by Giles Blunt
First published 2017
Four teenagers vanish from Algonquin Bay, and the police investigation stalls. Detective John Cardinal refuses to let the case go cold, but his persistence gets him kicked off homicide. Cardinal carries his own criminal secret while internal affairs investigates corruption charges against him. His career hangs by a thread. His family is falling apart. Then workers discover thirteen-year-old Katie Pine's mutilated corpse in an abandoned mineshaft. Cardinal sees what others miss: a serial killer operates in their quiet northern town. The murders echo the notorious Moors killings, with a young man and his devoted girlfriend selecting victims for twisted games. Cardinal's superiors question his methods. The media scrutinizes his moves. Time runs out as another captive waits in a basement, wondering when his captors will end his life. Cardinal must follow fragile leads toward an unthinkable truth.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Algonquin Bay
Period: contemporary
336 pages · Paperback · Vintage Canada
Content warnings: murder, violence