The Taken by Inger Ash Wolfe

How does one write a unique murder mystery? Surely every possible modus operandi has been explored, surely every motive has been plumbed; surely, every possible neurosis has been assigned to every possible type of detective.

But, no. Somehow, there’s always more. And thankfully, it’s not always about inventing a deadlier, gorier, crazier serial killer. Sometimes, it’s about creating truly bizarre cases of psychotic revenge. In the case of Inger Ash Wolfe’s The Taken, a series of very peculiar clues is scattered in the vicinity of Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef of the Ontario Police. First, a body that isn’t a body; then, a series of black photographs dropped at the station, and a website that shows an empty room, the camera panning slowly back and forth. Micallef gradually comes to believe that these widely disparate pieces are connected and may lead to a killer.

Micallef is a 62 year old divorced cop with a bad back, a pill problem, and a reputation for being a maverick. She’s smart, successful, and popular with those beneath her. One of her grown daughters is a continuing worry to her, never having found her way in the world, and the uneasy mother-daughter relationship is an ongoing motif throughout the novel.

The trail of clues is rather preposterous, and I seriously doubt whether any real-life bad guys would be so peculiarly misguided as to try and lead the police by the nose in such an oblique fashion—but the characterization rings true and the writing is evocative and fresh. The Taken is the second Hazel Micallef mystery—you may want to check out the first book, The Calling, as well.