The Endless Knot: A Joanne Kilbourn Mystery

by Gail Bowen

Paper Book, 2006

Status

Available

Call number

813

Publication

Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, c2006.

Description

The tenth novel in the highly acclaimed Joanne Kilbourn series features the murderous fallout of a tell-all book on the troubled adult children of Canadian celebrities. When journalist Kathryn Morrissey's sensational book on the lives of thirteen adult children of prominent Canadians is published, one of the parents, Sam Parker, is furious enough to take a pot shot at the author, grazing her shoulder. Charges are laid, and Joanne's new beau, Zack Shreve, is hired by Parker as his defence counsel. At the trial, which Joanne is covering for NationTV, Shreve focuses the jury's attention not on who shot whom, but on why -- on the ethics governing the relationship between a journalist and her subject. Morrissey's betrayal of her subjects opens up questions about an even more serious betrayal -- the betrayal of children by their parents. While everyone condemns Parker for taking a gun to Morrissey, no one can fault his defence of his only child, Glen, a transsexual. The mutual love and commitment between this father and child stands in stark contrast to the alienation between Howard Dowhaniuk, Saskatchewan's former premier, and his son, Charlie. On the day of the verdict, Morrissey is brutally murdered, and Joanne's investigation quickly has her trying to unravel the endless knot of the relationship between parent and child. A deeply affecting novel of trust and betrayal, The Endless Knot is a superb mystery by a virtuoso of the genre.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member tripleblessings
A tense and gripping story, part murder mystery, part courtroom drama, part love story, part parenting nightmare... Gail Bowen weaves many threads into this 10th Joanne Kilbourn mystery. Author Kathryn Morrissey has interviewed the children of some well-known Canadian politicians, young adults with
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a variety of personal problems and broken relationships with their parents. Her book leaves those people feeling betrayed and furiously angry. When Morrissey is found murdered, an old political friend of Joanne Kilbourn's is charged, and he hires Joanne's lover Zack Shreve as his defence lawyer. Joanne attends the trial in Regina, Saskatchewan, an exciting courtroom drama, and a further violent death results after the verdict is read. Joanne must discover the truth, to protect her friends and her own family. She gets to know a number of unhappy people, and discovers problems between parents and children, and between husbands and wives. Joanne's own relationships are shifting, with her daughter Mieka, with her adopted daughter Taylor, and with Zack Shreve, the lawyer who is starting to talk about marriage, although they've only been dating for three months.
This mystery series concentrates more on emotional and moral dilemmas rather than traditional clues and detective work. I find the characters compelling and believable, and the setting very realistic, so that I am drawn into the increasingly tense situations and am anxious to read to the end, to make sure that everyone will be okay. This is a good mystery and an interesting novel, and I would recommend the whole series.
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LibraryThing member gypsysmom
I must have missed reading the book before this one in this series. In the last one I read Joanne was still involved with Alex Kequahtooway, an inspector with the RCMP. But in this one Alex is dead and Joanne is involved with Zack Shreve, a ruthless criminal lawyer who is defending a man accused of
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attempted murder. I think I'll have to go back and read The Last Good Day to find out what happened.

The relationship with Shreve is going well and Joanne is on her sabbatical year so everything should be rosy. Then Joanne is asked to cover the trial in which Shreve is acting for the defendant and suddenly she gets a different picture of the man she loves. Nevertheless she continues on with her life, entwining it more and more with Zack's, while keeping tabs on her children. Only the youngest, Taylor, is actually living with her and she's a good kid. There is this new boy, Ethan, an artist like Taylor, who has been hanging around quite a bit. Joanne trusts Taylor so she is not worried but she does wonder why Ethan seems to be hanging around the courthouse.

What starts as a courtroom story ends with a vicious murder and Joanne and her daughter are involved with everything. By the end Joanne is moving into a new home and a new marriage but she'll probably end up with more murders to solve.

This was a quick read but I did guess who did it before it was revealed.
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Language

Original publication date

2006

Physical description

290 p.; 24 cm

ISBN

0771016549 / 9780771016547
Page: 0.2738 seconds