HALF-BUILT HOUSES

Keller offers a legal procedural centered on a murder on a snowy morning in Canada.

It’s 2010, and 25-year-old Charley Ewanuschuk lives in the basement of a partially built home in Calgary, making what little money he can as a day laborer. Early one morning, he sees a sports car from his shelter, stuck in the snow. A woman named Natalie Peterson stumbles out of the vehicle, pursued by a man who soon catches her and drags her out of sight. Later, the man flees, and Charley finds Natalie, in the snow, dead; when a tow truck comes, Charley panics and hides. Due to his proximity to the crime, Charley becomes the top suspect in Natalie’s murder; the actual perpetrator appears to be Jason Young, “the only son of a wealthy, powerful family.” Jason, it turns out, had brought Natalie back to his home and kept her there, after she’d performed as a stripper at a bachelor party. Charley seeks the assistance of young lawyer Brian Cox, who’s skeptical of Charley’s story; however, he learns that the apparent drifter’s background is more complex than he thought. Right from the get-go, Keller makes readers aware of all aspects of the crime—or so it seems. This includes not only what Charley sees, but also Jason’s actions, including his call to his rich father for help; the narrative even includes Natalie’s perspective. Although information is often repeated (“Looks like someone’s been squatting in the basement,” one policeman explains to another, although readers already know this), this narrative strategy often shows how Natalie’s death isn’t as simple as it initially appears. Later, as a trial ensues and more evidence enters the picture, everything slowly comes into focus while keeping readers engaged. By the end, Brian finds himself “not knowing if the justice system had failed or worked.”

A seemingly straightforward crime story that becomes more enticing as it goes on.