Robin Spano

When a politician is killed in Toronto rookie police officer Clare Vengel is tasked with her first undercover assignment: join the political science class at the local University where police believe someone may be, or at least know something about, the killer. An email that appears to have originated on campus was sent to a newspaper claiming responsibility for the politician’s murder on behalf of The Society for Political Utopia and it’s Clare’s job to see what she can find out. When show more she joins Matthew Easton’s Political Utopia for the Real World class she meets more than one person with motive for killing and when more politicians start dying she has to work fast.

At 42 I’m probably a bit young for grumpy old woman status but if my reaction to the character of Clare is anything to go by I’ve definitely got my training wheels on. Despite being given a job she covets Clare does her best to ruin her chances of success by behaving irresponsibly, such as deliberately getting drunk while under cover and forgetting what falsehoods she has told, and berating her handler in an annoyingly childish fashion for all manner of imagined put downs. This might be quite realistic behaviour for a 22-year old but all I wanted to do was give her a slap and tell her to grow up.

Fortunately for me though this is not one of those stories in which a single character advances all the action. In fact the book’s chapters alternate from different points of view and in addition to Clare’s we see action unfold from the perspective of Matthew (the Professor), Laura (the ex-wife of the first victim), Jonathan (one of the students in the class) and Annabel (the journalist who is in text-message contact with the person claiming to be the killer). I found the regular switching gave the book a good, fast pace as well as allowing me to get away from Clare and engage with people I found much more interesting.

Much of the action unfolds against the backdrop of Matthew Easton’s unorthodox class in which students are divided into political parties and must from alliances, present legislation and generally operate as a parliament. Being a politics junkie I really enjoyed this aspect of the novel (I would have crawled over hot coals to be part of something like this when I studied political science myself all those years ago) and thought it offered an original spin on what is at heart a classic whodunnit. Having the students discussing and debating a range of issues allowed all sorts of possible motives to be explored as we learn about the histories and families of all the players. This kept me guessing, if not about the culprit, then about motives and the ultimate outcome right to the end.

Dead Politician Society is well-plotted, has just the kind of social introspection that I enjoy in my reading and the characters are well drawn. The fact that I found Clare to be annoying as hell is quite realistic, I get that annoyed by real people too. If you’re in the market for a funny, fast read with a political bent then you could do a lot worse (especially if you are not a curmudgeonly old woman). show less

As soon as I opened the book to its first page, I was struck by how long it had been since I'd read a mystery novel. To be completely honest I left mystery novels behind in my Nancy Drew days, in favor of more fantasy books. It's still a mystery (pun intended) to me why this shift occurred, but perhaps it was what I needed at that point in time. Mystery took a back seat and I forgot how amazing it can be to become absorbed in a particularly harrowing sequence of deaths.

That being said, of show more course you can ascertain that I found myself hooked! Clare Vengel is, in my mind, a much cooler and much more sassy Nancy Drew. She is the undercover cop I wish I was. Whereas Nancy snuck around in turtlenecks and dresses, Clare Vengel rides around on a Triumph motorcycle in leather and designer jeans. Her wit is deliciously acerbic, and she can hold her own with any man that comes her way. In other words, Clare is my kind of girl!

In this first installment of Robin Spano's series, Clare is asked to pose as a college student to discover who is behind the murders of several politicians. As she navigates this new group of people, she finds herself becoming a little closer to them than she originally intended to get. I must admit that I was extremely impressed with the way the story was told. The chapters alternate between the perspectives of the people Clare finds herself amongst, and the story becomes a giant puzzle.

I found myself gathering intel that even the detectives didn't have (one of the perks of being omniscient) and working to solve the murder myself. Isn't that the best part of a mystery novel? I guarantee that those who read these books often would have been able to uncover the ending, however I was blown away by it! As hard as I tried, and as eagerly as I read, I wasn't able to put together who the murderer really was. In fact, I literally gasped out loud at the end.

I'll stop rambling now and end this review with what I'm sure you've already gathered (you sleuth you) from my review above. I adored this book! I am a huge fan of Clare and an even greater fan of her creator Robin Spano. I eagerly look forward to the next installment! I can't wait to see what Clare has in store for her next, or what lengths she will go to in an effort to solve it. show less

Read this book. It was very enjoyable.. Now – With that stated….
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The following public service announcement was NOT brought you by Robin Spano and ECW Press (Though they did provide me a free review copy of this book).

The mixed reaction people feel to a train wreck is commonly kept a secret. Publicly, you say ‘Oh gee, how terrible, I hope no one got hurt’. Internally you have a rapid blink response to the tail lights ahead of you, initial reaction being ‘Ooh! Was that show more blood? I hope that is Blood!’. You know that things are not as they should be, that problems are occurring, that someone has thoroughly screwed the pooch. You keep looking, craning your neck hoping for a glimpse of the problem while ambivalently hoping everyone is safe. This book is like a spectacular and awesome train wreck.

