Does Your Mother Know?: A Christine Morris Mystery [Paperback]

I plucked this off a thrift shop shelf because I recognized the name of the author. Maureen Jennings is the Canadian author whose 19th century set series about Detective Murdoch was also turned into a Canadian television show. I think it is still ongoing as of the date of writing.

I assume this is book one because the cover says it is introducing "Christine Morris, Forensic Profiler"; however, it feels like there should have been a prior book explaining the events that led up to Christine Morris being sent to a law enforcement convention in Edinburgh. While at the convention she receives a phone call from the police on the Isle of Lewis. Her mother, who for all Christine knows should have been in Canada, had been involved in an accident resulting in a death and is missing from the scene.

Christine, who has a rocky relationship with her mother, has no idea why her mother was there or what possible connection her mother could have to the location.

Not badly written, but not particularly engaging. Even though there was a bit of angst in the story the characters feel a distanced from the emotions. It's told in the first person point of view which might have contributed to this.

The procedural part also felt strained. Morris doesn't have any investigative powers or authority and I have a hard time believing that she would be allowed to intrude as far as she did into the investigation, especially with her mother involved.

There's another death that Christine hears about after she arrives of Lewis. This death which is possibly natural is connected to a religious group called Sabbatarians who believe in strict observance of Sunday closing laws including no flying into the island on the sabbath. This particular death interrupts a possible land transaction between a native of Lewis and a US religious group who want to establish some sort of nebulous church study center on the property.

Anyway Christina's profiling skills don't get much of a work out and the mystery is mildly interesting. The family drama ends up all to quickly and neatly wrapped up.

I really liked this book. It had all the qualities I enjoy in a good mystery: good character development, strong sense of place, and a believeable story. Several mysteries are revealed: that of the murder of a local elderly man, the involvement of the main character's mother, and her own personal history, kept secret by her mother. Transplanting a Canadian detective to Scotland and the Hebrides was an interesting choice and worked well. I've ordered the second book in this series and will also try her "Murdoch" series.