Among the Departed: A Constable Molly Smith Mystery

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Among the Departed: A Constable Molly Smith Mystery (eBook) Pub. Date: 9/9/2011 Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
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Among the Departed: A Constable Molly Smith Mystery Pub. Date: 5/3/2011 Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

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Among the Departed: A Constable Molly Smith Mystery Pub. Date: 5/3/2011 Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
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Among the Departed: Constable Molly Smith Series, Book 5 (MP3 - Unabridged) Pub. Date: 5/3/2011 Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

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Overview

Fifteen years ago a young girl by the name of Moonlight Smith went to her best friend Nicky Nowak’s house for a sleepover. Moonlight joined the family for breakfast the following morning and was then picked up by her mother. Shortly after, Mr. Nowak went for a walk.

He was never seen again.

Autumn has arrived on the mountains above Trafalgar, B.C., and the promise of winter is in the air. Constable Molly Smith is cuddled by the fireplace with Adam Tocek of the RCMP when Tocek and his dog Norman are called to a wilderness camping ground to join the search for a little boy who snuck away from his family looking for bears.

The child is found, dirty, terrified, weeping, but unharmed. Then the inquisitive Norman digs up something else: human bones.

The ID isn’t positive, but it is enough to have Sergeant John Winters of the Trafalgar City Police pulling old boxes from the basement to re-open the Brian Nowak investigation. He finds a family shattered beyond recognition by the disappearance of their husband and father. Mrs. Nowak is an empty shell of a woman, dressed in pajamas, never leaving the house. Her son Kyle haunts the streets of Trafalgar at night and spends his days creating beautiful, but highly troubling, art. Nicky Nowak lives in Vancouver and has grown up to be gorgeous, charming, elegant. Yet behind that facade lies a woman whose heart has closed so tightly against human relationships she comes to Trafalgar trailing in her wake a terrifying threat to another innocent family.

As the investigation into the life and disappearance of Brian Nowak grows, old secrets are brought to light and new ones struggle to remain hidden.

Editorial Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

A long-ago disappearance casts a long shadow.

For 15 years, the Nowaks of Trafalgar, British Columbia, have not dealt well with the fact that Brian walked out to buy a pack of cigarettes and didn't return. His wife Marjorie, a prissy, God-fearing woman, never leaves the house. His son Kyle, a reclusive artist, specializes in violently charged paintings. His daughter Nicky has moved to Vancouver and become an escort with a sideline in blackmailing her clientele. When some of Brian's bones are accidentally uncovered in Koola Provincial Park, Sergeant Winters reopens the case, leaning on Nicky's childhood friend Molly, now a constable, for insights, and setting up a possible conflict with his wife Eliza, who's mounting a gallery showing of Kyle's work. Did Brian leave his family for another woman and get waylaid on his way out of town? Not likely, say the villagers. But what happened to the $10,000 he withdrew just before his disappearance? What of Kyle's insistence that Brian was a womanizer (something that can't be proved), or of the realtor who keeps popping around asking for details about the case, or of the way Nicky and her sleazy partner/pimp Joey are eyeing as possible marks all the men in town, even Molly's boyfriend Adam of the RCMP? Secrets and assumptions must come crashing down to settle the Nowak case and explain the tragedy of 1996.

Delany (Negative Image,2010, etc.) invigorates the cozy genre with an unsparing look at love in all its variations, including coming to terms with it the second time around.

Library Journal

The successful search for a missing boy in the woods near the British Columbian town of Trafalgar also uncovers a human bone that may belong to a man who disappeared years earlier. It's almost too much to handle as Constable Molly Smith (Negative Image; In the Shadow of the Glacier), one of the last people ever to see the missing man, tries to come to terms with her own father's death and deal with her relationship with Adam Tocek of the Royal Canadian Mountain Police. VERDICT By using western Canada as her setting, Delany gives us a breathtaking vista, in which she places her deceptively minimalist plots. Her exceptional ability to create characters, both realistic and sometimes creepy, makes this another terrific addition to her outstanding body of work.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781590589243
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication date: 5/3/2011
Pages: 250
Product dimensions: 5.80 (w) x 8.60 (h) x 1.10 (d)

Meet the Author

Having taken early retirement from her job as a systems analyst in the high-pressure financial world, Vicki Delany is settling down to the rural life in bucolic Prince Edward County, Ontario where she rarely wears a watch. Among the Departed is the fifth in her traditional village mystery series featuring Constable Smith, Sergeant Winters and the town in the shadow of the glacier Trafalgar, British Columbia. Please visit www.vickidelany.com.

