Angelhunting: A Seamus Caron Mystery

Sayo debuts with a dazzling hard-boiled mystery set in contemporary Toronto. Grizzled private investigator Seamus Caron is struggling to make ends meet since, in his estimation, “there [isn’t] enough crime and desperation for a man to make an honest living these days.” In recent months, he’s turned to parlor tricks to convince prospective clients of his deductive talents, craftily swiping one woman’s driver’s license before pretending he learned her identity from “the brand of your shoes, the time of your arrival on this particular Tuesday, the specific brand of perfume on your wrists.” He gets a legitimate inquiry, however, when his friend, Toronto homicide detective Sandra Blair, asks for help with a tricky case. Criminal defense lawyer John Ryba has disappeared from his hospital bed, leaving behind nothing but a set of bloody sheets. Ryba’s friends and the Toronto police assume he was murdered, but Blair isn’t so sure. Caron agrees to investigate, and finds that Ryba was secretly involved with the distribution of a potent new street drug called Platinum, whose side effects may be far graver than advertised. Then another person connected to the distribution of Platinum turns up dead. Sayo nails the wry, fatalistic tone of the best neo-noir, and he sketches even minor characters with careful attention to detail. Fans of Robert B. Parker will be thrilled. (June)