Whisper of the Seals by Roxanne Bouchard (translated by David Warriner)

I would like to thank Anne from Random Things Tours and Orenda Books for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Orenda Books

Published – Out Now

Price - £9.99 paperback £4.27 Kindle eBook

There’s only one thing more deadly than the storm…

Fisheries officer Simone Lord is transferred to Quebec’s remote Magdalen Islands for the winter, and at the last minute ordered to go aboard a trawler braving a winter storm for the traditional grey seal hunt, while all of the other boats shelter onshore.

Detective Sergeant Joaquin Moralès is on a cross-country boat trip down the St Lawrence River, accompanied by Nadine Lauzon, a forensic psychologist working on the case of a savagely beaten teenager with Moralès’ old team in Montreal.

When it becomes clear that Simone is in grave danger aboard the trawler, the two cases converge, with startling, terrifying consequences for everyone involved…

With an ongoing detective series there is of course always a crime to solve but its also an unusual blend of place and character. Imagine Holmes without their version of London; Miss Marple without middle class English villages or Rebus without Edinburgh. The detective is always someone able to access all levels of society and show us life in these places and a reminder that they all intersect and impact each other for good and bad. In Roxanne Bouchard’s Whisper of the Seals (translated very ably by David Warriner) we voyage to the icy coast of the French-Canadian border and meet death and danger on the high seas that also cast a light on the hard life that these places have on those who seek either an honest or a dishonest living.

In the Magdalen Islands of Quebec the ice floes are moving and it is time for the seal hunters to make a living and while storm-clouds gather a trawler is told they need an official Fisheries officer on board to monitor that thy hunt within the law. Forty-something Simon Lord someone known to be by the book and often over-achieving is unexpectedly hired to attend. Little does she know the hastily put together crew have their own mission. Meanwhile Detective Sergeant Joacquin Morales contemplates the final end of his marriage and trying to enjoy a skiing/cruise holiday a little further south one of his friends has persuaded him to take. But Morales cannot help getting interested in a strange case of a teenager getting too deep into a drug gang that he starts investigating. Eventually the two cases are linked and Morales knows he must find this ship before it is too late.

This is my first exposure to this series (and it is only the third book in the sequence); despite that the little recaps and summaries gently layers in the story helped explain who everyone was and any important details to their prior relationships. Overall, it is a character focused thriller where Bouchard focuses on exploring what makes everyone tick be they criminal, fisherman or officer of the law. Via a mix of characters talking about themselves and our third person narration explaining back-stories the impression is that here on the far borders of Canada where life is always hard and yet beautiful. Be that in the description of the sea and its wildness to the disappointed exploration of seal-hunting where the seal’s cuteness is contrasted with these men’s desire to feed their families. For Morales a Mexican who has moved North when he fell in love it is a strangely captivating place that he loves even while his marriage has disintegrated. For the crew Simone is supervising it is also a place where life has required them to find other interests beyond hunting.

While middle-aged divorced detectives are not that unusual in crime tales, I really liked how both Morales and Simone came to life even on my first meeting them. Morales here is someone very melancholic and yet starting to show he can move on be it reading literature books or even starting to re-think what Simone means to him. He is an extremely sympathetic character and one driven also by a desire for getting justice so even holidays eventually need to end. Simone is shown as someone who stays true to her desire to succeed and suffered sexism and exclusion for it. As we realise the growing danger that Simone is in and far from help across the sea she is still never a weak damsel in distress but a capable person left isolated and over-whelmed but relies on her wits to get help.

All of this leads to the crime and here I do think the pacing feels a little too genteel for some readers. The two storylines are separated for quite a great deal of the novel and while this gives readers a chance to get to know the characters and world, the story is less tense thriller and more like a gradually building storm on the sea. You can see the clouds forming and you know they’re coming to rain havoc on you, but they will take their time crossing across to you. The climactic scenes for the finale and what they mean for the characters that by then we know very well I think make the journey worth it and show this series is prepared to surprise readers and remind us that this world is a dangerous one.

Overall, Whisper of the Seals is an enjoyable read that I think fans of character focused crime tales will find a lot to enjoy. The use of setting is powerful and evocative and the lyrical storytelling of Bouchard (which Warriner really brings to life) made this a read that even in the depths of summer makes you feel the cold and isolation of the seas. Worth a look.