A Stab at Life

In this pleasing mystery from Canadian author King (The Book Review of Death), ER nurse Annie Linton and other medical personnel at Montreal’s Gursky Memorial Hospital treat Constable Gilles Bellechasse for a gunshot wound he received during a confrontation with drug dealers in Kennedy Park. A romantic relationship develops between Annie and Gilles, who’s released after a week. Mikel Esperanza, a drug dealer and talented artist, is later fatally stabbed in the park. Gilles identifies a mysterious woman in Mikel’s drawings as Claire, the wife of Gursky’s chief of medicine. Further police work reveals that Claire had an affair with Mikel. Other stabbings, not all of them fatal, follow. Annie provides a vital clue that leads to the killer’s unmasking. Meanwhile, a neighborhood group seeks to kick out the drug dealers and return the park to the community. Is it a vigilante effort or is something more personal involved? Brief passages of French lend local color. The light tone and minimal focus on human suffering make this perfect for those who prefer their police procedurals on the cozy side. (Apr.)