A Gift Before Dying

This stunning debut from criminal lawyer Kempt finds Sgt. Elderick Cole exiled to the remote Arctic hamlet of Cape Dorset after making critical mistakes in a sensitive murder case on the Canadian mainland. Estranged from his ex-wife and daughter, Cole waits for the outcome of a civil lawsuit that will decide his fate back home. Having grown up in Newfoundland, the policeman is no stranger to harsh conditions, but even he is ill-prepared for the severe cold and relentless darkness of an Arctic winter. As the novel opens, Cole discovers the body of a young Inuit girl named Pitseolala he’d been trying to shield from the harsh social conditions of the Arctic, including rampant substance abuse and high suicide rates. Though it appears Pitseolala died by hanging herself, Cole suspects otherwise, as does the girl’s 10-year-old brother, Maliktu, who says he’s being visited by Pitseolala’s ghost. As Cole investigates—against the wishes of fellow officer Veronica Aningmiug and many community members—the case takes a major toll on his physical and mental health, offering uncomfortable parallels to his home life as he becomes obsessed with making things right. From the opening pages, Kempt’s remarkably assured narrative evokes a mythic atmosphere, and the author, who spent years living in the Arctic, infuses his haunting tale with vivid sensory details that bring the frigid landscape to life. It’s a knockout. Agent: Gideon Pine, InkWell Management. (Jan.)