Suzanne NorthCritiques

I’m disappointed that it took me so long to read this book because it really was quite good and I would have finished it sooner if I had made the time to read it. I enjoyed the writing; I enjoyed the story; I enjoyed the characters. I enjoyed everything about it... except, maybe, how it ended ...

Adrianne

This is the story of an friendship that develops between two families when the nearly-adult daughter goes to work as a secretary for a Japanese-born businessman in Calgary just as WWII is breaking out. The author examines the relationships that develop within the context of the prejudice that gripped Canada as war with Japan loomed.

I hate giving bad reviews, but I mostly found the book boring. The narrator is now elderly in a convalescent home, writing her memoirs as part of a creative writing class, which seemed forced, and the story was broken up by conversations she had with her eccentric fellow resident. The writing style was a bit to light for my tastes.....mostly this happened and then this and I felt and he felt....½

Suzanne North is a new author for me and I'm sorry it took so long to discover her. She was born in Calgary and sets her books in and around there. Her detective, Phoebe Fairfax, is a free-lance camera operator on a lifestyles show. In this book (the third in the series) Phoebe, the show's on air host and the producer go to the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller to view an exhibit of early hominid bones discovered by a prominent paleontologist who grew up in Alberta. Of course, the paleontologist ends up dead and the bones are also missing. Phoebe was the first person to find the body but she has no idea who killed him. There are a host of people with "bones to pick" with him but none of the issues seem serious enough to warrant murder. Phoebe is dragged into the mystery because everyone who was at the museum seems to want to share their secrets with her.

The mystery was decent and the setting was interesting. I learned a bit about paleontology along the way so that was a bonus. In this interview Suzanne says she writes her books as social comedies and this is what I found most entertaining about the book. I'll be looking for more of Suzanne North's books.

Where I got the book: review copy provided by publisher. This review first appeared on the Historical Novel Society website.

On the eve of the Second World War, Kay Jeynes volunteers to transfer out of her typist’s job to work for Japanese businessman Hero Miyashita. The relationship between the sophisticated Japanese gentleman and the naïve working-class Canadian rapidly turns into that of mentor and disciple, and Kay’s family and friends learn to view the Miyashitas with less prejudice than is the norm in the Calgary of the Thirties. But war is looming, and in the wider Canadian context, prejudice against the Japanese is fast turning to fear and hatred.

Flying Time is an example of what literary historical fiction does well: provides a snapshot of a time and place through the small evolutions in relationships in a clearly defined context. North’s evocation of Calgary in 1939 is masterly, a clear sketch that is never too heavy on detail. Her writing style is fluid, chatty, and engaging, and the pages of this novel flew by for me. I was not initially thrilled by the framing device for Kay’s reminiscences, a memoir writing class in a nursing home, but North made it work through Kay’s awareness of the poignancy of old age and the fleeting nature of youth.

Personally, I could have enjoyed the story without Kay’s journey to Hong Kong, even though I found the depiction of international travel by flying boat fascinating. I felt that the really engaging aspect of Flying Time was the delineation of the relationships that built up from a chance meeting, enhanced by the poignancy of historical hindsight.

I enjoyed Suzanne North's mysteries a few years back, so had to try this new literary novel. It's a beautiful, fascinating story, funny and sad and adventurous and romantic, with two strong and likable central characters. I agree with the cover quote by Candace Savage: "Her new novel is filled with unforgettable characters in a richly imagined worled. The result is original, genuinely moving, and completely enjoyable." And the blurb by Gail Bowen, "A beautiful novel, brimming with intelligence, heart and wit."

Phoebe Fairfax is a videographer who works 2 days a week for a lifestyle show in Calgary which pays the bills so she can continue to make short nature films. She lives southwest of Calgary on an acreage that used to belong to her uncle and it is around there that she does most of her film work. For the lifestyle show she is also close to home at a spa ranch that caters to the wealthy. It is a little disconcerting for Phoebe to be at The Ranch since when she was last there she discovered a body in the pool. The woman apparently committed suicide by taking pills and booze and then getting into the pool where she drowned. Except some people don't think she committed suicide; they think she was murdered. And that theory gains more credence when another body shows up that was definitely murdered because a sashimi chef's knife was thrust into his chest. The sashimi chef is a friend of Phoebe's and she knows he could not have been the one who did this. So who is the murderer?

There's lots of great description about the countryside which is a beautiful part of the country. There is also some interesting detail about cameras and film and videos. I had never really thought about the difference between a film and a video until I read this book.

This book is set in Alberta between Okotoks and Calgary mostly. I've travelled that road once or twice. It is lovely country and North does a great job of describing it.

Phoebe Fairfax is a videographer who likes to do nature shows but works 2 or 3 days a week for a Calgary TV station on a lifestyle program. Phoebe, the show's on air personality, Candi Sinclair, and the program's very pregnant producer, Ella, are in Okotoks to film the First Annual Okotoks Psychic Fair. Maud Gellman, wife of the owner of their station, is the organizer and she is a non-stop talker so she should be a natural for an interview. However, she is going to be late so Phoebe and Candi stroll around the fair getting short clips for the show. At one booth Candi finds an old friend, Tracy, who is sharing the booth with her common-law husband, Jonathan Webster. Jonathan is selling a new-age healing device called the Super O. Jonathan uses the device himself (and I sincerely hope that North made this device up because I don't want to think about someone using it) and swears by it. Tracy has covered up a black eye with makeup but both Phoebe and Candi figure Jonathan gave it to her. A few minutes later Jonathan collapses in his booth and dies in hospital soon after arriving there in an ambulance.

Tracy is, of course, the prime suspect but Candi is determined not to let her old friend face the police alone. She talks Phoebe into helping her. They even interview a loan shark who claims Jonathan owed $47,000 to her. Interspersed with the investigation Phoebe continues to work on her nature film and visits with old and new friends. The ending has a twist that I did not see coming but it tied everything up beautifully.

I'll be keeping my eye open for more Suzanne North mysteries. They are funny as well as being well written.

Third in the series. Phoebe Fairfax the TV camera operator is filming the launch of a new fossil exhibit at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Alberta. The paleoanthropologist is found dead the day after the interview, and the fossils are missing. Eccentric characters and an interesting setting, good suspense and some humour to lighten the read. The best of the series so far.

Second in the series. Phoebe Fairfax, photographer for the TV Show "a Day in the Lifestyle" is filming at a psychics' fair when one of the exhibitors collapses and dies. He's been poisoned in an unusual way, and the police suspect his common-law wife of murder. She's an old friend of the TV interviewer Candi Sinclair, who turns to Phoebe for help. A light-hearted romp, amusing but not brilliant.

From the back cover: "When Phoebe Fairfax, camera person for the weekly "Day in the Lifestyle" program, discovers the lifeless body of Janet Benedict floating in the swimming pool at The Ranch, it is listed as suicide. But when a second body is found, with a handmade sashimi knife through the heart, she begins to wonder.
Someone behind the wrought iron gates of this exclusive health spa nestled in the Rocky Mountain foothills is a murderer.
Could it be Candi Sinclair, the seemingly innocent television interviewer with the 500 watt smile? Or Cowboy Byron with the broad shoulders and slim hips? Ben Sugamoto, who knew his catering services were about to be cancelled, or another of the many eccentric and delightful characters you'll meet in this witty comedy of manners."

It's funny and light-hearted, and the setting is interesting, but the characters are not deeply portrayed. A not-bad start to a series.