The Legacy: A Joanne Kilbourn Mystery

by Gail Bowen

Overview

From the Arthur Ellis Award–winning Grand Master of Crime Writers comes the next installment in the Joanne Kilbourn series

When Joanne Shreve’s former student, Val Masluk, writes the biography of acclaimed novelist Steven Brooks, Val once again becomes part of Joanne’s life. The biography is already raising troubling questions about Brooks’s past, and the wedding of Brooks’s daughter and Joanne’s son is scheduled for the day before the biography is published.

Both Joanne and her former student are haunted by memories of the seminar that led to the deaths of two people and the murder conviction of a third. The publication of the Brooks biography poses a threat not only to the future of the man and woman about to be married but also to the futures of those who love them. Joanne is certain that the threat is rooted in either her past or in that of Steven Brooks. The collateral damage caused by exposing that link will bring pain to both families, but life has taught Joanne that the only thing worse than knowing is not knowing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781770417465
Publisher:	ECW Press
Publication date:	10/24/2023
Series:	A Joanne Kilbourn Mystery , #22
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.69(d)

About the Author

Gail Bowen is an author, playwright, and teacher. Among her numerous writing awards are a lifetime achievement award from the Crime Writers of Canada and the Distinguished Canadian Award from the University of Regina. Reader’s Digest called her Canada’s Best Mystery Novelist. In 2018, she was awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Merit and Crime Writers of Canada’s Grand Master Award. She lives in Regina, SK, with her husband, Ted.

Editorial Reviews

09/11/2023

Bowen’s slow-moving latest adventure for retired Canadian professor Joanne Shreve, née Kilbourn (following 2022’s What’s Past Is Prologue) threatens to get overwhelmed by lukewarm family drama. More than 10 years ago, Joanne co-taught a journalism seminar with rising academic star Tom Kelsoe, who was later found guilty of double murder. Joanne’s long-simmering guilt over her failure to prevent Kelsoe’s crimes resurfaces when she’s contacted by Val Masluk, a student from that seminar, who’s just finished writing two books: a roman à clef of the Kelsoe case and a biography of bestselling novelist Steven Brooks, whose daughter is engaged to Joanne’s son. Then a journalist contacts Joanne about an anonymous email he’s received that seems intended to reignite rumors that Brooks’s work is not his own. While she’s investigating those claims, Joanne finds herself with a fresh homicide to solve—and questions about the killing’s potential origins in the Kelsoe case. Bowen lays out her sprawling cast of characters in a four-page guide before the start of the novel, setting the tone for her unnecessarily byzantine plotting, too much of which focuses on the impending wedding between Joanna’s son and Brooks’s daughter. Fans may appreciate the space dedicated to characters’ personal lives, but as a mystery, this flounders. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Listening to this audiobook is like eavesdropping on a happy, fortunate family who are enjoying camaraderie, gossip, good food, and the occasional conundrum.” — AudioFile Magazine

From the Publisher

Listening to this audiobook is like eavesdropping on a happy, fortunate family who are enjoying camaraderie, gossip, good food, and the occasional conundrum. Narrator Marcia Johnson introduces listeners to the Shreves and their large circle of family and friends, recounting the many details of their privileged lives in contemporary Toronto. This audiobook is part of a popular series with more than 20 other novels. The plot in this installment involves an accusation of plagiarism that has been leveled against the father of Leah, a young woman who is about to marry one of the sons in the Shreve clan. The cast of characters is longer than the average Christmas list, but Johnson is largely successful in distinguishing the main players. D.L.G. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

JANUARY 2024 - AudioFile