Review: Entertaining Murder Mystery with Complex, Flawed Characters
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 9, 2014
"Death in Sioux Lookout" is a murder mystery that steps beyond the genre to combine the best elements of contemporary fiction, namely flawed and complex characters that manage to be both interesting and appealing even if they aren't always likeable. The plot involves not only getting to the bottom of a brutal murder by strangling, but also one man's struggles within his career, his marriage, and his own identity after a string of scandals.The protagonist, Chris Allard, was at one time a highly respected social worker, the head of social work at a Toronto teaching hospital. A bad decision ruins his career and almost his marriage, and when his wife loses her job as well their financial situation becomes dire. Through a connection willing to take a chance on him, Chris winds up on a temporary job in Sioux Lookout--and on his first day becomes embroiled in a murder that involves a social worker with a troubled love life and a famous psychologist/author who may or may not have committed the actual crime.Though Chris can't really afford more dings to his reputation, he nevertheless finds himself involved in the Sioux Lookout community--sometimes contentiously--making friends and enemies along the way as he tries to find Pam's true killer. What I liked about the plot was that while there was action and suspense, there was also enough of an exploration of Chris's personality and personal problems to deepen the story and heighten the stakes not only on a tension level, but on an emotional level as well. His wife Kate's perspective, occasionally woven into the novel, also added a nice dimension; Pam was not merely a victim, but a deep and complex woman who you learned more about as the novel went on. The other characters in Sioux Lookout are unique and well-done, as is the detail the author puts into the setting--the quirky town and the surrounding beauty of the countryside is a good backdrop to the story (the feel reminded me a bit of "Fargo"). Recommended to readers who enjoy murder mysteries that succeed in being deeper than just solving a crime and introduce complex and  very human characters.