In the Shadow of the Glacier
by Vicki Delany
Summary
A draft dodger commemoration is threatening to tear apart the bucolic mountain town of Trafalgar, B,C., while Rookie Constable Molly Smith and Sergeant John Winters search for a killer. The first in first in a traditional mystery series featuring Constable Smith, Sergeant Winters, and the town in the shadow of the glacier, Trafalgar, British Columbia.
Excerpt
Chapter 1
People were of two minds about Reginald (Call me Reg) Montgomery. They either hated him or thought he was the best thing to happen to this town in years. He never spoke when a shout would do, and never shouted when a bellow would do even better. Slighter men had been heard to complain that a slap on the back from Reg could send them head first across the room. And as for the women, most of them had learned to take a step backwards, out of hugging range, at Reg’s approach. His suits were too loud, his face red and dotted with beads of sweat regardless of the temperature, and his handshake too strong.
But he made a point of shopping at the local stores, rather than the Wal-Mart in Nelson, eating out regularly, usually at family-owned restaurants, and tipping well. Ellie, his wife, had her hair done at Maggie’s Salon on Front Street, bought her clothes from Joanie’s Ladies Wear and contributed generously, in time as well as money, to the hospital and the seniors’ centre.
Reg and Ellie had only been in town for a few months, but in that time he had managed to make a few friends and a good number of enemies.
And, apparently, one person who hated him enough to kill him.
Constable Molly Smith had eaten curried tofu for supper. In retrospect that was a mistake: spicy bile rose up into her throat and she swallowed heavily, trying to keep the food in her stomach, where it belonged.
She had seen plenty of traffic injuries, including fatalities. After the first few times, she’d learned to control her stomach and let her mind throw up a shield behind which she could hide from some of the ugliness that was the human body exposed to violent, unexpected death. But she’d never seen anyone who appeared to have been killed by another human being, and for some reason that made it harder for her protective armor to settle into place.
Reg Montgomery lay in the alley; urine stained his beige slacks and blood and brains stained the pavement. He was lying on his back, facing the long twilight of a gentle summer’s evening. Smith turned away and fingered the radio at her shoulder.
“Go ahead, Officer.”
She pressed her hand to her chest, and took a single, deep breath. “I’m…” The word came out as a frightened squeal, and she coughed once to clear her throat. “Smith here. I’m in the alley behind Alphonse’s Bakery on Front Street. That’s just west of Elm. I have a Code 5, suspicious circumstances, and need assistance.”
“Someone will be there shortly, Constable Smith.”
A small animal rustled in the green garbage bags behind the convenience store beside the bakery. She rested her hand on the butt of the Glock at her side and cast the light from her flashlight around the bags. Her nerve endings tingled. If a rat ran out of the shadows, she’d scream. But the garbage fell still.
Reviews
“An exciting series debut, featuring complex characters with plenty of room to grow”. Kirkus Reviews.
An excellent portrait of small town life with a plot that relies on character and motive for its resolution.” Mystery Lovers Bookshop
I’ll be on the lookout for Smith’s next adventure.” Contra Costa Times
Author's Biography
After a year travelling across North America, Vicki is now setting down to the rural life in Prince Edward County, and working on the next Constable Molly Smith novel. She is a member of Crime Writers of Canada and Sisters in Crime