Gail Bowen's Joanne Kilbourn books almost never go on sale individually in the US, and they are outrageously priced ($11.99 and up), when not on sale, even for the oldest backlist titles. So, although there are a couple of omnibuses that do go on sale occasionally, I am really surprised to see
The Last Good Day, which is the ninth in the series, drop to $2.99 at Kindle and Kobo US. Bowen's series requires a bit of knowledge of the Canadian political system to appreciate, I think, since Joanne is very politically active. But Bowen does a pretty good job of providing most of what you need to know if you're from the US. I really like this series, which I found way back in DTB days, when I worked for a company with a couple of divisions in Canada that I had to visit sometimes.
Kindle US:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P5NR1A
Kindle US/Smile:
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B004P5NR1A
Kobo US:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-last-good-day-1
Spoiler:
Quote:
The ninth novel of Gail Bowen’s popular series finds Canada’s favourite amateur sleuth, Joanne Kilbourn, on holiday at a cottage borrowed from a lawyer friend, one of a cluster of summer homes owned by lawyers from the same prestigious firm. When one of them kills himself the night after a long talk with Joanne, she is pushed into investigating just what her neighbours are involved with, an investigation that has startling – and fatal – consequences.
Bowen’s depiction of this community of lawyers, each in his or her way now divorced from the ideals of justice and mercy that once motivated them all, is both compassionate and hard-nosed. There is Zack, the charming but controlling paraplegic; Blake and Lily, whose daughter, Gracie, struggles to keep her dignity as her parents’ marriage falls apart; Noah, who would rather practise carpentry than the law, and his wife, Delia, who is consumed by worry about the firm. The mounting stress among these lawyers is palpable as Joanne delves into their lives. And Joanne faces her own personal anxieties too when she discovers that her former lover, Inspector Alex Kequahtooway, is mixed up in what seems to be some very sordid legal business.
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