When Delia Chandler is found dead in her home with her throat slit, it is up to 61 year old Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef to find the killer. She is acting head of her small police force, three detectives, in the sleepy town of Port Dundas. Rarely is there a murder to investigate. Usually the excitement consists of speeding tickets, car accidents, drunken driving and between herself and Detective Sergeant Ray Greene, everything gets taken care of.
Always under the assumption that her boss is trying to consolidate local police forces to reduce overhead and manpower, Micallef is reluctant to ask for help. However, when a similar murder arises, help is required and is supplied in the form of James Wingate, a replacement for a retired detective, to the shock of Micallef and her staff.
As Micallef and her detectives dig deeper, they find similar unsolved cases and realize they have a very smart and efficient serial killer on their hands, traveling from one coast of Canada to the other. Does this small force have the resources and knowledge to catch him before he commits another murder?
Wolfe, pseudonym for Canadian author Michael Redhill, has created a group of detectives and ancillary characters that should carry them further than the current three books in the series, if that’s his intention. Micallef is your typical divorced 60 year old, with a shaky relationship with her ex-husband, their children and her mother, with whom she lives. Ray Greene is her trusted second in command and Jim Wingate is the smart newcomer. Of course there’s also the loose cannon in the form of Detective Sergeant Adjutor Sevigny, on loan from Toronto. Rounding out the detective squad is Detective Howard Spere, normally offputting, but actually helpful and key to the investigation.
Micallef’s 80+ year old mother, the former mayor of Port Dundas, is trying to slim her daughter down so she can find another man and feeds her inedible, unsatisfying food, yet she eats what she wants, has weekly poker games and knows how to live. It is an interesting contrast.
The plot of The Calling is interesting and can pose some food for thought. The ending is a little too abrupt but that’s OK because the journey to get there is both funny, sad and mystifying.
Two Heads Together 
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