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The Delicate Storm
Giles Blunt Book Review

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Plot Summary of The Delicate Storm
"

Putnam, June 2003, 24.95, 320 pp.
ISBN 0399148655

Algonquin Bay, Ontario experiences a rare January warm front that awakens the bears that should remain in hibernation. When a dog brings home a piece of an arm, the local police initiate a search for the rest of the body parts. Through diligent investigative work they conclude that the victim is a former CIA agent who worked in Montreal in 1970 during the French Canadian separatist movement that turned violent.

While Detectives John Cardinal and Lise Delorme work the case, a doctor goes missing until her nude body is found in an isolated part of the town. The police link up the two murders because the rare AB type blood was found in the doctor's office and the first victim's car. They believe the perpetrator was injured and needed medical assistance. To learn who is getting away with murder the two detectives travel to Montreal to try to reconstruct the events that happened over three decades ago to see if one of their interviewees will lead them to the killer.

THE DELICATE STORM is a very well written police procedural that takes the reader back in time to the violence of the seventies during the Vietnam protests and the French Canadian separatist movement. The police methodically follow each piece of new evidence and try to connect all the pieces to form the larger picture, but the cases prove difficult and the detectives frequently become frustrated at their lack of progress. It is very entertaining to follow the investigation with is frustrations and triumphs. Giles Blunt is rapidly becoming one of the best writers of psychological suspense.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar

"During an unusual warm spot in Algonquin Bay, Canada, a body is discovered. Detectives Cardinal and Lise Delorme take over the case and are forced to work with Mounties and intelligence agencies. Then another body is found. A young doctor was found naked in the ice, with a staged rape being evident. The only link between the two is a little bit of blood.

Cardinal and Delorme set out to uncovered the identity of the murder, but when they learn about a governmental crisis the first victim was involved in, they are pulled into a secret world of spies and operatives, and discover the identity of a killer and a kidnapper from the 1970's crisis. They realize that same killer is now a rich man from their town. The only question now is how to stop him."

Rachael High, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of The Delicate Storm
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 70%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%




Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story: - present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 90%
Misc. Murder Plotlets - solving long-past murder - Big focus on autopsies
Kind of investigator - police procedural, Foreign
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - grudge
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - police/lawman
Age: - 20's-30's - 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How much violence does he/she use? - none - a little
Ethnicity/Race - White/American - Russian
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male - an organization
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - politician/elected ruler
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - power
The antagonists are: - radical right wingers
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters - Very much smarter than other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
The Americas (not US): Yes
The Americas: - Canada

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment - moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths? - 2
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript - significantly more descript than dialog
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Inside Track by John Francome
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Murder She Wrote: Destruction Murder by Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain
Last To Die by James Grippando


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Giles Blunt Resident Scholar Profiles

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Rachael High  

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