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FeatheredQuillBookReviews

Posted April 23, 2011

more from this reviewer

Many twists and turns

This delightful book is full of energy and, something like a cozy but, not quite. It looks at feeling love and affection in all the ways it can. Love for a child by parents, love for a significant other but, unable to commit, love the second time around and the love for a favorite dog (this one I liked.) Moonlight Smith, now more commonly known as Molly, is a constable in Trafalger, British Columbia and is about to revisit a difficult time in the life of her childhood best friend. Fifteen years ago she went to her friend Nicky Nowak's house for a sleepover. After breakfast the next morning her mom picked her up. The Nowak family went off to church without Mr. Nowak. When they returned he was gone and was never seen again. His two children, Nicky and Kyle, were teenagers when this happened and, according to his wife, the marriage was a happy one with no problems. Fall has come to Trafalgar with Winter looming not far behind. It is getting cold in Trafalgar, BC but the camp grounds are still open for a short while more. Adam Tocek of the RCMP is having a lovely evening with his significant other Molly, when he gets a call to report to the camp grounds because a little boy is missing. Adam and Molly arrive at the camp accompanied by Norman, a German Shepherd search and rescue dog in tow. The boy is found, by Norman, happily in good shape. He ran away because his father promised that he would see bears and he went looking for them. But, Norman's nose found something else and he proceeded to dig up human bones. These bones are eventually found to be Brian Nowaks and Sergeant John Winters, of the City Police opens the investigation into Mr. Nowak's disappearance. Sgt. Winters goes to the family to report and finds Mrs. Nowak in her pajamas. Her son, Kyle, states that his mother never leaves the house. Kyle runs the roads at night and, during the day paints some very disturbing pictures in the hope that he will find someone to show them. Meanwhile, daughter Nicky, who lives in Vancouver, and the only one who left town at the time of the disappearance, comes back to see about her father. No one knows what she does for a living but, it is questionable. There are many different plots going on in this book but they are all very understandable. The rugged mountain country is fascinating to read about and of course, I love the dogs. There is Norman, a beautiful German Shepherd and Sylvester, belonging to Molly's mom. They are prominent in some of the storylines. The writing is first class and I'm not sure why I never saw these books before but, I plan to look them up. Quill Says: A fantastic story with many twists and turns. Creative plotting and great characters.
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srkromer

Posted April 7, 2011

Good Mystery from Vicki Delany

Among the Departed by Vicki Delany is a solidly written Canadian mystery. It is a part of the Constable Molly Smith Mystery series that follows the life of Moonlight "Molly" Smith, who is a Constable in Trafalgar, British Columbia. Molly is the product of two hippie parents that are very liberal in their beliefs and do not like law enforcement. In Among the Departed, Molly and her boyfriend, Adam Tocek who is a RCMP officer, stumble upon some bones in the mountains while rescuing a young boy who left the safety of his campsite and family to try to see some bears. But were these human bones? Unfortunately the answer was yes, and it was soon found out that they were the bones of a man that was missing for the last fifteen years. However, will the family be able to find closure in his disappearance and find out what really happened? This book is supposed to be about the mystery of the man's bones that were found, however, there are a lot of side stories that are also happening throughout the book that will draw you in and wanting more. For example, the ironic relationship that develops between Molly's mother and her boss, the Chief Constable. The side stories actually help to move the story along and do not detract that much from the main plot of the story and are all wrapped up nicely in the end, so you are not left wondering what happened to the side characters and their happenings. If you are a fan of mystery novels, I would suggest this book. You will not get anything really that you haven't read in other mystery novels, but that shouldn't dissuade you from reading this beautifully written book. Before reading Among the Departed, I would suggest reading the other Constable Molly Smith mysteries to understand the characters better, because in this novel itself, you do not get a whole lot of character development.
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PoCoKat

Posted March 31, 2011

Another Great Vicki Delany Mystery!!!

I was thrilled to be transported once again to the lovely Kootenay town of Trafalgar in beautiful British Columbia through another delightful story in the Smith and Winters series by Vicki Delany. With each book in the series, I become more attached to her wonderful characters. I had a hard time putting the story down as her plot kept me guessing as to what was going to happen next! Highly recommend this book as well as the entire series. Keep them coming Vicki, they are so enjoyable to read!
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d155890

Posted March 29, 2011

Highly recommended

Have never read this author before but would love to read her other books. The characters a well defined and showed great emotion. I loved Molly and Adam. And Mollys mother Lucky is a very well rounded and likeable woman. I loved that it was typical small town gossip, going on. Made the story more believable and enjoyable.
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Among the Departed: A Constable Molly Smith Mystery

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