NELSON'S SABBATH

Two half siblings chart a new course when their police careers end.

In this follow-up to Lessard’s novel On Duty (2019), the author continues the story of half siblings and Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constables Jasper Nelson and Heidi Finlay. Jasper and Heidi, who met and discovered their relationship as adults, work together in a rural community in the Northwest Territories until their refusal to cooperate with the bootlegging, lies, and corruption of a cabal of civic leaders. Jasper and Heidi survive an assassination attempt and resign their positions. Jasper sinks into depression as his efforts to set the record straight have little success. Heidi takes care of him as he becomes suicidal, and they both seek help from friends and former colleagues—including a minister, who suggests the sabbatical that provides the book’s title. When Jasper seems to be recovering, he suggests a visit to Cathedral Grove in British Columbia (“They have some of the highest and largest trees in the country”). While admiring the trees, Heidi and a friend are stunned to see Jasper mysteriously disappear into the grove. As the search for Jasper goes on without results, Heidi is left wondering whether he has harmed himself or she actually saw supernatural forces at work. Then Heidi reaches her own moment of crisis. Although the novel opens with an article by Jasper explaining the corruption that sets the plot in motion, Heidi’s narration guides most of the story. The book is an easy read, and the vivid descriptions bring the remote and unfamiliar setting to life. Despite the deep themes of morality, religion, and free will, the text is straightforward, focusing on the characters’ experiences rather than the underlying questions. Readers may find the role of Freemasonry in the corruption that upends Jasper’s and Heidi’s lives a bit far-fetched, but it is a minor part of the plot. Readers who are new to Jasper and Heidi’s story will have no trouble starting with this sequel.

An engaging and heartfelt tale of two former constables doing the right thing.