- Paperback: 392 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd (Feb 13 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1554683211
- ISBN-13: 978-1554683215
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 14.7 x 3.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 318 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #219,681 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
RCMP Sergeant Booker Kennison knows more dirt than an officer should and has been exiled by his superiors to duty in Yellowknife. When a flash fire claims the lives of two archaeologists at a dig on remote Victory Island in Nunavut, Kennison is dispatched to investigate in a cold wilderness where winter's grip and 24-hour darkness are closing in fast.
Ruby Cruz, ex-FBI agent, is also on her way north, sent to protect the interests of the American corporation that funded the dig. Those interests include Dr. Karl Kniesser and a 160-year-old journal he has secretly cut from the clothing of a frozen corpse. The journal contains the secrets of the ill-fated Franklin Expedition and may hold the key to controlling the Northwest Passage today. But when Ruby arrives, she finds Kniesser dead and the prized journal missing.
As the ice moves in and supplies grow scarce, Kennison confirms that the two deaths are murders, and the hunt for their killer begins -- until Kennison himself becomes a target of a secretive assassin lurking in the barren landscape. Threatened from all sides, Kennison must solve two mysteries before time and light run out.
About the Author
Dennis Richard Murphy was a successful film and television writer, director, producer and teacher whose documentary series appeared in 70 countries in 33 languages. His short stories were published in Ellery Queen's and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazines as well as in several anthologies, and in 2007 he won the Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Award for Best Short Story. Sadly, Dennis Richard Murphy passed away in June 2008, shortly after completing Darkness at the Stroke of Noon.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic Canadian mystery!,
By
This review is from: Darkness At The Stroke Of Noon (Paperback)
Ruby, recently widowed, wants out of the FBI. She takes a job with the AEI (Arctic Exploration Institute). Her first assignment is to travel to the Victory Point archaeological dig in Nunavut, Canada and accompany one of their scientists, who has made an unbelievable discovery in the Canadian Arctic, back to the U.S. At the same time, RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Sergeant Booker Kennison, who has been banished to the Yellowknife station for reporting corruption within the Mounties, is sent further north to Victory Point as well. It's supposed to be a routine assignment - document two accidental deaths at the Victory camp due to a fire. But it turns out to be anything but routine. The deaths are murder. And the discovery is unimaginable. It's an intact diary from the lost Franklin expedition, detailing their voyage. The information contained within could impact international borders and land rights.
The story flips between past and present. Murphy has done an amazing job in envisaging a diary of the Franklin expedition. This is a story on it's own. Back to the present - it's bitterly cold, the light is shorter every day, the food is running low and someone in the camp is a murderer. Darkness at the Stroke of Noon is an action packed page turner. The choice of setting makes it a uniquely Canadian tale, as do the references peppered throughout the book - Tim Hortons and Canadian Tire. I laughed out loud at Ruby's view of Canadians... "At forty-one, she didn't feel too old for a fight, although fighting Canadians seemed like the punch line of a bad joke. They were just French-speaking wannabe Americans who spent their winters in Florida getting melanoma until they ran home for free operations." I enjoyed many of the supporting characters, especially the local doctor who acts as a coroner and her assistant. Their dialogue over the autopsy table is blackly humorous. I finished the book and was hoping that this was to be the first of a series. Reading the back flyleaf I was saddened to find that Dennis Richard Murphy passed away just before publiction of Darkness at the Stroke of Noon.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Didn't hold my interest,
By
This review is from: Darkness At The Stroke Of Noon (Paperback)
I had a hard time with this book. On the one hand the premise is great. A death occurs in the arctic at a remote research station and an RCMP officer is flown in to investigate the crime. Complicating matters is the fact that daylight is limited and the murderer is amongst the small group of people at the research station. Will the RCMP officer solve the crime before the group has to be flown out, or will he be the next victim?
Like I said. The premise of the book is great. But at no point did I ever feel as though there was any importance to solving the crime. While some stories reach out and grab a reader, holding them there until the final page is turned, I never had that feeling with this novel. I could put the book down and come back to it days later. The good: The location, the premise (anything with the Franklin expedition makes for good reading). The bad: The lack of a gripping storyline.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review) 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Action Packed Page Turner,
By Dermott F. Corr - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Darkness At The Stroke Of Noon (Paperback)
Darkness at the Stroke of Noon is an action packed page turner. The choice of setting makes it a uniquely Canadian tale, as do the references peppered throughout the book - Tim Hortons and Canadian Tire. I laughed out loud at Ruby's view of Canadians... "At forty-one, she didn't feel too old for a fight, although fighting Canadians seemed like the punch line of a bad joke. They were just French-speaking wannabe Americans who spent their winters in Florida getting melanoma until they ran home for free operations." Dennis Murphy has done an amazing job in envisaging a diary of the Franklin expedition. This is a story on it's own. Back to the present - it's bitterly cold, the light is shorter every day, the food is running low and someone in the camp is a murderer. I enjoyed many of the supporting characters, especially the local doctor who acts as a coroner and her assistant. Their dialogue over the autopsy table is blackly humorous. I finished the book and was hoping that this was to be the first of a series. Reading the back flyleaf I was saddened to find that Dennis Richard Murphy passed away just before publiction of Darkness at the Stroke of Noon. |
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