So what is it about? What did I think? In Death’s Last Run, Vengel who was recently made a US FBI Agent, is pulled back to Canada to work a dual RCMP/FBI case. This Case is set in a Canadian Ski town, tracking the dead daughter of a US Presidential hopeful. It is a toss up between murder and suicide, with Clare integral to infiltrating a close knit group of stoners, drunks, ski bums and acid heads. She rooms with some suspects, does some drugs and breaks some rules. She takes up snowboarding, drinks micro brews, sniffs out clues and takes ridiculous risks to get the job done.

The overall plot was solid, flipping back and forth in classic Spano style from the perspectives of suspects, police, and alternate characters. As per the norm, whodunnit spoilers do not exist and the novel is crafted well and allows you to enjoy it with out having the entire plot handed to you on a platter. I grew to like and understand the bad guys,and “understood” the motives better than I ever could in a Sherlock Holmes book.

But enough about the novel, let’s get back to Clare herself..”The Trainwreck”-

Clare Vengel of the ‘Clare Vengel Undercover’ series is a spiteful, clumsy, juvenile, backward, unreasonable, messed up woman with literal daddy issues. Her inability to exist in the world and share a grain of truthful emotion is frustrating. She treats her boyfriend like an enemy; her FBI and RCMP colleagues similarly, with unbridled unprofessional distaste; her family and friends are ignored because she cannot get over.. Never mind, you get the point.

When I saw this wreck, there was no stopping me driving by. I wanted to see it. I opted to pick up the novel and lovingly gawp at the greatness of another Vengel story. For readers of the previous novels, you will find that Clare is seemingly worse than before, uncontrollably juvenile at points, taking pages from all of the world’s angsty teenage stereotypes. She drove me CRAZY. I wanted to see blood. Externally I cared to see Clare succeed in her current case; Internally I really was scoping for blood at the crash site, wanting to see a body part or two and red clotted snow.

I kept hoping for her to falter, hoped the universe would slap a cluepon down onto her lap. In the end, as with the train wreck, when i see that she comes out okay in the end, i forget about the instinctive need to view a corpse and am instead glad to see she came out on top, as always.

Clare Vengel.. I hope you continue to succeed in your escapades, regardless of the desire to see people line up and smack you to sense like on the 1980 movie Airplane!. show less

Filled with twists and turns, shadowy characters and situations that are not as they seem, Dead Politician Society is what one expects from a mystery. Yet, it is so much more. Subtle in its intricacies, each character peels back the layers of the mystery, unveiling a welcome depth to the story.

Dead Politician Society is told from the point of view of multiple characters. While this can be a bit confusing in the beginning, it allows the story to become character-driven rather than show more action-driven. In fact, the entire story is reminiscent of The Moonstone in that the action occurs behind the scenes. In turn, the reader builds a relationship with each of the characters, driving the discoveries and adding complexity to the tale.

The mystery itself is quite interesting. It involves politics not typically seen in any novel, if ever, which lends a unique air to the story. Similarly, the use of multiple points of view highlights the different motives for the murders. Unfortunately, this also means that shrewd readers will be able to solve the mystery well before the big reveal. However, rather than detracting from the story, this adds to the reader's enjoyment, making the story almost interactive in nature.

Since Dead Politician Society is character-driven, a reader's enjoyment of the story hinges on one's engagement to each of the characters. The main character, Clare Vengel, is brash, tough, quick to judge and quick to react. Everything about her is over-the-top, from her determination to win, her determination to drown her sorrows, her determination to project a tough demeanor to her determination to solve the case. I, unfortunately, found Clare to have a huge chip on her shoulder, making it difficult for me to like her, let alone root for her to solve the case. However, the beauty of character-driven novels is that each reader will react differently to each character. Someone I may not like may be a character that others love and vice versa. With novels like this, reactions to characters are key.

Dead Politician Society is set in Canada, and Ms. Spano does an excellent job of highlighting the differences between Canadian and U.S. societies. The politics mentioned are uniquely Canadian, discussing various reforms and government seats that exist only in Canada. The verbiage too is different, although not as drastic as a novel set in England. The differences are slight but there, serving as a reminder that Canada is indeed not the U.S.

Overall, Dead Politician Society is a great addition to the mystery genre. Smart and well-written, Ms. Spano utilizes the most up-to-date politics to drive this modern murder mystery. Using the points-of-view of multiple characters, she creates a story in which the reader is actively engaged and involved, rounding out a story for any type of reader. Readers everywhere will fall in love with Clare and cheer her on as she works to solve her first case. For true lovers of the genre, Dead Politician Society will become a must-read. show less