Lament for Bonnie: A Collins-Burke Mystery: 9 - Tapa dura

"The story is both an engaging mystery and an exploration of the unique and enduring culture built by Scottish settlers in Cape Breton . . . This story is irresistible." -- Publishers Weekly

"Once again, Anne Emery proves she's one of the best of Canada's new group of crime authors. Lament For Bonnie is a fine mystery with terrific characters and a solid plot, but it's also an exploration of a unique Canadian culture: the Celtic musicians of Cape Breton whose ballads and dances are part of our shared heritage . . . This is an irresistible read from start to finish." -- Globe and Mail

"This novel is the work of a skilled writer who knows her craft . . . a very satisfying addition to Anne Emery's continuing series of mystery novels." -- The Chronicle Herald

"You know you are in the thick of a good mystery novel when you start becoming suspicious of characters you consider shady in the parking lot of your very own town. Anne Emery's latest, Lament for Bonnie, will leave readers spooked and wary of their surroundings." -- Atlantic Books Today

"The author's ability to say more with less invites readers along for the dark ride, and the island's Celtic culture serves as a stage to both the story's soaring narrative arc and a quirky cast of characters, providing a glimpse into the Atlantic Canadian communities settled by Scots over two hundred years ago." -- Celtic Life

"Lament for Bonnie is a good mystery in this entertaining series set in eastern Canada." -- Glenn Perrett

"The novel is ingeniously plotted." -- Reviewing the Evidence

"You know you are in the thick of a good mystery novel when you start becoming suspicious of characters you consider shady in the parking lot of your very own town. Anne Emery's latest, Lament for Bonnie, will leave readers spooked and wary of their surroundings." -- Atlantic Books Today

The ninth mystery in a series that gets better with every book” (Globe and Mail)

Twelve-year-old Bonnie MacDonald the beloved stepdancing, fiddling youngest member of Cape Breton’s famed Clan Donnie band vanishes after a family party. There was no stranger spotted lurking around, but no one thinks for one minute that Bonnie ran away. Maura MacNeil, cousin to Clan Donnie, offers her husband’s legal services to the family as the police search for the missing girl. But fame attracts some strange characters and Clan Donnie has groupies. So, it turns out, does lawyer and bluesman Monty Collins.

Monty and Maura’s daughter, Normie, is much closer to the action as she gets to know her cousins, learns things she wishes she never had, and has nightmares visions? that bring her no closer to finding Bonnie. Her spooky great-grandmother makes no secret of the fact that she senses the presence of evil in their village the kind of evil RCMP Sergeant Pierre Maguire left Montreal to escape. But he finds that vein of darkness running beneath the beauty and vibrant culture of Cape Breton.