Category Archives: RM Greenaway

June 1, 2021 · 12:01 am

Review: Five Ways to Disappear by R.M. Greenaway

Title: Five Ways to Disappear by R.M. Greenaway
B.C. Blues Crime Series Book Six
Publisher: Dundurn Press
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery
Length: 368 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

A dangerous undercover assignment nearly puts Dion in his grave.

North Vancouver RCMP officers Leith and Dion have a gruesome new mystery lying at their feet. Up in the breezy heights of Paradise Road, a craftsman has been spiked to his lawn by his own artwork. Was it an aesthetics-fuelled feud with the neighbours? An enemy from the past? Or the most challenging of crimes to solve: a random attack?

Drawn into an offside mystery of his own, Dion befriends a young magician, who then seems to make herself disappear. But with the team closing in on the Paradise Road killer, he must put aside his personal dilemmas to take on the lead role in setting a trap for their volatile suspect. It’s a foolproof setup, but even the best laid plans can go awry, and this one leads him straight into a fight for his life.

Review:

Five Ways to Disappear by R.M. Greenaway is a character driven police procedural. Although this latest release is the sixth mystery in the B.C. Blues Crime series, it can be read as a standalone. But I highly recommend reading the mysteries in order for important backstory.

RCMP Constable Cal Dion is called to work a murder scene with his boss RCMP Corporal Dave Leith.  The victim, Lawrence Follick, has rather brutally murdered in his own yard. The murder weapon is at the scene and might yield valuable evidence. Since the scene is somewhat isolated, Cal and Dave hope one of his neighbors might have witnessed somethin that will lead to the perpetrator.

Lawrence has also been volunteering his services for an upcoming magic show, so they have another avenue of inquiry to pursue. Cal is intrigued by one of the witnesses, Bianca, and an unexpected friendship springs up between them. When another death occurs in the area of the magic show, Cal, Dave and Constable JD Temple begin searching for a possible link in hopes of catching their killer.

Trying to recapture his former happiness, Cal is waiting to move into a new apartment. He is temporarily residing in a basement apartment and it is not helping his impending sense of doom. This is why he is so grateful to spend time with Bianca who is not forthcoming about herself. But briefly escaping his ominous dreams only lessens his anxiety for short periods of time. Cal is also trying to understand why JD is giving him the cold shoulder. Is there any way she knows his secret?

Dave is under stress as he prepares for an upcoming assignment. Working on Follick’s murder helps distract him from his concerns. Dave, Cal and JD are tracking down every lead, but they are growing frustrated by their lack of progress. They each look at the various clues differently but through their hard work, they are inching ever closer to the truth.

Five Ways to Disappear is an intriguing mystery with an eclectic cast of characters. The investigation is interesting to watch as Cal, Dave and JD try to make sense of scant evidence.  Cal continues to wrestle with his conscience as his torment level increases. JD makes a surprising discovery about herself but it remains to be seen what she will do about it. Dave’s career is taking a possible dangerous turn as he is faced with his new assignment.  R.M. Greenaway ends this newest mystery on the verge of a possibly pivotal moment that could bring big changes for one of the three members of the RCMP. Old and new fans will enjoy this newest addition to the B.C. Blues Crime series.

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Filed under BC Blues Crimes Series, Contemporary, Dundurn, Five Ways to Disappear, Mystery, Rated B, Review, RM Greenaway

March 11, 2020 · 11:57 pm

Review: River of Lies by R.M. Greenaway

Title: River of Lies by R.M. Greenaway
B.C. Blues Crime Series Book Five
Publisher: Dundurn
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 368 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

In rain-drenched Vancouver, detectives Dion and Leith work to separate truth from lies in two seemingly unrelated cases.

February is the month of romance, but in North Vancouver it’s also become the month of murder. While the North Shore RCMP slog through the rain in the search for whoever left a young woman to die in the Riverside Secondary School parking lot — their first clue a Valentine’s Day card — a toddler mysteriously vanishes from a Riverside Drive home in the midst of a dinner party.

With Constable JD Temple’s full attention on the parking lot murder, Constables Dave Leith and Cal Dion work the kidnap … until a tenuous connection is made between the two cases, along with the thinnest ray of hope that the child could be alive and well in the hands of a childless couple. But when more tragedy rains down on the North Shore, lies must be unveiled before the ugly truth can emerge.

