Book Review: The Taken by Inger Ash Wolfe
The Taken
Inger Ash Wolfe
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-15-101353-1522-1
Hardcover
In the debut novel in this series, The Calling, we learned that DI Hazel Micallef suffered a severe back injury.  In the interim between that time frame and this sequel she has undergone two operations and we find her flat on her back, dependent on pain killers, in the basement apartment of her ex-husband’s house and being tended to by his present wife.  Hazel is regularly visited by her apparent second in command, DC James Wingate, who recently transferred from Toronto to the small town of Port Dundas.
But you can’t keep a good man (or woman) down, and when a couple of tourists believe they have found a body at the bottom of a lake, and the local paper begins a serialization of a story in which such an event is described, Hazel jumps out of bed to take charge of an investigation during which she is led by the nose with clues placed by an unknown person.  The maverick Detective Inspector really has nothing more to go on than her intuition.
This is an extremely complicated plot, not only confusing to the reader but also to Hazel and James.  Nevertheless, they plod on, determined to solve the case, by criminy. Along the way the various characters learn more about the meaning of love, toward others as well as themselves.  Hazel remains the interesting protagonist she appeared to be in the first installment and presumably she’ll be back to entertain us soon once again.
Recommended.
Reviewed by Ted Feit, October 2010.
January 29, 2011
Tags: Canada, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, mystery, police procedural Posted in: Full Reviews
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2 Responses
This was a great read! I read The Calling and enjoyed it so much I started looking for The Taken. I do recommend starting with the Calling to learn about the characters and how they fit in the story.
This is very interesting! Great information and it is also very well written. I will bookmark and comeback soon.
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