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef, of Port Dundas, Ontario, is obsessed with finding a serial killer whose "calling" takes him across Canada. The psychopath, Simon, promises relief to his "clients," who are suffering from painful terminal illnesses, via his extensive knowledge of herbal medicines, both curative and deadly. What might seem to be mercy killings takes on another dimension because of Simon's horrific postmortem staging of the bodies. Bernadette Dunne's performance gives each character a spirited identity. With only slight vocal shifts, she creates credible characters--from Hazel herself, who doses her back pain with alcohol and painkillers, to Simon's willing, if misguided, victims. This promises to be the first in an exciting series by Inger Ash Wolfe, the pseudonym of Russell Smith, a well-known Canadian literary figure. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Starred review from March 24, 2008
This bracingly original mystery from the pseudonymous Wolfe opens with the grisly slaying of an elderly cancer sufferer in Port Dundas, a remote Ontario town that has gone years without a homicide. The murder hits at a particularly tough time for 61-year-old Det. Insp. Hazel Micallef, who’s struggling to come to terms with a surprise divorce and battles daily with her acerbic 87-year-old mother. A serious staff shortage and an injured back add to the department commander’s woes. A second, even more disturbing killing raises the ante for Micallef, who’s already doubtful she can solve the first case. As Micallef marshals her forces, Wolfe fans the already high suspense by cutting between them and their elusive quarry. With the body count climbing, the detective puts herself increasingly at risk in a desperate attempt to foil the grand, demented plan that the killer regards as a mission. Billed as “a prominent North American literary novelist,” Wolfe convincingly lays claim to a new mantle as a first-rate crime writer.