Review:

River of Lies by R.M. Greenaway is an intriguing mystery set in Vancouver. Although this latest release is the fifth installment in the B.C. Blues Crime series, it can be read as a standalone.

Constables Cal Dion, JD Temple and Dave Leith are called to the scene of a puzzling death. The body of janitor Tasha Aziz has been found on the grounds of a local high school. With no outward signs of violence, they can only speculate as to the cause of death. However, there are enough signs at the scene that lead them to believe Tasha is a homicide victim. With scant evidence, their investigation is virtually at a standstill right from the start.

Dion and Leith are next called to a wealthy couple’s home after Gemma Vale discovers her toddler Luna Mae is missing during a dinner party. Gemma points the finger at her ex-husband Zachary since they are in the midst of a turbulent custody dispute.  Since Gemma’s stepchildren have been staying with her, Cal and Dave question fifteen year old Tiago and nine year old Viviana.  Dion believes both of the kids know more than they are saying. And as the case progresses, Dion’s observations result in a bit of a dispute between him and Dave.  Cal notices something is off with Gemma and Zachary’s reactions to new information but Dave believes their responses are completely normal.

While Cal and Dave are busy with the kidnap case, JD is working to solve Tasha’s murder.  Unfortunately she is not finding any new evidence. JD is searching for Kyler Hartshorne when her investigation suddenly overlaps with Luna’s disappearance. Kyler and Tiago have an unexpected friendship and rumors indicate they may be somehow involved with Luna’s kidnapping. With Kyler nowhere to be found, hopefully Tiago will be able to fill in the blanks.

River of Lies is a multi-layered mystery with a cast of appealing characters and an engaging storyline. The dynamics between the various characters are interesting due to personal differences with their co-workers. The investigations of Tasha’s murder and Luna’s kidnapping plod along with little progress until the latter part of the book. R.M. Greenaway brings this unpredictable mystery to a twist-filled conclusion. Old and new fans will enjoy this latest addition to the B.C. Blues Crime series but the still unresolved investigation into Cal’s past will leave readers eagerly awaiting the next release.

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Filed under BC Blues Crimes Series, Contemporary, Dundurn, Mystery, Rated B, Review, River of Lies, RM Greenaway, Suspense

March 13, 2019 · 11:57 pm

Review: Flights and Falls by R.M. Greenaway

Title: Flights and Falls by R.M. Greenaway
B.C. Blues Crime Series Book Four
Publisher: Dundurn
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 384 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

A string of incidents causes Cal Dion to learn some harsh truths about himself.

A single-vehicle crash on the Sea to Sky Highway is blamed on the notorious stretch of road — but when bad things start happening to the good people who stopped to help the victim, North Vancouver RCMP Constable Dave Leith starts to wonder if something darker is at play.

Leith and his partner, JD, work through clues that are as close to bizarre as they’ve ever seen. At the same time, Leith is keeping tabs on a murder suspect who is too close for comfort: Cal Dion, a cop and colleague, knows all about crime — and perhaps how to get away with it.

Dion is looking at a long fall from grace, but his mind is on the Sea to Sky killings, and he’s beginning to think the team is on the wrong track. Could it be that a crime from his turbulent past holds the key?

Review:

Flights and Falls by R.M. Greenaway is a perplexing police procedural that is set in British Columbia. Although this latest release is the fourth installment in the B.C. Blues Crime series, it can be read as a standalone. However, to fully understand an ongoing story arc, I recommend the previous novels as well.

Constables Dave Leith and JD Temple are investigating quite a few cases in this latest outing. Their first case is the puzzling car accident which resulted in death of a young woman.  This investigation takes an interesting turn when two people who were at the scene become victims of two unrelated crimes. The first known victim is new officer  Craig Gilmartin who was first shot at as he was walking down the street. Later that evening, he is shot in his own home and he is now in very serious condition in the hospital.

The next Good Samaritan has been reported missing by his wife and troubled RCMP officer Cal Dion  stumbles across his body in the forest. Once Cal learns of the deceased connection to the fatal car crash, he does a little quiet investigating on his own and comes up with an unusual theory about the cause of the accident.  He takes his suspicions to Leith who is skeptical but knows he cannot discount Dion’s  hypothesis. In the course of this leg of the investigation, JD becomes a mentor to Dezi Novak, a young woman who was also at the scene of the accident.

