In 1858, a young woman on her honeymoon is abducted and taken across the border from Canada and sold into slavery. Thirty-eight years later, the owner of one of Toronto's livery stables is found dead. Then a second man is murdered, his body strangely tied as if he were a rebellious slave. Detective Murdoch has to find out whether Toronto's small "coloured" community has a vicious killer in its midst - an investigation that puts his own life in danger. With her usual masterful storytelling and sharp dialogue, Jennings shows how a great harm committed in the past can fatally affect the present.
Praise for Maureen Jennings and A Journeyman to Grief
"Jennings's best to date. . . . The excellent plot takes us into the unknown (to most readers, I think) history of the small black community in 19th-century Toronto. How they came there, how they lived, is as engrossing as the mystery . . . of the abducted bride." - Margaret Cannon, Globe and Mail
"Jennings is a master at drawing out her characters." - Victoria Times-Colonist
"A surprisingly tender tale of slavery, addiction, violence and revenge served ice-cold." - Kirkus Reviews
"Within a few pages . . . we are firmly and happily ensconced in the late-19th-century world Jennings has created. . . . First-time readers can enjoy this as a standalone novel, and we will have the additional pleasure of knowing there are six more Detective Murdoch novels waiting to be read." - Quill and Quire
