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A MATTER OF MALICE
by Thomas King
HarperCollins, January 2019
392 pages
$22.99 CAD
ISBN: 1443455172


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Thumps DreadfulWater is once again roped into solving a crime, this time by a producer of a true-crime reality TV show. When she is found dead, Thumps has to step in and figure out what happened.

When Thomas King, one of the US and Canada's most talented Indigenous writers, turns to the crime novel, readers had better watch out. King is both deadly serious while having his tongue firmly planted in his cheek. His playfulness, (his hero is named Thumps DreadfulWater!) is immediately evident, as is the deadly nature of his quests.

Thumps was a cop in Los Angeles when his wife and young daughter were murdered by a serial killer, the Obsidian Murderer, a case that has never been solved. This drove Thumps out of California. Driving North and East he ends up in Chinook, Montana where he has been living for eight years. A MATTER OF MALICE is the fourth murder case (and the fourth novel in the series) that he finds himself reluctantly involved with.

This time one of those dreadful true-crime reality TV shows, entitled Malice Aforethought, has arrived in Chinook and they need Thumps to help them solve the murder of a young woman who died several years back. The bait for Thumps is that Nina Maslow, the producer, has some new information about the Obsidian Murders. And then Nina dies exactly as the young woman did.

Don't expect a fast-paced drama. This novel is in Indian Time, one of King's favorite concepts. It also features some great Indian characters, including Moses, who proves that these are murders using what he calls CSI methods. Moses is an ardent TV watcher and pushing Thumps off a cliff is his idea of CSI, but it does prove his point.

Thumps has a sometime girlfriend called Claire, chief of the local reservation, who torments him by disappearing, not letting him know what is happening to her or their relationship. But Thumps has remained loyal, just having spent four months with her in Seattle while she was having chemo. She has disappeared again, as has his cat Freeway, who has moved in with a family with children.

And Thumps has just found out that he is diabetic and he is struggling with needles, and low blood sugar while the whole town tries to stop him from eating those doughnuts he came to love when he was a cop.

We have one depressed guy here, but the murder mystery moves on and Thumps keeps getting dragged into it. Of course, he solves the two murders as well as another one on Nina's agenda. Now it's time for the Obsidian Murders.

I love Thomas King, I love everything he writes, short stories, novels, non-fiction, CBC radio scripts (The Dead Dog Café), and now crime novels. But it might not be for all tastes, especially if you are looking for a classic, fast-paced murder mystery. But for fun, give A MATTER OF MALICE a try. You might get hooked!

§ Susan Hoover is a playwright, independent producer and retired college English teacher. She lives in Nova Scotia.

Reviewed by Susan Hoover, February 2019

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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