To Die in Spring

Rebecca Temple #1

by Sylvia Maultash Warsh

Dr. Rebecca Temple has just returned to practice in an old converted house in the Kensington Market area of Toronto, six months after the death of her artist husband, when she's confronted with the violent murder of a patient she had earlier diagnosed as paranoid. Sylvia Warsh's accomplished first novel explores the decades-old deceptions and plots that go back to World War Two Poland and underlie the murder of Goldie. Even as Rebecca struggles with guilt over the misdiagnosis which may have led to her patient's death, she becomes the killer's next target.

Genres: Mystery

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Sylvia Maultash Warsh was born in Stuttgart, Germany, and immigrated to Canada when she was four years old. Her parents were both born in Krakow (Poland) and survived the Holocaust, though much of the family perished.

Warsh is also interested in archaeology and art, two themes that appear in the fifteen short stories she has written, six of which have been published. About half of the sixty poems she has written have also been published. She has taught creative writing to seniors for the Toronto District School Board since 1989. The learning has been reciprocal since she has benefitted from hearing the stories of their lives. Her husband, a psychiatrist, is her consultant for any medical information she requires for her physician-protagonist, Rebecca Temple.

Warsh is a founding member of the Toronto chapter of Sisters in Crime. She lives in Toronto with her husband and their two children.

Reviews

[user20160505 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved how much Toronto was in this book, as a secondary character.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read. However, I think the author threw in too many details and that kept the story from rolling. I've lived in Toronto and loved travelling through the city but it got a little in the way of the plot: Spadina, Bathurst, 6 lanes of traffic on University. left turn on Beverly, Dundas, College Street, Keele, Yonge, Eglington, Don River Valley ..... unless you are a Toronto-ian, this means little in the context of the plot. It's one thing to describe architecture and time of day and traffic to add to the mood of the action, however even I got annoyed with all the streets and directional descriptions of streets along with the flow of traffic during that time of day. There was also a bit too much going on from Argentian political terror, WWII in Poland, concentration camps, partisans, art theft, immigration, Nazis in hiding ..... all connected to the murder of one terrified paranoid woman and what is it she knew that made it necessary to murder her? I did not buy it. The revenge of Nesha was the most satisfying and I liked the character of Rebecca Temple. I'm not sure I want to give the next book in the series a try however ......

[Ursula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dr. Rebecca Temple, a physician in Toronto, gets an unexpected office visit from a patient she is treating for paranoia and psychoses. Thinking that she has her worst episode, yet, she calms her down, assures her that nobody is trying to kill her, only to find out next day, that she indeed had been killed that night.

An intriguing story that starts in Nazi-occupied Poland, and continues in Argentina during the military regime, finds its conclusion in Toronto.

This is a great debut for the Rebecca Temple series. I only gave it 3 stars, because I like the second on in the series (Find me again) significantly better.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

To Dr. Rebecca Temple, a family practice physician in Toronto, the diagnosis of paranoia in her elderly patient, Goldie Kochinsky, is obvious. After all, Goldie comes to each appointment terrified that someone is watching and waiting to kill her. Nevertheless, Rebecca is fond of Goldie, who has suffered in both Poland and Argentina and concerned enough when she misses an appointment to visit her home to look for her. When she finds Goldie murdered she cannot help but follow the few clues. An intense and yet poignant mystery.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I most liked in this book was the characters. Dr. Temple seems so real and it is easy to feel for her and for Goldie Kochinsky and her sister, too. It is so easy to assume that an ESL speaker with psychological problems is not going to make sense, but you have to listen anyway, because there is usually a logical purpose in the person's speech. There's a lot of rushing around and some surprising casual sex, but the ending is wonderful.

[Cathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give this book 3.5 stars. I really enjoyed it, but would be reluctant recommending it to friends who live outside Toronto due to the detailed street descriptions and directions -- I think it would lessen the overall reading experience for them. Still, I'm looking forward to reading additional books by Ms. Warsh.

[Stephanie Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dr Temple deserved to be murdered. She seemed to me to run amok amongst clearly dangerous people. The setting was great. I could picture it all.