The Trickster's Lullaby

Two boys disappear in the frigid Laurentians, and this time it’s under Amanda Doucette’s watch.

Amanda Doucette’s cross-Canada charity tour is in for a cold snap when she organizes a winter camping trip for inner-city young people in the stunning setting of the Laurentian Mountains. With a view to bridging cultural divides, she brings along a mixture of Canadian-born and immigrant youth.

Tragedy strikes when two young men in the group go missing during a blizzard: Luc, a French/Irish-Canadian, and Ahmed, a refugee from Iraq. Each boy’s parents lay frantic accusations against the other, and fears rise about threats, prejudice, and radicalization. When suspected ties to terrorist material are found on Luc’s computer, the stakes rise. Now in a race against both the elements and police, Amanda and Corporal Chris Tymko discover that other members of the group have secrets of their own.

But Amanda’s efforts to help the rest of the group and Luc’s mother may have put them all in danger from a killer desperate to cover up his tracks.

Barbara Fradkin is a retired psychologist who is fascinated with why people turn bad. She has written numerous short stories and novellas as well as the critically acclaimed Inspector Green novels. Two of these, Fifth Son and Honour Among Men, have won the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel. She is also the author of Fire in the Stars, the first book in the Amanda Doucette Mysteries. She lives in Ottawa.