No Flies On A Tale Of Drugs And Bikes
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday July 16, 2005
Death and flesh-eating insects stalk a Canadian town, writes SUE TURNBULL.
Black Fly SeasonBy Giles BluntHarperCollins, 372pp, $29.95Silent but deadly, resembling mini attack helicopters when viewed up close, flesh-eating black flies regularly terrorise the inhabitants of Algonquin Bay, Northern Ontario, once the relentless grip of winter has been released. Sadly, they are the least of the problems facing Detective John Cardinal. Looming larger is the attractive redhead with a bullet lodged in her brain who wanders into a bar on his patch. And then there's his wife, teetering on the verge of a manic episode but refusing to acknowledge her condition. Life is tough and about to get a whole lot tougher in this remote community, 400 kilometres north of what counts for the big smoke in Canada - Toronto.Black Fly Season is the third crime novel by Giles Blunt to feature Cardinal and his French-Canadian offsider, Lise Delorme. The first, Forty Words for Sorrow, won the British Crime Writers' Association Macallan Silver Dagger Award in 2001. I missed this, but after reading Blunt's latest, I'll be strapping on my snowshoes and backtracking into the long, cold winter of Cardinal's previous discontents.Blunt writes beautifully: about the mythical Algonquin Bay (based on his home town); about people (all the characters, major and minor, are economically and vividly realised), and he's extremely good at building suspense in a psychological police procedural that delivers the nail-biting goods. This is not surprising given an apprenticeship that includes not only advanced people-watching as a bartender, but also stints as a screenwriter for television crime series such as Street Legal, Night Heat and an episode of Law and Order. Blunt knows his narrative arcs and how to shift gears between characters in order to vary pace and mood.Cardinal labels his mysterious stranger Red as he begins the hunt for her would-be killer. Through the magic of forensics, the bullet recovered from her brain leads them to the home of Walter Wombat Guthrie, a member of the Viking Raiders biker gang which has - surprise, surprise - links to the heroin trade. When Guthrie's mutilated torso is discovered in a cave, having been subjected to what looks like a ritual murder, Cardinal supposes Red is in deep trouble.Not nearly, as it happens, so much trouble as her brother. We first meet Kevin, a junkie, swatting the ubiquitous black flies while writing poetry in what he regretfully realises is a poor imitation of his hero, Leonard Cohen, the Nick Cave of Canadian gloom. Kevin fantasises about getting clean, starting next Monday, and about being interviewed by the likes of David Letterman and Martin Amis. These imaginary dialogues are neatly done, funny and sad. Blunt's insights render Kevin one of the most vulnerable and appealing characters in the book, helping us understand what makes him tick even as we are appalled by the fine mess he has got himself into.Kevin's messiest mess involves an ill-chosen band of associates, led by the charismatic Red Bear. Sporting shades, dressed in white, clearly a refugee from Miami Vice, Red Bear is making a packet dealing drugs, while simultaneously selling himself as some kind of Indian shaman with the gift of second sight. The dots start to connect up, with the assistance of those ubiquitous flies and forensic entomologists Dr Angus Chin and Mr Filbert. Like Gil Grissom in CSI, they know their maggots. They are also a great double act whose stand-up routine is neatly stitched into a narrative that never falters.As Cardinal pulls it together, his wife is falling apart. Blunt makes us care and delivers a deeply moving denouement. This is a "keeper" - a crime book you won't want to trade in. Lend, maybe. But get their number.
© 2005 Sydney Morning Herald
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