Alison Preston

This is not your conventional whodunit type of mystery but I thought it was very well done indeed. It perhaps was more interesting to me because it is set in Winnipeg in the Norwood area which is an area I know quite well. Alison obviously knows it inside and out and describes the houses, people and businesses to a T.

Cherry Ring grew up in a house on Monck Avenue with her mother, Nora, father, Murray, and brother, Pete. Cherry was about 3 years old when Pete was born. Pete was a fussy baby and Cherry grew tired of hearing him scream nonstop. One day when she was on the porch playing and Pete was there, crying as usual, she went over and bit him on the cheek. Hence the name of the book. Pete had to have a skin graft taken from his buttock and so Cherry, with the cruelty that only a child can use, called him Assface. No-one outside the family knew how Pete sustained the injury but the nickname stuck. Pete repaid Cherry by ignoring her for the entire time they lived in the same house. He didn't talk to her, he didn't play with her and, in fact, he seemed to just not see her. When they were both still young their father died and Cherry was bereft. Her mother provided food and clothing but no emotional support. When Dougwell Jones, her mother's long time lover, was finally free to marry Nora he suggested they move to Vancouver for a fresh start. By this time Cherry was in University and didn't want to leave Winnipeg. She begged her mother not to sell the house and let her live in it. Thus Nora, Pete and Dougwell moved to Vancouver and Cherry never saw them again. In 1973 Nora phoned to tell Cherry that Pete had committed suicide. Years later, after Nora had died herself, three things happened that threw Cherry's life into disarray. Need to know what they were? Read the book, I'm not going to spoil the plot for you.… (more)

Although I have never lived in the Norwood Flats area of Winnipeg I know it quite well because my brother-in-law lived on the edge of it. His kids went to Nordale School and Nelson MacIntyre High School which figure prominently in this book. Going a little farther afield my sister lives on Valade Street which is also mentioned in this book. I suppose people who live in London or New York or Los Angeles are used to reading books set in areas with which they are familiar but it is rare enough for me to read a book set in a familiar spot that I get a thrill every time.

This book is a bit of a departure for Alison Preston I believe. In the other books by her that I have read there has always been a murder committed but this time, although there are dead bodies, no murders have been committed. Danny Blue's sister, Cookie, was found drowned in the Red River. The coroner called it death by misadventure but Danny is pretty sure Cookie committed suicide. Cookie was deeply troubled by what are now called body image issues but in 1964 no-one recognized that as an issue. Cookie binged and then purged, a fact exploited by her sadistic gym teacher, Miss Hartley. Danny is sure Miss Hartley drove Cookie to suicide and he decides to exact revenge. He is a pretty good shot with a slingshot and he figures he could hit her as she exited school one day. On a trial run a girl from Cookie's class, Janine, spots Danny and knows what he plans to do. She hates Miss Hartley too and she and Danny spend the summer making plans and honing their slingshot skills.

The relationship between 14 year old Danny and 16 year old Janine is interesting. Normally a two year difference in age between adolescents of the opposite sex would be impossible but Preston makes it seem plausible. Both characters are loners, live with just one parent (not as common in 1964 as now) and dream about revenge. Of course, there are significant differences between them which causes them to fall out from time to time. Danny is pretty normal as far as interest in the opposite sex so he is in love with Janine but that was doomed from the start.

A quite wonderful story which will be especially interesting to Winnipeggers, especially ones who can remember going to The Bay and sitting on the mezzanine floor or going to The Paddlewheel.… (more)

Alison Preston lives in and sets her books in the Norwood area of Winnipeg. It’s an area I know quite well as my brother-in-law lived there for quite a few years. In fact, he lived on Lloyd Street which is where the titular girl in the wall was found. I really like reading books set in places I know because it is easy to picture the scenes described. Alison Preston does a really great job depicting Winnipeg in the 50s and 60s and in the 21st century.
The first part of the book deals with a rather strange young girl named Morven who probably had some autism disorder. In those days it was not a diagnosis that was easily made but the description of a person of normal or high intelligence who does not understand emotions seems to fit in with Asperger’s or some other type of autism. Morven was essentially brought up by her half-brother George as her mother was an alcoholic who stayed in her room and her father spent most of his time at work at the stockyards. George was four years older than her and he sometimes resented having to look after Morven but he was too conscientious to abandon her. Morven stared at people. In the Norwood area she was known as the staring girl. Then she was given a camera and she started taking pictures of people that she stared at. George drummed into her that she should get peoples’ permission before she took their picture. One day she was sitting in St. Boniface Hospital while George was getting a small injury taken care of. She had her camera with her and the mother of a recently dead child asked her to take his picture. Morven did so and this started her on a career of photographing dead people when their loved ones asked her to do so. She decided to change her name to Mrs. Mortimer and she insisted even George call her that. One day in the Women’s Pavilion she happened upon a scene that involved murder and she took pictures. The guilty party saw her and was determined to kill her if necessary.
Forward to 2006 to a house on Lloyd Street where retired police inspector Frank Foote and his business partner Jane are tearing out the top floor. When they find a skeleton in the wall work comes to an abrupt stop. Soon the police are all over the house and Frank and Jane are temporarily out of work. Frank decides to spend the time trying to figure out who the deceased is and who put the body in the wall.
Although this mystery is more of a why-dun-it than a whodunit there are still plenty of suspenseful moments. We also learn a lot about Frank Foote who has appeared in some of Preston’s other books. There is a small reference to Michael Connelly’s character Harry Bosch and I think Preston is signaling that Foote is a Canadian character similar to Bosch. Since I love the Harry Bosch books that is just fine with me.… (more)