Brenda Chapman (2) (1955–)

Detective Rouleau has transferred from the Ottawa Police Service to a a similar position in Kingston, Ontario in order to support his ill father who teaches at Queens University. Kala Stonechild appears in Kingston and is recruited by Rouleau to help solved two crimes where Della Monroe is raped by her husband on the same day as university student Leah Simpson is murdered. While is seems a stretch, the cases seem to be connected but somehow.how?

When Della kills her husband because he was trying to take their son and another university student is viciously attacked, the detectives feel there are connections even though there does not to appear to be any evidence for it. This is fast paced plot that anyone who knows Kingston would especially appreciate because of all the references to familiar buildings and street names.… (more)

I decided to take a look at this series that is set in Ottawa, Canada. I'm always looking for new Canadian series, and this one appealed to me. Kala Stonechild appealed to me as she is is an indigenous young police officer trying to start a new life and forge a way for herself. We get hints of Kala's backstory throughout, but just little tidbits. I know that the remainder of the series will probably flesh this out, but no answers were really given in this book. But that doesn't make the book any less intriguing. Kala and Rouleau are on the trail of a particularly calculating killer. There are tons of red herrings, and false leads to make things more interesting, but Kayla doesn't appear to be distracted by this. She follows the clues and eventually figures it our during her first Christmas in Ottawa, Canada. There is a lot of promise in this series, and I look forward to following Kala and Rouleau in their next adventure.… (more)

A neighbour introduced me to Chapman when we were talking about local writers. I found a copy of her first novel in the Stonechild and Rouleau series and was immediately taken by the characters and the plot. The novel opens with the sexual assault of two native children who are in foster care in 1995.

After that disturbing opening, we jump 20 years to be introduced to a character named Kala Stonechild who has just been hired by the City of Ottawa Police Service as a detective. Immediately she senses resentment from some of her male colleagues because she is a female and also indigenous. When wealthy and famous Tom Underwood is found murdered in the trunk of his car, Stonechild and her colleagues begin a lengthy murder investigation which is stymied by many suspects and investigators with differing points of view. The head of the team, Sergeant Rouleau, is suffering from some personal issues as are some of the other men in the unit. It is a fast moving narrative.

As I live in Ottawa where this story takes place, it was fascinating to follow Kala as she described driving along streets and through neighbourhoods I know well. It reminded me of Robert Crais' books set in Los Angeles where he describes the streets and neighbourhoods he travels through on his way to some suspect's home in such detail that you are able to follow him on Google Maps.… (more)