Old Wounds - Softcover

Kelly, Nora

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1890208256 ISBN 13: 9781890208257

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, 1999

Synopsis

Historian Gillian Adams drops both her academic career in Vancouver and her plans to spend her sabbatical in London with policeman lover Edward in order to return to her childhood home up the Hudson and care for her aging mother whose heart is giving out. Gillian keeps her hand--and brain-- in with a light guest-lecturer load at sleepy rural Stanton College, a campus that seems serene but is soon unsettled by the murder of a student on a lonely stretch of road. It's a shocking act breaking the rural peace of the area. No less unnerving are the revelations that follow about the girl's double life and its implications for those known to Gillian since childhood. Facing both her past and her future as her mother's life moves towards its close, Gillian copes with the opening--and healing--of old wounds.Canadian Kelly is the winner of the 1999 Arthur Ellis Best Novel Award for Old Wounds. Poisoned Pen Press will republish her three previous intelligent, complex crime novels with Gillian Adams: In the Shadow of King's ($14.95), set at Cambridge; Bad Chemistry (2000), set also at Cambridge; My Sister's Keeper (2000), moving to Vancouver's University of the Pacific.

About this title

Review

""Cozy mysteries are among the most difficult to write. To solve the mysteries the sleuth must obtain clues, which, in the case of an amateur sleuth, often depend on coincidences. To make these coincidences seem logical can be a difficult task.Nora Kelly has cracked the code in Old Wounds. She neatly avoids all the usual pitfalls that often occur in a typical cozy. What, at first, appears to be propitious coincidences eventually have a logical explanation.Gillian Adams has come home to a small town in New York on the Hudson River. She has taken a leave of absence from her job in the history department of the University of the Pacific after having received word that her aging mother has suffered a small stroke. Realizing she could not spend all her time baby-sitting her mother or it would drive them both crazy, she has accepted a part-time position at nearby Stanton College.A few weeks after classes have resumed, one of the students in Gillian's class, Nicole Bishop, is found dead near Dee's Pond. At first, it is assumed Nicole was shot in a hunting accident, but an examination of her body reveals that she has been stabbed.Gillian decides to help. Having grown up in the area, she knows the terrain well, in addition to being acquainted with many of the long time residents. Her mother is able to help her with details of relationships that weren't relevant to her as a child growing up. Gillian's love interest, an English cop, puts in a short appearance on his way to a conference in Washington, and is able to provide a knowledgeable outsider's opinion to the situation.The most impressive aspect of Old Wounds is the careful plotting and attention to detail. Nora Kellyknows her craft well. At several points during my reading I thought, ""Yes, but why does this character just happen to be here or choose to reveal this choice tidbit of information just now?"" My skepticism was always answered with a logical explanation for the situation within the next few pages. A refreshing change from the obvious answer that in order for the plot to work, these coincidences had to occur!The characters are beautifully developed with complex personalities. Gillian, my favorite, is smart and insightful. Her view on murder investigation is particularly interesting. She compares it to archeology, where the victim's past is excavated and carefully examined, robbing them of privacy. The added dimension of really getting to know the characters makes Old Wounds more than just a good mystery story.Many times, the title of a book has little significance to the story as a whole. This is definitely not the case in Old Wounds. There is a close connection between the title and the outcome of the book and the use of the plural is particularly important.This is the first work of Nora Kelly's that I have read, but I assume from references to past happenings in Gillian's life that Old Wounds is part of a continuing series starring Gillian and her English cop, Edward. The reader's understanding of Gillian and Edward is not hampered by not having read the previous entries in the series. The author cleverly sets the stage for their next adventure in the final pages of this one. Readers new to the series could easily find themselves looking forward to the next, if they aren't already out visiting bookstores looking for the earlier books.--Andy Plonka, The Mystery Reader,10/29/99""

From the Back Cover

Returning to her childhood home on a year's sabbatical in order to care for her aged mother, historian Gillian Adams expects to see little in the way of excitement. The sleepy rural campus of Stanton College, though situated within easy reach of New York, has somehow escaped the violence which plagues the big city... until the body of a young female student is discovered on a lonely stretch of country road.

Almost as shocking as the murder itself are the revelations which follow, forcing the police to conclude that the dead girl had been leading a bizarre double life.

With the murder hunt gaining momentum the town finds itself in the grip of a maelstrom, and more than one of Gillian's childhood friends – and enemies – is sucked into the investigation. Can it be that one of them is the killer?

Like Nora Kelly's previous Gillian Adams novels, 'bad Chemistry' and 'In the Shadow of Kings', this intelligent mystery transcends the genre with its moving portrayal of complex characters embroiled in a chilling intrigue.

'Old Wounds' is Nora Kelly's fourth crime novel featuring historian Gillian Adams. The previous books in the series are: 'In the shadow of King's, My Sister's Keeper' and 'Bad Chemistry', all published by HarperCollins.

'PRAISE FOR NORA KELLY

BAD CHEMISTRY
'

'Kelly is as stunning on the evocative geography of workplaces as she is at dry, educated repartee. A chilling intrigue, which shrewdly examines professional jealousies and warped psychologies'
JOHN COLEMAN, 'Sunday Times'

'
IN THE SHADOW OF KING'S
'

'Good strong characters and a well-depicted Cambridge background'
TIM BINYON, 'Times Literary Supplement'

'Suspicions are neatly divided and there's a plausible line in academic rascality'
GUARDIAN

'
MY SISTER'S KEEPER
'

'Intelligently conceived academic mystery... timely and literate'
NEW YORK TIMES

About this edition

• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 1890208256
• ISBN 13: 9781890208257
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 298