Brenda's Bookshelf

It shouldn’t be, but it is unusual to find a Muslim as the lead character in a book as one of the “good guys” rather than a terrorist. In the Unquiet Dead, Esa Khattak is just such a character. A second generation Canadian Muslim, Khattak, had been appointed to head the CPS or Community Policing Section whose mandate is to oversee and cooperate with senior investigating officers throughout the country on “sensitive” cases.  CPS had been created in response to the bungled investigation of a suspected terrorist whose extraordinary rendition and torture had become front page news and an embarrassment to the federal government when their suspect had been cleared of all links to terrorism. Khattak was uniquely qualified for this role not only because of his ethnic and religious background but because of his experience in law enforcement, first as a Toronto homicide detective and and then later as member of national counter intelligence group, INSET.

Still it is a bit of a surprise when Khattak receives a call from his mentor and friend, Tom Paley asking him to take on the investigation into the death of Christopher Drayton, a rich philanthropist, who had fallen from the Scarborough Bluffs near his home. There was no indication that the death was suspicious, but Paley seems unusually insistent while obviously withholding the reasons for his concern.

Khattak takes his partner, Rachel Getty with him to Drayton’s home. Using a tactic that he has used in the past he gives Getty little or no information, preferring instead for her to use her powers of observation unfiltered. They find some unusual evidence in Drayton’s office; candle wax on the floor in a semi circular pattern but no candles, a pistol lying close by and a file cabinet drawer full of letters with the tops and bottoms torn off, which are all vaguely threatening. One of the letters says:

This is a cat-mouse game. Now it’s your turn to play it.                                       What was it you told me? You survive or you disappear. Somehow you managed both.                                                                                                                                          As you took everything from me, you asked if I was afraid.                                         How could I not be afraid?                                                                                                 Do you hear as we did, the starved wolves howling in the night?                               Do you feel as if you’d never been alive?                                                                       Can you right all the wrongs of the past? Because I tell you that the sky is too high and the ground is too hard.

As the investigation continues, Khattak and Getty uncover evidence that Christopher Drayton was a war criminal and wanted in connection with the massacre of Srebrenica, Bosnia in 1995. Suddenly the letters, and their vaguely threatening and taunting tone take on a whole new level of meaning and Khattak and Getty begin to focus their investigation of who who might have a personal motive for revenge.

Khan is a great story teller, and her deftness, cultural insights, and gripping prose propel this story forward. Although she gives us a lot of information about the Bosnian genocide, the historical facts never overwhelm the story but rather enhance it. Her characters, Khattak and Getty, both have significant backstories which shapes and defines them individually but also helps us understand their mutual respect and loyalty for each other. I look forward to Khan’s next book in this series!

Brenda’s Rating: *****(4 out of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Ken, Sharon, Marian and Keith

Book Study Worthy? Yes

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