Since he is trying to maintain a low profile around his former co-workers and boss Sergeant Mike Bosko, Cal reluctantly lends a hand to the investigations.  He is aware that Bosko has his suspicions about the circumstances surrounding the car accident that left Cal with a traumatic brain injury and killed Dion’s friend and fellow officer. Cal is reaching the end of his mandatory counseling and he is experiencing regret over the decisions he made following the accident. More troublesome are his concerns that a witness from that fateful night will come forward and provide details about the events that occurred before the crash. Unbeknownst to  Cal, Bosko might be about to put the pieces together with the help of someone who is finally ready to reveal what promises to be damning information. Is Dion’s house of cards about to come crashing down?

Flights and Falls is a complex and multi-layered mystery that slowly comes together over the course of the investigation. Leith and Temple are in the forefront for the search for the truth how these three cases are linked.  However, Dion’s flashes of brilliance are crucial to solving the crimes. R.M. Greenaway pulls all of the disparate threads of the three cases together during the novel’s twist-filled conclusion.

Although the current mysteries are completely wrapped up, Cal’s fate once again hangs in the balance. A fantastic addition to B.C. Blues Crime series which will leave readers impatiently awaiting the next release.

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Filed under BC Blues Crimes Series, Contemporary, Dundurn, Flights and Falls, Mystery, Rated B, Review, RM Greenaway

April 18, 2018 · 11:58 pm

Review: Creep by R. M. Greenaway

Title: Creep by R. M. Greenaway
B.C. Blues Crime Series Book Three
Publisher: Dundurn
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 392 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

Leith and Dion are on the hunt for a different kind of murderer … and he’s a real animal.

It seems the October rains have brought death and disaster to North Vancouver. A missing hiker is found by his son and daughter, a foul smell leads to a mauled body in a crawl space, and a small boy is attacked by a man in wolf form.

Once an up-and-coming Serious Crimes investigator, these days Constable Cal Dion is back on general duties, feeling out-of-the-loop and rebellious. On a routine canvassing task, he finds himself questioning an attractive witness, one he feels is peripheral enough to the crawl space case that he would be safe in asking her out. Of course, it’s the worst decision.… Constable David Leith is in the thick of the same investigation, a case complicated by rumours running wild and a most elusive suspect. Halloween has brought out the ghouls for Leith and his team … and possibly a shapeshifter as well, with murder on its mind.

Review:

Creep by R. M. Greenaway is an enthralling police procedure which features several intriguing mysteries. This third addition to the B.C. Blues Crime series can be read as a standalone but I strongly recommend reading the novels in order to fully understand the characters’ backstories.

Back in uniform, Constable Cal Dion and his new partner Constable Randall are called to the scene of Aldobrandono Rosetti’s death. Rosetti inexplicably died while out hiking, but a few puzzling observations stand out to Constable Randall.  Could there be a more sinister reason for his unfortunate passing?

Constable David Leith arrives at an abandoned house where a search is underway for the source of a very unpleasant odor reported by neighbors. The discovery of a corpse inside a canvas bag  raises everyone’s eyebrows since the body has apparently been mauled by an animal.  With one of the deceased’s arms having been hacked off, the police have more questions than answers. When strange reports of a werewolf begin making the rounds, Leith and the rest of the investigators have their hands full trying to uncover the truth about what happened to their victim.

Following the hit and run death of a young girl on Halloween, Dion and Randall are soon at odds over Randall’s continued insistence in pursuing the person she believes is responsible. Could there be any truth to Randall’s assertion that someone in the RCMP is trying to cover up for a loved one’s involvement in the tragic death?

Cal is still struggling with his memory issues and a lack of faith in his instincts that are a result of his earlier car accident.  He continues to have difficulty with losing track of his thoughts when he is interrupted before he can follow through with tasks. Cal is also still haunted by the series of events that occurred the night of his car accident and he deeply mourns the loss of his best friend. Cal has difficulty controlling his emotions and when frustrated, he continues to make questionable and impetuous decisions that put him in dangerous situations.

Leith has yet to fully assimilate to city life and he and his wife, Allison, are in the midst of house hunting. He remains wary of fully trusting Cal and he is quite concerned that Sergeant Mike Bosko’s off the books investigation into Dion’s past is ongoing. Despite his qualms, Leith does not hesitate to request Cal’s assistance in continuing the investigation into the hit and run case once it comes to a standstill.

