Book Review by Robert Wiersema Mindful of Murder by Susan Juby When it comes to mystery novels, success often comes down to a great detective. Not just one who is smart enough to actually solve cases, but a detective who is memorable – quirky, perhaps. Think of Sherlock Holmes, with his passive-aggressive mannerisms, his cocaine and his deerstalker cap. Or consider it this way: it might have been decades since you last read Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, and you may well have forgotten the identity of the murderer, but there’s no way you’ve forgotten Hercule Poirot, he of the tiny moustache and the “little grey cells.” With her new novel Mindful of Murder, Vancouver Island writer Susan Juby introduces readers to a new, memorable and quirky detective − Helen Thorpe − in a novel that is just as endearing and complex as its main character. Thorpe epitomizes the traditional amateur detective in that she’s not a detective at all. Rather, she’s a butler. Well, almost a butler. When readers first meetThorpe, she is graduating from the prestigious North American Butler Academy and is about to take on her first job. Her plans are interrupted, though, by a visit from a lawyer who informsThorpe that her former employer − Edna Todd − has died. Todd was the owner and facilitator of the Yatra Institute, a spiritual retreat on Sutil Island off the B.C. coast, and has left instructions with her lawyer that Thorpe is to “‘execute something she referred to as Plan B.” Thorpe must return to the retreat and host several of Edna’s relatives through a program of spiritual activities (including meditation, movement and flower arranging) to determine who is best suited to inherit the centre. Of course, it’s not that easy: Edna’s closest relatives are terrible – entitled and snobbish and definitely not interested in their spiritual improvement. Thorpe, who in addition to being a butler is also a former Buddhist nun (I told you that she was complex) handles them with patience and equanimity, and a mildly scathing internal humour (“Meredith Varga must have been at least 60, but could have passed for six to eight months younger.”). She also has the assistance of two of her butler-school classmates and a handful of colourful locals and centre regulars. An anonymous note, though, begins to cast doubt on Edna’s death and Thorpe needs all the help she can get as she begins to unravel the novel’s central mysteries: was Edna murdered, or did she choose her own death? Is someone stalking the guests at the centre, or is one of the guests the culprit? Is Thorpe the next target? Mindful of Murder is a delight from beginning to end, a wonderful combination of mystery, character study, lifestyle satire and family drama, with the wonderful Helen Thorpe − beleaguered Buddhist butler and amateur detective − at the centre of it all. Will there be a sequel? One can only hope. CSANews | SUMMER 2022 | 45
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