Pat Capponi (1949–2020)

In the mystery genre this book would be classified as a cozy, namely a mystery that is solved by someone who is not in the business of investigation. At first I thought that “cozy” would be the last word I would use to describe the odd set of characters who decide to investigate their friend Maryanne’s death. Most of them have mental health issues, some are hiding out from the law and all of them are marginalized in a poor area of Toronto. But as the story progressed I became fond of show more this eccentric band of detectives and I found myself thinking about them at work, wondering how they would overcome obstacles.

The narrator, Dana Leoni, moved into the rooming house occupied by Maryanne and assorted odd characters after a violent attack traumatized her. Previous to the attack she attended the University of Toronto taking English literature and thinking of getting a Master’s degree in the subject. She washed up at the rooming house and retreated from the world, rarely even going outside. Maryanne connived to get her hired on at a drop-in centre, thus facilitating her return to society. The other members of the rooming house owe similar debts to Maryanne. So, when Maryanne is abruptly removed from the house and then turns up dead a few days later, they band together to investigate the circumstances.

One of the changes instigated by Maryanne was to have a reading group in the house. Dana would read a book aloud to those residents who cared to gather in the common room. The book choice was by consensus and Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels were perennial favourites. The residents viewed Stephanie and her motley crew of friends and relatives as kindred spirits. This was their inspiration for staking out the house Maryanne was moved to and following the owner.

Dana has another mystery to solve on her own. Friends who are actors and manage a small community theatre have been plagued by a series of mishaps which range from props missing to cancelled rehearsal calls. Dana, who sits on the board of the theatre group, is asked to find the perpetrator.

The forte of this book is the vivid description of the characters. I felt like I knew Gerry, the overweight ex-inmate of a mental institution who was the longest resident in the house, and Miss Semple, the prim and proper lady who helps out at her church’s mission every day, and Pete, the executive director of the drop-in centre, and Jeremy, the esteemed actor whom Dana found lying on the street outside of the centre one night. Maryanne, although she is dead throughout most of the book, is an unforgettable character. For a few days after her cheque comes in she drinks and carouses until the money runs out. Then, for the rest of the month, she prods and pushes the rest of the residents into helping themselves and improving their surroundings. Many books show the recovered alcoholic who goes on to do great things after they attain sobriety but this is the first time I’ve seen an alcoholic portrayed as useful while still suffering from their addiction. At first I thought this characterization was a convenient piece of plot development but after thinking about Ms Copponi’s background, I’ve decided that Maryanne is probably based on some person (or persons) whom the author met while living in the Parkdale community. I will probably look at drunks careening down the street with a new eye in the future. For me, that’s the measure of a good book, if it makes you look at the world and life in a new way.

For a first novel, this was well done. I’ll be looking for more Dana Leoni mysteries. show less

first discovered Pat Capponi when I picked up a copy of Last Stop Sunnyside and have eagerly awaited the next novel in the engaging Dana Leoni series. Harper Collins Canada has just released The Corpse Will Keep.
Dana lives in a rooming house in Toronto. She moved there to hide out after a brutal assault and subsequent descent into depression forced her to abandon her studies at university. She lives with an eclectic group of characters. To most, they are on the fringes of society, mentally, show more socially, emotionally and medically challenged. They banded together in Last Stop Sunnyside to solve the disappearance of one of their housemates. This common goal gave them new focus and purpose in life. Now Dana is studying for her private investigator license and there is a "Dana Leoni - PI" sign on the door.

A television report on their case prompts Bernie, an old university friend of Dana's, to contact her. His mother Anna has become reclusive in the last few months and is clearing out her bank accounts. Bernie suspects that her behaviour might have something to do with the charity work she was doing.

"I need someone who can fit in anywhere...I need someone I can trust". And so they have an actual paying case.

The detail and understanding that Capponi brings to her dialogues, interactions and settings is authentic. Capponi is writing from experience, having survived the very situations she writes about. She is now one of Canada's leading mental health care advocates. For many readers, the details of living conditions will be an eye opener. The novels are set in Toronto's Parkdale neighbourhood.

This is not to say that the books are dark and humourless. They are funny as well. How do you tail someone when your bus pass has expired?

Capponi deftly portrays the lives of a marginalized group of society while at the same time providing us with an entertaining witty tale. She has managed to write an intriguing mystery that could be pulled from today's headlines using the most unlikely band of sleuths. show less

I'm sad to say that this book, the second Dana Leoni mystery, is also the last Dana Leoni mystery. I bought this book at a library sale 10 years ago and held on to it hoping that Pat Capponi would add to the series but she didn't write any more after this book and she died in 2020. She was an anti-poverty and mental health activist living in Toronto which was also the setting for her mysteries.

In the first book of the series, Last Stop Sunnyside, Dana Leoni and a diverse group of people show more living in a rooming house decide to investigate the death of a friend. After successfully concluding that endeavour Dana decides to set herself up as a private investigator with the rest of the rooming house crew as her assistants. For a while the only cases that come their way are non-paying but then an old friend of Dana's asks her to investigate his mother's odd behaviour. Mrs. Preston was recovering from a broken hip at a posh retirement home when she abruptly moved out and went back to her Rosedale mansion. She has refused to let her son visit and now the bank manager has confided that she has been writing large cheques to cash and draining her bank accounts. A friend from the retirement home tells Dana he saw a man and a woman visit Mrs. Preston and immediately after she moved out. From the description Dana thinks that Mrs. Preston must know them from the homeless shelter that is operated out of her church where she was a dedicated volunteer. Dana goes undercover to check out the shelter and gets more than she bargained for. Good thing that the group from the rooming house are watching her back.

Anyone familiar with Toronto will recognize lots of the places mentioned in this book and that's always fun. The depiction of the homeless moving from shelter to drop-in to meal programs isn't fun but it does seem true. show less

This book was well written and I enjoyed reading it but there are some points of view expressed that I can't agree with. I do think the author is correct in saying that there are too many people trying to save the poor and that if the money spent on all of these useless resources were spent on creating jobs for the poor it would alleviate some of the problem. I do think, however, that her point of view is a little narrow minded in that she is basing her reasoning on her own personal show more situation rather than the very diverse situations that exist. A job is not going to help a person who is physically or mentally disabled to the point of being unemployable. For these people the only real help is more financial assistance. There are so many factors that lead to poverty that, to really make headway, all of these factors would have to be addressed and currently none of them are. Bandaid solutions are not solutions. Childcare, medical care, housing, nutritious food, transportation, and all other necessary factors of life have to be provided before work is even a possibility.
I enjoyed reading the stories of all the people that she interviewed. I wasn't at all surprised by the hopelessness of some of them. I guess this shows that I have lived with some of these problems myself and have learned all the little tricks to stay alive.
While the book focused on the cuts the Ontario Provincial government made a few years back it is applicable to anywhere that has suffered the same fate. Here in British Columbia there were more cuts than occured in Ontario and many of the same consequences.
Finally, I don't think poverty will ever be eradicated because the capitalist system depends on poverty to function. Poverty is the foundation of capitalism. Who would work at all the low wage dirty jobs if there were no poverty? There has to be a constant pool of unemployed to feed into the low wage system. show less