Molly Smith works as a constable in Trafalgar, British Columbia despite her hippy upbringing in In the Shadow of the Glacier by Vicki Delany. The hitherto peaceful city is set aflame when Molly discovers the body of Reg Montgomery, who is trying to create a major development decried by environmentalists and who is the first murder victim in Trafalgar in over a year. Assigned to assist Sergeant John Winters with the investigation in the absence of Winters’s regular partner, Molly finds herself embroiled in the case personally when her parents become involved. A muckraking journalist trying to stir up trouble edits an interview with her mother, Lucky, to damage opponents of the development and supporters of a peace garden dedicated to those who stood up for peace by moving to Canada during the Vietnam War. This then causes activists to descend upon Trafalgar, creating serious havoc and further violence. So the pressure is on for Molly and Winters to solve the murder.
I selected this book because I love the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Series by Delaney and hoped to enjoy this book as much. Sadly, I was disappointed. The description did not indicate just how much turmoil and bad language would be in this book. One thing that impressed me about the Holmes series is the way Delany deals with serious content in a clean and straightforward manner without too much descriptions of violence. But this book had significant depictions of violence and lots of bad language. I felt that this book acted somewhat unfairly too because it began with no bad language but began to drop the F-bomb after close to half the book was over, becoming more and more frequent in its use of bad language as the book continued further. Had I realized just how much bad language I would have to listen to, I would not have started this book.
The mystery itself does not serve as the focal point of the book, instead seeming to serve as the catalyst for the other actions in the book. And the struggles of the aging, Vietnam-era activists did not keep my attention as much as the mystery itself would have. In addition, I fail to see how the title In the Shadow of the Glacier fits the book very well.
Carrington Macduffie narrates the audio edition of this book. She does a good job of performing the roles of each character, with what I think are realistic Canadian accents. And she does a fantastic job of making the muckraking journalist sound really filthy. The voices used for each character suits them each.
I completed In the Shadow of the Glacier because by the time I realized just how different this book was from what I expected, I had invested too much time in the book and decided to finish it. The last couple chapters became dramatic, with a surprising conclusion. But they didn’t redeem the rest of the book, which I give two stars.
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