The End of the Line

Durrant Wallace #1

by Stephen Legault

It’s the winter of 1884, and five hundred Canadian Pacific Rail workers have halted their push through the Rockies at Holt City, an isolated shantytown in the shadow of the Continental Divide. The men are tired and cold, and patience is as scarce as the rationed food. Then, Deek Penner, a CPR section boss, is brutally murdered at the end of the track. His body is found frozen on the banks of the Bow River.

Durrant Wallace, a veteran of the celebrated March West by the North West Mounted Police a decade earlier, is returned to active duty to investigate the murder. Durrant lost his leg in a gun battle with whiskey traders three years previous, and he struggles with being a Mounted Police officer who cannot ride. When Durrant arrives, Holt City is ripe with possible suspects: illegal whiskey smugglers, spies for rival railways, explosives dealers and a mysterious Member of Parliament who insists on getting his meddling fingers into everybody else’s business. Durrant must use his cunning and determination to discover to identify the killer before he finds his next victim and derails the great Canadian national dream in the process.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Canada

314 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 3, 2011

About the author

Stephen Legault is the author of fourteen books, including most recently Where Rivers Meet: Photographs and Stories from the Bow Valley and Kananaskis and Earth and Sky: Photographs and Stories from Montana and Alberta.

He is a full-time conservation activist, writer, photographer, public speaker, and strategy consultant who lives in Canmore, Alberta with his wife Jenn, and two sons, Rio and Silas. He has been writing since 1988, and for nearly as long has been leading national and international conservation programs and organizations.

Stephen recently served as the program director (Crown, Alberta, NWT) of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y). His writing includes nine murder mystery novels, books of essays on Buddhism and Taoism and a collection of works by 25 authors on the Bow Valley of Alberta.

Follow Stephen on Facebook, or visit www.stephenlegault.com.

Reviews

[Lou Allin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s winter 1883 and work on the last stretch of Canada’s railway to the Pacific has frozen to a halt in the formidable Rockies. Several hundred men are hunkered into a shantytown while tempers flare over cards, encouraged by powerful elixirs from illegal stills. One night a section boss is found bludgeoned to death. In this raw part of the new frontier, the semblance of law must be maintained. High-profile politicians and businessmen have a stake in this costly but glorious national effort to unite the Canadian wilderness from sea to sea.
Durrant Wallace, a veteran North West Mounted Police officer, has been trying to return to active duty after losing a leg three years ago. So far his superiors in Fort Calgary have found him quick to anger and quicker with a gun. With a family tragedy tormenting him, this could be his last chance at self-respect. He’s popped onto a train with little more than a change of clothes and sent to the end of the line where everybody’s a suspect in this grisly slaying. How will he make his way through the heavy snow and bitter cold which await?
With only a mute young boy Charlie by his side as an aide to offset his mobility problems, Wallace is given a tiny cabin for his headquarters. He soon discovers that many factions are protecting their interests and making as much money out of the rail business as possible. Wallace has few forensic aids to help him in Queen Victoria’s time, only his common sense, pluck, a talent for clever interviewing and even better bluff. If he can’t handle these tough and lawless men, he’ll have to creep back east as a failure.
Little by little, the inner forces which have given this man a second chance at dignity are revealed. His handicap figures from the beginning scenes to the thrilling conclusion: “He could feel the nub of skin and bone where the prosthetic’s suction socket affixed to his ruined leg bled openly. By the time the track began to level out and the forest opened to reveal a star-filled sky, he could feel the blood staining his trousers and growing tacky in the heel of his boot.” With scientific precision and a touch of humanity, Legault describes Wallace’s prosthesis. The advances in artificial limbs made out of necessity during the American Civil War have arrived just in time for this active and valuable man. But does he dare get back on a horse again? With damage to his arm as well, he has learned to shoot all over again. Those who regard him as a helpless cripple will do so at their own peril.
Legault, who has two environmentally-themed novels set in the present in the west, stretches his writer’s legs with this fascinating historical maiden effort. His extensive research, as documented in the back of the book, involves firearms, the development of the nitro and dynamite industry, the contentious politics of a young country, and the fascinating details of everyday living. It’s clear that the author spent considerable time reading about life in these rough camps, from the loud and sweaty dining hall with the inedible pie (but at least there WAS pie) to the fragile telegraph line that links the outpost to the outside world. And no troops are going to ride to the rescue with twenty-five feet of snow and a temperature of -35C.
Wallace makes a challenging hero. He’s not Mr. Nice Guy. This is a dangerous business which calls for gutsy methods and little compromise. But neither does he feel sorry for himself. To the final chapter, there is no question of whether the last spike will be hammered. But how many more deaths will add to the toll taken by this massive effort? Wallace is a metaphor for the fledgling country herself. Neither one can give up cherished dreams. It looks like the sturdy sergeant will have many fine adventures ahead in this compelling series.

