Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Review: The Only Shadow in the House: A Sumach Travel Mystery by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

  • Paperback: 252 pages
  • Publisher: Sumach Pr (October 10, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1894549856
  • ISBN-13: 978-1894549851

Product Description

 

Though she is determined to stay focused on her writing, Elizabeth can't ignore the familiar goose bumps she feels when handsome wheelchair basketball coach Jared asks for her help to find out the truth about his mother's death. Once Elizabeth and Jared arrive in Redwater and begin to ask difficult questions about the past, they realize that not everyone wants this mystery to be solved...Can Elizabeth uncover the truth, and will her new relationship survive the investigation? In this fast-paced sequel to "Illegally Dead", Edmonton travel writer Elizabeth Oliver is excited to get back on the open road to research a new article when, suddenly, an unexpected romance leads to a new murder mystery.


About The Author


From Amazon Author's Page: 
I was born in New Westminster, B.C. and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. I married soon after graduation and moved to a farm where I had two children. When that marriage failed I began a long career of holding many as various jobs. I have worked as a bartender, hotel maid, cashier, bank teller, bookkeeper, printing press operator, meat wrapper, gold prospector, warehouse shipper, house renovator and nursing attendant. During that time I raised my two children and helped raise three step-children. I also had travel and historical articles published in magazines. Between 1990 and 2000 I researched and wrote seven Backroads Series books about Alberta, B.C., the Yukon and Alaska that were published by Lone Pine Publishing in Edmonton, AB.
I love change so I have moved over thirty times in my life living on acreages and farm and in small towns and cities throughout Alberta and B.C. I now live on an acreage in the Port Alberni Valley on Vancouver Island with my husband, five cats and four chickens. I currently work in a group home doing one-on-one support with a mentally and physically challenged man.

I belong to the Crime Writers of Canada, the International Association of Crime Writers/North American Branch, the Vancouver International Writers Festival, the Writers Guild of Alberta, the Federation of B.C. Writers, and the Port Alberni Arts Council.

My short story A Capital Offence received Ascent Aspirations First Prize for Flash Fiction.


My Review

I like how author Joan Donaldson-Yarmey sets her books in obscure places in Alberta.  This time it is Redwater...a small town outside of Edmonton that not many people have heard of...I only have because the company I worked at for many years built a cogeneration plant there.  This is the second book in her Sumach Travel Mystery series.  It is an enjoyable read particularly if you want to learn more about Alberta.  The author is a travel writer and her experience and expertise about the area shines through.

Good story filled with interesting characters. The mystery had me guessing until the end. I'm looking forward to the next Elizabeth Oliver adventure.

At the end of the book the article the fictional Elizabeth was researching during the book is included.  It is called Day Tripping From Edmonton.

1 comment:

  1. As a Canadian I would love to read this book. I love when books are set in Canada. It sounds really good.

    ReplyDelete