Creep is an engrossing mystery with several secondary story arcs that unexpectedly converge in surprising ways.  The characters are somewhat colorful and they are vibrantly developed with realistic strengths and all too relatable foibles.   The various investigations unfold in a believable fashion with some clues yielding results while others lead to dead ends. R. M. Greenaway brings the novel to an exciting conclusion although the questions about Cal’s past remain unanswered.  Hopefully the truth about Cal will be answered in the next installment of the B.C. Blues Crime series.

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Filed under BC Blues Crimes Series, Contemporary, Creep, Dundurn, Mystery, Rated B, Review, RM Greenaway, Suspense

March 22, 2017 · 11:57 pm

Review: Undertow by R.M. Greenaway

Title: Undertow by R.M. Greenaway
B.C. Blues Series Book Two
Publisher: Dundurn
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery
Length: 424 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

A heartbreaking set of murders bring detectives Leith and Dion together in the Lower Mainland, where violence flows like a riptide.

Last summer the inlet waters washed an unnamed woman’s body onto the rocks of North Vancouver’s Neptune shipyards. When RCMP Constable Cal Dion returns home after a year’s absence, he finds the case still open and grown cold.

While Dion works to fit back in and put closure to the Jane Doe drowning case, newly relocated Constable Dave Leith is learning to cope with his first big-city posting. But they have bigger concerns: Why would anyone beat up a young electrician, then track down his wife and baby girl to finish them off? It is a motiveless and haunting killing that leaves behind one small witness and a handful of cryptic clues. And who battered and asphyxiated a wealthy nightclub owner in his own garage? A case of home invasion, by the looks of it. But Leith has a less abstract set of suspects to deal with: the victim’s business partner and his strange little clan.

The North Vancouver General Investigations Section is put to the test, with two files to solve, one tragic cold case, and Dion seemingly lost at sea.

Review:

Set in Canada, Undertow by R.M. Greenaway is an intriguing police procedural.  This latest release is the second installment in the B.C. Blues series and while it can be read as a standalone, I strongly recommend reading the series in order to fully understand the characters’ backstories.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constables Cal Dion and Dave Leith have recently been transferred to North Vancouver and are once again working together.  Leith is struggling with living apart from his wife and daughter and he is also trying to assimilate to his transition to a life in a big city. Dion is still making progress with his recovery from a traumatic brain injury but he is frustrated by  his memory lapses and lack of focus. He is also depressed as he tries to settle back into his old life but does not fit comfortably in the world he once inhabited.

Leith and Dion are both trying to solve the heartbreaking murders of the Liu family when they are called to the scene of the puzzling murder of wealthy businessman Oscar Roth. The investigations into the murders are not really turning up any leads when Dion makes a sudden decision that leads to some very enlightening information.

Dave is much older than Cal and he is a competent constable who relies on old fashioned detective work during the investigation.  Despite Cal’s cognitive problems, he is quite intuitive but these flashes of brilliance sometime slip away before he can fully comprehend what he has just discovered.  The two men do not seem to really like each other but they do set aside their differences during the investigations.

Cal has plenty of tricks to make it appear that he is fit for duty.  But maintaining the facade that he is back to normal is exhausting and he doubts his competence.  His inability to fit back into his old life leads him to make a somewhat impetuous decision about his career.  He then becomes unexpectedly involved with some of the key witnesses in the investigations but can he really turn off the instincts that have become second nature to him over the years? When he unexpectedly stumbles onto a witness that could help solve the Liu murders, he is quick to call Dave but has Cal inadvertently tainted the investigation?

Despite the sometimes confusing storyline involving Cal Dion’s past, Undertow is a riveting murder mystery.  The investigations are fairly straight forward even though it takes a while for the pieces to begin to fall into place.  Dion and Leith are both likable protagonists and in spite of  their very different styles when it comes to detective work, they are a formidable investigative team. R.M. Greenaway has an enjoyable writing style but the slow parceling of information about Dion’s past is sometimes a little frustrating. This newest addition to the B.C. Blues series comes to a very clever conclusion that wraps up all of the loose ends with the current investigations.  However, readers will have wait for further installments to (hopefully) learn more about Cal Dion and his tangled past. 

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Filed under BC Blues Crimes Series, Contest, Dundurn, Mystery, Rated B, Review, RM Greenaway, Undertow