John Farrow (2)

This 9th entry in the Cinq-Mars series is as good as the best of its predecessors. In this case, it is a bit of a locked room mystery. Which one of 7 inmates plus a guard murdered the 8th inmate in a progressive prison housing arrangement? We get to see Cinq-Mars one-on-one with each of the ladies as he uses his powers of deduction to find the murderer. And the final confrontation with all the suspects, while one of them is holding another at knifepoint, is a genuine tour-de-force that show more proves how good a writer Farrow is. It is absolutely riveting. The book, which takes place when Cinq-Mars was 50, also shows his whirlwind romance with his soon-to-be wife, Sandra, an American horse breeder. (No, she doesn't get kidnaped here, in case those who have read all the other books were wondering.)

Seriously, this is the best written, most intriguing detective series I have ever read. It is head-and-shoulders above 99% of everything that has been written in the genre, and Cinq-Mars is a character for the ages. Please read this book--well, actually, read the other eight in order first. You won't regret the investment in time. There is never a dull moment and your knowledge of all things Quebec will grow painlessly by leaps and bounds. show less

An absolute masterpiece, up there with the best books I have ever read. I've never read an 800+ page book that maintained interest on every page from start to finish, even while the story plunges back and forth over 400 years. While this can be considered the third book in the series about Montreal Detective Emile Cinq-Mars, it is more a sprawling history of Montreal. It takes its starting point from two murders committed on the night of the Rocket Richard riots in 1955, when a police show more informant is killed while stealing the legendary (and fictional) Cartier dagger. Montreal police detective Armand Touton takes it as a lifetime quest to solve the murder, and Cinq-Mars doesn't even appear in the book until about 1968 when Touton passes the still unsolved case on to him. Parts of the book are straight historical narrative, only lightly fictionalized, and parts of pure fantasy Farrow depicts the dirty goings-on of Quebec politics in the 1950s and 1960s--separatist and otherwise. I'm sure if all of these people weren't dead now, there could have been some libel suits. Farrow, like Cinq-Mars, is clearly a believer in a united Canada, and his portrayal of the separatists, including the kidnapers and accomplices to murder among them, is biting, but not without a bit of sympathy. This is one of those books where it feels like the author had an awful lot to say and didn't stop until he was done. But Farrow is such a good writer that interest never flags. You'll find yourself looking up a lot of these events on Wikipedia, and you'll be amazed at how Farrow wove fact and fiction into such a compelling whole.

This is a very different book from the first two in the series--City of Ice and Ice Lake--but it tops both in terms of an engrossing story, unforgettable characters, and a very satisfying ending. Certainly, this one could be read out of order. Knowing the type of cop Cinq-Mars is to become may provide a bit of additional pleasure when watching his young self, but it isn't essential. On the other hand, after reading the first three in the series (and just ordering the next 3 - the Story Murders Trilogy), this is perhaps the best crime series I have ever read. So why not start at the beginning? show less

After reading City of Ice, I expected this to be good. Emile Cinq-Mars, the Montreal detective, is a fascinating character, and Farrow has made him a complete person and given him a wife who is a real character in the book, not just a foil, and a partner who has learned (in just two books!) how to fit in with Cinq-Mars series of moods. In this book, they're drawn into a sordid tale of Canadian drug companies experimenting illegally on AIDS victims in the United States in pursuit of a show more cure--no, actually in pursuit of big profits. But it's not a story about companies. It's a story about people, from idealistic to homicidal. And being Montreal, you can bet organized crime plays a part. In one of the quotes on the inside first page of the paperback, the Vancouver Sun says City of Ice "might be the best book ever produced in Canada." Well, Ice Lake is better. This is the type of deep detective novel that doesn't come along too often--Mark Smith's The Death of the Detective comes to mind--but that one is practically hallucinogenic, while everything in Ice Lake is so real you can touch it. As in City of Ice, the weather and the landscape play a big part in the story. And the way everything comes together at the end in this one is even more satisfying. To the author's eternal credit, he makes us an interested in Cinq-Mars personal life and struggles--his father is dying--as in how Cinq-Mars will find the solution to the crime. This is a MUST read. But read City of Ice first. show less

This is a simply incredible book for several reasons:

* There isn't a better portrayal of the City of Montreal in any book I've read. The author's attention to detail as his characters travel around Montreal and its environs adds a great deal of interest and realism to the book.
* The lead character, Emile Cinq-Mars, is fascinating. More than anyone around him, he lives by a code. His struggles in this book to maintain it, and the compromises he has to make, go well beyond the depth of show more characterization of just about any detective in fiction.
* The supporting cast of other cops and an assortment of criminals, spies, and those knowingly or unknowingly helping them along is equally fascinating.
* The books seamlessly weaves in actual history, such as the war between the Hells Angels and the Rock Machine biker gangs in Montreal, and this makes the author's other speculations all the more realistic and frightening.

Is there anything not to like? Well, normally I would say the book, at over 500 pages, is too long. But while Farrow's writing is quite verbose, he handles the long scenes of dialogue or exposition so well that they are very enjoyable. Even when he is telling rather than showing, he succeeds. The author knows a lot about Montreal, and it comes out in the book. And even though it is a few years old, it still resonates with my impressions of Montreal on several recent visits.

What about the plot, you're asking? I don't want to give away anything. I'll just say it involves cops, criminals, and spies, and you can't always tell who is who. It is complex and labyrinthian--but Farrow pulls it all off in the end. I immediately ordered the second book in the series.

This author is a seriously good writer, and this book deserves a lot more readers. show less