HEAT WAVE

July 1936. Toronto is in the grip of a deadly heat wave. Horses  are dropping in the street. Charlotte Frayne is the junior associate in a  two-person private-investigation firm owned by T. Gilmore.

Anti-Semitism and murder in "Toronto the Good” in the depths of the  Great Depression provide the historical background for this satisfying  mystery. The fabric of the City of Toronto is as fully realized in Heat  Wave as it is in all the Detective Murdoch books.

A hate-letter is delivered to Charlotte’s boss, who leaves the  matter in Charlotte’s hands to investigate. On the same day, Hilliard  Taylor, a First World War veteran who, together with three other former  prisoners-of-war, operates the Paradise Café, seeks the firm’s  assistance in uncovering what he believes is the systematic embezzlement  of the Café. These two events, seemingly unrelated, come together and  bring to life characters as real to the reader as those of the Detective  Murdoch series.

The first book in the Paradise Café series, featuring Charlotte  Frayne, Heat Wave promises fans of Maureen Jennings’s mysteries the  beginning of a long and enjoyable relationship.

. . .

"Maureen Jennings is not only just about the best crime novelist  in Canada, she's among the best writers anywhere -- a national and  international treasure."

~ London Free Press

"The plotting of this novel is seamless. There's only 240 pages  but we solve not one but two mysteries and learn a great deal about the  protagonist and the supporting characters in her life. Nothing is  rushed or glossed over; the storyline climaxes in a short yet  action-packed few pages, and our journey to that point wasn't totally  unpredictable, but enjoyable nonetheless." 

~ I've Read This

"In  contemporary fiction, the millennial-aged single woman is often a  character through whom we identify our own paucity and miscalculations:  the lack of children, money, stability or foresight providing a plot in  which to flail. What a relief it is then to spend time with a  protagonist who isn't defined by the traditions she rejects - in the  summer of 1936, no less." 

~ Carly Lewis, The Globe and Mail