[John Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

great murder mystery about building the railroad at Kicking Horse Pass in the 19th century,

[John Geary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent historical mystery novel written by Stephen Legault. This book has a bit of everything: it’s got mystery, history, a well plotted complex who-done-it with twists and turns - and a really intriguing main protagonist in the character of Durrant Wallace, a NWMP Officer who, in the course of duty, loses part of his right leg and his right hand but still soldiers on. This particular novel is set around historical events that saw the CPR build a rail line across Canada, with much of it set in the Kickinghorse Pass area. Interestingly enough, many of the locations mentioned in the novel are places we have been on our current September getaway: the Cypress Hills, Fort Walsh, (Fort) Calgary ... and the epilogue is set at Craigellachie, BC - the place the last spike was driven, a place we stopped for a short visit on our road trip, something I didn’t know would be in the book I was reading. The book also inspired me to learn more about some of the details of the seminal event in Canadian history.
I can hardly wait until I read the next novel in this series.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Canadian winter of 1884 sees an angry and embittered Sergeant Durrant Wallace of the RCMP, a leg amputated from a shooting 3 years before, sent to the end of the line where the Canadian Pacific Railway prepares to tackle the Rockies and a foreman has been murdered. Moonshine, personal enmities and political machinations provide possible motives, and, despite a few presaging of fates and a mishit with the secret of his young assistant, the setting, the suspects and the weather combine for an engaging read

[Allyson Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn’t my usual type of book but our book club was reading it! I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. There wasn’t a time where I felt like I knew who the murderer was which was nice, it kept me guessing and trying to solve it along with them. Lots of historical information I didn’t know either, such as how lake Louise became the location it is today.

[Radim Paule · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably biased as I live in the area. Who wouldn't love a good crime story from Lake Louise and surrounding areas.

[Bryngel · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a very slow-paced story, somewhat interesting mystery, much due to the interesting setting.

[Isabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tad too slow paced for my taste when it comes to mystery, but was worth the ride if only for the story being set in the Albertan Rockies and for the historical facts.

[RyooT · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book in a new series featuring Sergeant Durrant Wallace of the North West Mounted Police. It's 1884 and Durrant is a broken man-emotionally and physically. He lost his left leg after being shot and left for dead and when he's finally found the next day with his gun still clutched in his right hand, the hand is damaged so badly from frostbite, it is nearly useless. Durrant has become a loner and overly aggressive and is on 'light duty', doing menial jobs he despises. All his attempts to be given a chance to prove he 'still has what it takes' have failed.
His chance comes when a murder takes place in the construction winter camp at the end of the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline. Durrant is sent (because they don't have anyone else to spare) with Charlie, a mute, 16 year old stable hand as his assistant.
The section boss who was killed was well liked, but when Durrant arrives and starts to investigate, he finds more suspects and motives than expected. As the story evolves, Durrant slowly finds himself again, aided by the boy who starts to put cracks in the armor Durrant has constructed around his heart. His disability is always front and center as he struggles in the harsh climate, ice, snow, and wind; conditions in which even men with two legs and two working hands are not comfortable.
This story is gritty, but gripping, with a central character that becomes ever more likable as he grows in stature and regains his sense of self-worth. It's tense and thrilling, almost fast-paced while at the same time one is constantly reminded how slow the going is for Durrant.
Apart from Charlie, two other characters are assisting the Sergeant. Saul Armatage, the doctor who had amputated his leg three years earlier and Garnet Moberly, a British gentleman soldier and adventurer; and Legault establishes them as a team to work together on future cases. The next one, The Third Riel Conspiracy, is already in the works and scheduled for release in 2013. I am definitely looking forward to finding out what will happen to Durrant and his companions.

[Dolores · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an awesome read! This one has all the genres I'm into: written by a Canadian, historical, and a mystery. From the very first page, I was hooked. Stephen Legault has a fabulous way of writing and making you feel as if you are there, seeing the story unfold, not just reading. Durrant Wallace, excuse me, Sergeant, Durrant is a North West Mounted Police Officer in Fort Calgary when he receives a telegraph (we're going back to the late 1800s here) from his superior regarding a murder in Holt City (now Lake Louise) where the CPR is being built. Durrant accepts the help of a young man to aid him on his investigation in the winter at the CPR camp. Very fun read. Loved it!

[Leszek Godlewski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is just as roughly hewn as the cabins of Holt City. The occasional strokes of brilliance in description and period accuracy don't quite redeem the paper-thin, one-dimensional characters. They form a gallery of familiar tropes and circus-like eccentrics, ranging from the generic hero-numbing-his-loss-by-relentless-dedication protagonist, through thoughtless goons doing evil just because they can, to the borderline fantastical middle-aged Indiana Jones. A mildly interesting plot together with my fetish for the Canadian Rockies have pulled me through, but I imagine many a reader will be derailed before the end of the line.

[Jessica Liew · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a mystery, this is a very slow-paced book though the historical aspects are generally quite accurate.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting, particularly as we were traveling in Canadian Rockies, and west where the book takes place. The story of the building of the railroad, those who worked for it, the historical and social aspects (and the incredible feat of engineering) of more interest than the murder and it's solution. Fast paced, interesting characters, good descriptions of physical surroundings and the hazards of the work.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Canadain western murder mystery set in Canada's Wild West in the exact place I just spent four days.
Great descriptions of the area in winter ( we had snow in September in Banff) and the tangle of potitics and moonshine in the creation of the trans canadian railroad in 1884. It dovetails with my recent watching of the Toronto murder mystery series, Murdoch Mysteries, and I have gotten a great historical perspective of the times and places in Canada.

[Liz Leroux · Rating 3 out of 5]

The history in this book is interesting as it takes place during the construction of the final leg of the CPR railway. A good little mystery but a bit simplistic in style.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Wallace of the NWMP, now the RCMP, investigates the murder of a Canadian Pacific Railway section boss in 1885.

[Tara Langlois · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting historical book, writing a bit stilted, but still a decent read.