The Nesting Dolls (Joanne Kilbourn Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Gail Bowen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 17, 2010 | Series: Joanne Kilbourn Mysteries

Just hours before her body is found in a car in a parking lot, a young woman hands her baby to a perfect stranger and disappears. The stranger is the daughter of Delia Wainberg, a lawyer in the same firm as Joanne Kilbourn's husband. One close look at the child suggests that there might be a family relationship, and soon the truth about the child Delia gave up for adoption years ago comes out. The boy must be Delia's grandson. Then his mother is found dead, sexually assaulted and murdered. Not only is there a killer on the loose, but the dead woman's partner is demanding custody of the child.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Canadian author Bowen's enjoyable if flawed 12th Joanne Kilbourn mystery (after 2008's The Brutal Heart) focuses largely on the rich family life of the Regina, Saskatchewan, academic, who gets involved in a convoluted custody case and murder. At a pre-Christmas concert, a troubled young woman hands a baby boy to teenage Isobel Wainberg with a message for Isobel's mother, Delia, who's a friend and law partner of Joanne's husband, Zach Shreve. The young woman turns out to be Abby Michaels, who says she's Delia's daughter. When Abby is discovered raped and strangled in a car in a snowy parking lot soon after her stunning revelation, her death adds to the confusion and consternation over the fate of her six-month-old son, Jacob. Questions of parentage and custody cloud the murder investigation, while Zack's health (he's a paraplegic) presents still more difficulties. Bowen's resolution may well disappoint, but her realistic depictions of Joanne's extended caring family should please fans.
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Review

"Stellar. . . . One of Bowen’s best."
— Margaret Cannon, in The Globe and Mail

"Surprises, and truths, lie beneath the surface. It is ever thus with Gail Bowen and her heroine, Joanne Kilbourn – making her 12th appearance in print and still smart and sexy."
— Saskatoon StarPhoenix

"As always, Bowen’s fine eye for detail makes for a rich and entertaining read. . . . The Nesting Dolls is a fine book." 
— Winnipeg Free Press

"One of [Bowen’s] best . . . The underlying human drama of love and good intentions gone very, very bad make the novel a compelling read." 
— Vancouver Sun

"Enjoyable. . . .[The] realistic depictions of Joanne’s extended caring family should please fans." 
— Publishers Weekly


Praise for The Brutal Heart:
"Definitely one of her best Joanne Kilbourn novels."
— Margaret Cannon, Globe and Mail

"The politics are particularly gripping." 
— Edmonton Journal

"The book's sense of place is spot-on. As is the character development. " 
— National Post

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: McClelland & Stewart (August 17, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0771012756
• ISBN-13: 978-0771012754
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,374,629 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Joanne Kilbourn -- the Jessica Fletcher of Saskatchewan?, September 12, 2010

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takingadayoff "takingadayoff" (Las Vegas, Nevada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Nesting Dolls (Joanne Kilbourn Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Murders seem to find Joanne Kilbourn regardless of what career she's pursuing at the moment. An unlikely detective, she'd rather spend time with her grandchildren or make porridge, but duty calls.

I have mixed feelings about Gale Bowen's latest book, The Nesting Dolls. I've become pickier over the years about the fiction I read and if I am not hooked by page twenty or so, I don't see much reason to continue the book. Since we discovered Gale Bowen's books on a trip to Vancouver years ago, we have hunted down and read every one of her mysteries. The Nesting Dolls kept me reading eagerly to the very end.

On the other hand, I have become less picky about endings. If questions were left unanswered or the main plot points weren't resolved, then I felt my time had been wasted and I would be annoyed with the author. These days though, if a novel keeps me reading to the end, I am willing to overlook a few loose ends.

The appeal of the Bowen books is the political nature of the mysteries, and the Canadian-ness of the stories. The books are aimed at a Canadian audience, so there are no explanations of the Canadian legal system or education system. It's assumed that you are familiar with them. It's a fun way for someone in the US to learn a little about Canada. It's not just big topics like law and politics that are different north of the border - even little things like Timbits and toques and poutine are mysterious at first.

The books have become less political over the years, but they still work somehow. The Nesting Dolls is about a child given up for adoption twenty-seven years ago and what happens when she discovers who her biological parents are. There's a death, apparently a murder, and a ton of questions that can only be answered with some real detective work. Or luck. It seems that Joanne's investigative talent is often just being in the right place at the right time.

I thought I had figured out what the big secret was about halfway through the book, and since I never guess correctly in murder mysteries, I was quite astounded to find I was right. That would be okay - figuring out the end of a murder mystery is not necessarily a spoiler. But there were a couple of unanswered questions at the end and in a strange move, Bowen seemed to try to undo the big twist.

Joanne Kilbourn fans will enjoy catching up with the family and riding shotgun with Joanne on another mystery. New readers might be better off starting the series with an earlier novel, such as Verdict in Blood or A Killing Spring.