THE LOON'S SONG

The murder of a starlet with a checkered past throws a small community into turmoil in Shapiro’s second mystery novel in the Wynter Island series.

As journalist Kate Thomas grabs her morning coffee, the first thing she hears is that TV star Rosalie Morgann is coming to town. Even more surprising to Kate is that Rosalie is actually Rose Morgan, a former Wynter Island, British Columbia, local who skipped town after having many affairs with married men. Rosalie wants to be interviewed on the local community television station CWYN, of which Kate is the manager. That request seems simple enough, but tragedy strikes when Rosalie suddenly dies on air, apparently poisoned by her own drink. Kate now turns sleuth, and every islander who had issues with Rose/Rosalie’s past behavior becomes a potential suspect. Shapiro does a great job of weaving together the many characters’ stories, and she gives them each distinct personalities; Kate describes the two town gossips at the story’s beginning thusly: “It would have been easy to place both of them in two white t-shirts with the words ‘Extrovert’ written on one and ‘Introvert’ written on the other.” She also pays careful attention to Indigenous characters living on the local Tsawout First Nation reserve, and she shows how such communities deal with entrenched racism, which adds an important dimension to the story. Occasionally, Kate is a frustrating protagonist; her investigation leads her to ask many questions and knock on many doors, but doing so makes her come across as an unlikable busybody at times. Some of her meditations are insightful, however, such as her reading of Rosalie’s character: “Forgiveness wasn’t necessarily her destination. Understanding her own failings and accepting responsibility for any harm she’d done was the point.” It’s this compassion that will compel readers to delve into the mystery alongside her.

An often compelling whodunit with strong characterization.