Customer Reviews

November Veil (RCMP Series #2)

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A prominent televangelist is murdered, a local schoolteacher is stalked by a prankster with sick puppets, a nervous stranger arrives in town, and Holy Water is stolen from St. Anne's church. Suddenly the quiet Canadian town of Chester has more crime than it bargained for. Roger Shepperd, Christian and Royal Canadian Mounty, has more crime than he can deal with at once. As he works night and day on the cases and neglects his family, he begins to question his earlier decision to take a promotion and move the family to a new town. What is God's plan for Roger? Also, how can he solve the perplexing murder that threatens to give all of Christianity a bad name? And how, if at all, are these baffling mysteries related? Once again, Hall pens a complicated plot full of surprises that will keep you reading! This is a great story for all mystery fans, secular and Christian alike.

The upside: It's nice to see Mounties portrayed in fiction as something other than romantic leads in the backwoods of Canada, or as overly quaint lawmen who might be a bit clueless. If only because it's an amazing Force and covers so much more ground than most people outside of Canada realize. The story itself was a quick read, the writing was competent, the various ties between crimes improbable, but interesting.

The downside: Pretty much every non-Christian being portrayed as a slob, a cynic or half competent. Heavy handed on the message. Unrealistic in the dialogue between cops; only in a Pollyanna world do cops pretend to be shepherds or angels. I know this is marketed as Christian fiction, but after the fourth or fifth time it's pointed out in the text, it becomes painful. And this is speaking from a Christian perspective -- the author seemed to feel the need to not only show, but repeatedly TELL, and it got old quickly. I think the story would have better been served by more realistic dialogue, more genuine looks into police work, and showing the protagonist more as a cop than a preacher. The resolution was predictable, and perhaps a little cliche.

Overall, it's a good book to read if you're looking for something light and fluffy, and are willing to overlook the heavy handedness or unreality. If you're looking for a hard-hitting crime drama, or something more subtle, you won't find it.