This story takes place in the isolated Canadian Northern Territory settlement of Dove River in the year 1867. The French fur trader, Laurent Jammett, is found brutally murdered in his bed, and the story unfolds with the search for his killer.

WHAT I LIKED: I really enjoyed the historical aspect of The Tenderness of Wolves and Penney's descriptions of the landscape are beautifully and realistically written. I felt the icy coldness and the isolation of the vast Northern Territory's winter environment.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Unfortunately, Penney's characters and plot were as flat and cold as the landscape. If I were to hear this book read aloud I wouldn't be surprised to hear a flat and monotone voice to suit the monotonous prose and emotionless characterizations.

The Tenderness of Wolves is highly rated by most people here on LT and it won the 2006 Costa Book of the Year, so obviously a lot of people liked it much better than I did. I guess it just wasn't my particular cup of tea. ( )

The Tenderness of Wolves, the Costa Winner by Stef Penney, was the story of murder and intrigue set against the beautiful but harsh Canadian landscape. Penney utilized the multi-narrator technique for her story, and her talent as a screenwriter showed through as she described every detail in the story.

In summary, The Tenderness of Wolves centered on the murder of Frenchmen, Laurence Jammet, whose body was found by Mrs. Ross, a Scottish wife and mother. As the murder was investigated, Mrs. Ross’s son, Francis, went missing suspiciously. Throw in some private investigators and treasure hunters, and you have a wild tale in the Canadian forest.

Overall, the characters were complex yet compelling. Because of the hopscotch narrative method, it was hard for me, though, to fully enjoy each character. I felt like I was introduced to two-thirds of each character – and never learned about the remaining third. This was especially true for Mrs. Ross, who had a difficult and interesting past. Through my reading, I wished Penney made Mrs. Ross the only narrator. In my opinion, it would have moved the story at a better pace.

While I was impressed with Penney’s sense of place and detail, I was underwhelmed by The Tenderness of Wolves. It had great potential, but the lack of character development and slow-moving plot burdened the story for me. ( )

Great location and timing potential abandoned to 'who cares' characters, snail's pace story development and tedious female perspective. A complete waste of time for me.
Having now read the reviews of others, who apparently generally thought the book was great, all I can add is that it is just as well that not everyone likes the same thing - I can see the craft of the author, but the application was turgid in the extreme. ( )

A panoramic epic, a magnificent piece of storytelling, an unforgettable debut novel

As winter tightens its grip on the isolated settlement of Canada’s Dove River in 1867, a man is brutally murdered and a 17-year-old boy disappears. Tracks leaving the dead man’s cabin head north toward the forest and the tundra beyond.

In the wake of such violence, people are drawn to the township—journalists, Hudson Bay Company men, trappers, traders—but do they want to solve the crime or exploit it? One-by-one the assembled searchers set out from Dove River, pursuing the tracks across a desolate landscape home only to wild animals, madmen, and fugitives, variously seeking a murderer, a son, two missing sisters, a forgotten Native culture, and a fortune in stolen furs.

In an astonishingly assured debut, Stef Penney weaves adventure, suspense, revelation, and humour into a gripping historical tale, an exhilarating thriller, a keen murder mystery, and ultimately, with the sheer scope and quality of her storytelling, one of the best books of the year ( )

I'm not sure why; but an unusual style of writing. An interesting plot, with questions throughout about motives and what was going to happen. A good read. ( )