Blackflies Are Murder: A Belle Palmer Mystery [Paperback]

Lou Allin (Author)

Book Description

Series: A Belle Palmer Mystery | Publication Date: May 1, 2002

In the sequel to Northern Winters Are Murder, it's now high summer in Northern Ontario, where everyone is bear bait, even the bears. Gunshots chase Belle Palmer from her quiet forest paths. Then, on her remote lakeside road, the savage and unexplainable murder of an elderly neighbour puts her on guard against two-footed killers. Does the answer lie in the woods? In the alleys of the Nickel Capital? Or in the black rock moonscape of an ecological disaster area Belle's investigations gradually uncover the sordid details of a sexual abuse scandal in a residential school years before that has left scars on its victim that can never heal. The horrifying truth and its deadly fallout may destroy many more lives before this tragedy reaches its last act.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Middle-aged Canadian realtor Belle Palmer returns to investigate old scandals and new deaths after 2000's Northern Winters Are Murder in Lou Allin's Blackflies Are Murder: A Belle Palmer Mystery. The details of daily life dinners, clothing choices mesh with a meandering exploration of town history and personal troubles, as Belle becomes privy to an old case of sexual abuse at a school for native children, and as her growing attraction for a new neighbor begins to conflict with her sense that he's somehow involved in the crimes.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap

It's high summer in Northern Ontario, where everyone is bear bait, even the bears. Gunshots chase Belle Palmer from her quiet forest paths. Then, on her remote lakeside road, the savage and unexplainable murder of an elderly neighbour puts her on guard against two-footed killers.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Napolean and Co (May 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 092914192X
• ISBN-13: 978-0929141923
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,605,932 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lou Allin is the author of Northern Winters Are Murder, Blackflies Are Murder, Bush Poodles Are Murder, Murder, Eh? and Memories Are Murder. The Belle Palmer series is set in Sudbury, Northern Ontario, the Nickel Capital of the World. Retired from teaching Criminal Justice students in college, Lou lives with Friday the mini-poodle and Shogun and Zia the border collies in Sooke BC on Vancouver Island, overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca where the rain forest meets the sea. Recently, she's begun a new series starring RCMP corporal Holly Martin. And on the Surface Die features the village of Fossil Bay and a banana slug or two. The second in the series will appear in 2010 and is called (I am Quite Sure) She Felt No Pain. Five Star Gale published Lou's hardcover Man Corn Murders. This standalone takes place in the red-rock country of Utah in the Grand Staircase National Monument. Most recently, Lou signed a contract with Orca books in BC to publish her novella That Dog Won't Hunt. The entry in the Raven Reads series is designed for adult readers with literacy challenges. Visit her website www.louallin.com or contact her at [e-mail].

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Lou Allin's mysteries move up another notch!, July 11, 2003

By 

Joan Albarella (Buffalo, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blackflies Are Murder: A Belle Palmer Mystery (Paperback)

In this second Belle Palmer mystery, our favorite Sudbury, Ontario real estate agent gets involved not only with crimes against persons but crimes against nature as well. The action and plot criss-cross through the pristine forest of wild berries, wild flowers, and wild bears to the glacial lakes of her resort-like neighborhood just waking up for summer. Also present is the tic-tac-toe board of events that include the illegal trade in animal parts to meet the burgening demand for Chinese medicine in the large cities and the shameful abuse of Inian children in the outer villages Christian schools of the 1960's. The unfolding of these political and emotional crimes are all the result of the murder of Belle's crusading neighbor. Secrets from the past are brought to light with her discovery of a street person who turns out to be her ploice chum's brother. I love all the diverse characters in the book, but the one who stands out in my mind is the inscrutable Sister Veronica. She is distrustful but heroic, suspicious but wise all rolled into one. And I feel that it is Sister Veronica who delivers the most telling line in the story at the very end. This is another interesting, descriptive, patchwork-clever read by Lou Allin.

5.0 out of 5 stars A book to be savored, rather than rushed through, November 5, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blackflies Are Murder: A Belle Palmer Mystery (Paperback)

Lou Allin originally hails from Toronto; but grew up in Ohio and earned a Ph.D. in English Renaissance Literature before moving back to Sudbury, Ontario to teach at Cambrian College. Blackflies are Murder is her second Belle Palmer mystery

Belle Palmer is a real estate agent living in the north, where it is easy to trip over bears; bait; hunters; and unmerciful Ontario winters. Belle's primary occupations besides her business is looking after her aging father and taking long walks to commune with nature. Belle's love of nature is shared by her friend Anni, a reclusive retiree who suddenly turns up dead in her home. Newcomer Charles Sullivan, buys a property close to Belle's and who turns out to be delightful company and a good neighbor. But things are not what they seem on the surface, and Belle finds herself the disconcerted discoverer of dead bodies, including Charles. Is it murder, or is there another explanation? When Belle is almost run off the road and her new neighbor is almost poisoned, she is convinced that these events are not just accidents:

"Sorry, Charles. No time for niceties. Your line was busy. You haven't tasted that gift yet, have you? He pointed to the sizzling pan, the air rich with butter. 'Why? What's wrong? I was calling the weather line, or as they call it, da wedderline. That dialect tickles my ear.' She flopped into a chair, her breathing returning to normal, noting the chopped mushrooms still on the counter. 'Oh, nothing. Just gastric upset possible leading to convulsions. Probably survivable, health man like you. Jack O'Lanterns aren't as deadly as the infamous amanitas or the corts."

Lou Allin raises the bar on mystery writing. Her almost contemplative style is heavy on character development and local color. Her style is almost scholarly, so that the reader has to pause to fully appreciate the flavor of her metaphors. But it fits with the Canadian "slow down and take a look at what's around you" attitude. No rushing around in screeching cop cars for Ms. Allin, but she gets the point across just the same. Blackflies are Murder is a book to be savored, rather than rushed through. Ms. Allin is a nature connoisseur, with much to teach us.

Shelley Glodowsky
Reviewer