The Pity of the Winds

by Robin Timmerman

Meet young police officer Pete Jakes and his Turkish-born wife, Ali. Pete's last posting was as a Canadian soldier in Afghanistan. After a serious brush with a roadside explosive, he decided to switch careers and look for peace in rural Ontario. Unfortunately, the Jakes chose to come to Middle Island, population 4,500, where a proposed wind energy project has set the community into a tailspin. For millennia, Hawks Nest Point, a wind-swept rocky spear stabbing out into the lake, was literally left to the birds. Now an energy-hungry world has caught up with it. People want to harvest the wind. The Jakes find themselves setting up house amidst a weird potpourri of bird lovers, money-hungry real estate operators, and mysterious vandals in the night. Then tragedy strikes when a worker falls to his death from the demonstration turbine tower. Pete doubts the official "accident" verdict, but he must find proof for his suspicions. As Pete delves further into the motives and actions of the local islanders, tempers erupt and a murderer lurks under the wailing winds at Hawks Nest Point.

252 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2011

Reviews

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found that I really enjoyed this story line and the characters in this book. However, I kept being frustrated by awkward sentences, typos and other glitches that could have been eliminated by another thorough edit. I did enjoy the plot and the setting well enough that I will pick up the other two written by Timmerman that continue the small town police work of Peter and relationships with his neighbours and young wife Ali.