Wayne Arthurson

Leo Desroches is an addicted gambler and a journalist. He's been down and out, so he knows what it feels like. While doing a story about the homeless (and living that life), he becomes friends with Marvin, a native Indian. When Marvin disappears for several days, Leo becomes concerned and tries to find out what happened to him.

While investigating Marvin's disappearance, he becomes involved in Native issues, including gangs and Indian traditional land being usurped by big oil companies.

I like that way Wayne Arthurson writes. There's action and issues. I like Leo's character. He's been on both sides of life, having lost his family to his addiction. A Killing Winter is a satisfying read.… (més)

Journalist Leo Desroches is going undercover as a homeless person during an especially cold Edmonton winter. During this time, he tries to look up someone he knew when he actually was homeless, a young First Nations man by the name of Marvin.

He's unable to find him, and upon learning that the normally reliable guy hasn't shown up to work in a week, he files a missing person report with the police, only to be asked to identify a John Doe in the police morgue who fits Marvin's description. The body is indeed Marvin's, and Leo learns that a tattoo on the back of the boy's hand is a gang marking, and that it's likely Marvin's death was a gang punishment.

Leo is aware of the existence of native gangs, but knows few details. Surprised that Marvin, who was employed and took care of other native teens adrift in the city, was a member of the largest native gang in the country, Leo begins to investigate on his own. He uses his own half-Cree status to wangle a meeting with some members of the Redd Alert, and that is when things begin to go awry.

Unfortunately, Leo hasn't informed anyone at the paper about what he's doing, so he has no backup.
"Going rogue" has consequences, and Leo may lose everything he worked so hard to regain due to his gambling addiction.

It's helpful to read Fall From Grace, the first book in the series, before tackling this one, though not absolutely necessary. Still, if you read A Killing Winter first, you'll find yourself searching for its prequel.… (més)

Leo Desroches is a reporter for an Edmonton newspaper. When we first meet him, at a crime scene in a field just outside the city, we are told little else, except that he has A Past. We learn more about him slowly, as the story develops. Since the narrative is in the first-person from Leo's viewpoint, he controls when and what information we receive.

One of the first things he shares is that he is a descendant of the people who settled the area, not just those who came from Europe to hunt and trap, but those who crossed the Bering Strait, the aboriginals. We soon learn that he knows little of the native side of his heritage, his mother having only recently acquired treaty status.

The book opens as he is invited by the ranking detective (in a move atypical for most law enforcement personnel) to view a murder scene in which the victim is a young native woman named Grace Cardinal. When his editor learns of this, he assigns Leo to write a story that shows the humanity of the victim.

Completely coincidentally, the newspaper (which is never named) appoints Leo as their Aboriginal Issues reporter, and he meets people who had known Grace before she became a prostitute. As he delves into Grace's background, he realizes that there might be much more to the story than he'd first imagined.

At the same time as he's investigating Grace's murder, he is attempting to rebuild his own life. Exactly why this rebuilding is necessary is also shared with us a little at a time, but it's not a spoiler to reveal that Leo once had a gambling problem, which caused his wife to divorce him and distance herself and their children from him. One of the reasons that Leo is working so hard to succeed at the newspaper is the possibility of rebuilding a relationship with his son and daughter.

As well as being a well-constructed mystery and an extremely well-written story, Leo's story rings true to someone who grew up in the Edmonton area. Although Leo's editor would fire me for drifting into personal territory, I have experienced the bitterly cold winters and have seen the inner-city homeless (both native and non) huddling in the foyers of buildings to keep from freezing to death.

It is very true that aboriginals who have visibly native features are treated very differently from others, and Arthurson handles the delicate subject matter with tact and grace. The continuing adventures of Leo Desroches are eagerly anticipated.… (més)