The Delicate Storm by Giles Blunt, 0007115784, Lowest Book Price Finder

Customer Reviews:

Delicate story telling

For someone from a climate as mild as Australia, the cold of a Canadian winter seems somewhat exotic. Salting the roads, ice storms, bears coming out of hibernation when there's a warm snap, are all vividly depicted. Giles Blunt imparts a strong feeling of being connected to the community by the clever use of minor characters: there is WUDKY, the world's dumbest criminal; the veteran police officer returning from vacation and remembering a detail from an old case which helps create a lead in a current one and Cardinal's tetchy and fiercely independent father are just a few. Cardinal and Delorme with their different ethnic backgrounds, attitudes and histories also give THE DELICATE STORM a strong and distinctive Canadian flavour.

Blunt has created a mystery with a number of intriguing threads and combined it with interesting characters who pull you into the story and hold you there.

Blunt's best

The second of Blunt's Cardinal novels (the third I have read) is in my opinion the best. Fiendishly clever, deftly plotted and irristably gripping, this can't be faulted (unlike other revieweres I found the history of Quebec's terrorist movement of the '70's fascinating).

A brilliant thriller, I'll be getting the next in the series as soon as possible.

Not as good as the First Book in the Series

A disappointing, convoluted follow-up to Blunt’s first outing, Forty Words for Sorrow. While I still like the characters of John Cardinal and Lise Delorme, the history of Canada’s radical movement in the seventies was quite boring. The book starts with a grizzly murder as body parts are found in the woods. At first, it seems a bear is the culprit. Then another body is found in the woods. As Cardinal and Dolorme try to establish the connection between the two killings, they learn about a cover-up by the nation’s intelligence organization, the CSIS, the involvement of the CIA, and the kidnapping and killing of a prominent cabinet member. This isn’t as strong as the first book, and the link between Quebec’s radical past and the killing of the young, female doctor is tangential, at best.

really enjoyable book

I took this on holiday and thoroughly enjoyed it, although the snowy scenes were a bit at odds with Tenerife sunshine! I'm not usually a crime fan but the quality of the writing really grabbed my attention. The story is intelligent and develops at a good pace, and the characters are really well developed. This definitely made me want to read more! After reading this I immediately went and read Forty Words for Sorrow. I'm buying the two books for my mum for christmas( she's an avid reader of crime, thriller, forensics and horror novels). It only doesn't rate five stars because its one to read every 6months or every year, rather than immediately again (because overall I prefer fantasy fiction).

Whatever compelled the harsh lower review, I don't know

I must confess, I wasn't quite so crazy about Giles Blunt's debut, Forty Words For Sorrow, as others were, even though it was certainly very good. However, now, after reading The Delicate Storm I'm quite tempted to revisit his first novel and be prepared to reassess my opinions, because The Delicate Storm is, quite simply, excellent.

It begins when a human arm is discovered on an unseasonably warm day in some woods near the town of Algonquin Bay. The search for other human body parts leads investigators John Cardinal and Lisa Delorme to a remote hunter's cabin that is clearly the scene of the crime, and which holds some useful information. The deceased is soon found to have been an American citizen, and so the Mounties are brought in to assist. But, it is when the Canadian Secret Service also start sniffing around the case that Cardinal comes to uncover something far deeper and darker.

Then, a few days later, a young doctor goes missing, and the glittering woods relinquish a second dead body.

Blunt paces his novel absolutely perfectly. It's not too slow, but nor is it so fast that, come the end, the book feels like sand having slipped through a net. He has also struck a perfect equilibrium between character and plot, giving the book power from both corners, and a nicely rounded feel. The characters are excellent, especially Cardinal and Delorme, who are fascinating (both when working together and apart), and, I am sure, capable of sustaining this series for many books to come. The plot itself is great (although possibly discomforting for those who don't like to confront the possibility of a "perfect" crime), and the plotting is slick, smooth and assured, all stemming from Blunt's excellent narrative control. He also examines, interestingly and convincingly, the past and present Canadian political scene.

However, possibly best of all is the setting, which the author describes brilliantly, giving the book a sharp, edgy and entirely chilly atmosphere that broods over the whole novel like some impetuous deity. The landscape creaks and shimmers under the ice and takes on a forbidding life of its own in a way which few writers can really create.

Overall, I'd recommend this book to everyone who likes a great crime novel, because there is no way you'll be disappointed with this. It's full of interesting characters with interesting lives, great plotting, and an atmosphere that shivers. Giles Blunt is tremendous, and surely the best writer to have emerged from Canada in many a moon. I'm looking forward to the next one already!

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