Tour Event for MÂTOWAK - WOMAN WHO CRIES by Joylene Nowell Butler

A murder enveloped in pain and mystery...

When Canada's retired Minister of National Defense, Leland Warner, is murdered in his home, the case is handed to Corporal Danny Killian, an aboriginal man tortured by his wife's unsolved murder.

The suspect, 60-year-old Sally Warner, still grieves for the loss of her two sons, dead in a suicide/murder eighteen months earlier. Confused and damaged, she sees in Corporal Killian a friend sympathetic to her grief and suffering and wants more than anything to trust him.

Danny finds himself with a difficult choice—indict his prime suspect, the dead minister's horribly abused wife or find a way to protect her and risk demotion. Or worse, transfer away from the scene of his wife’s murder and the guilt that haunts him..

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An engaging and intriguing murder mystery of a Canadian political figure, that flows easily off the pages and pulls the reader into the world crimes, scandal, and racial adversity, and human tragedy. 
Solving of the crime is filled with details of the police procedures Canadian style. I liked the setting of the tale, the new aspects it gives to a crime reader, as everything is not the same as it is in the States. The development of the investigation has its twists, more uncertainty brought on by well-timed switching of the point of view. The story is told in the first person, by both Sally and Danny. 
The characters are developed, with very normal human characteristics making them easy to relate to. Both Sally and Danny are tortured, broken souls, they past keeping a hold of  them with the hunting losses, making grief and heartache a constant companion.
The racism against the Native Americans is an important part of the story, bringing out awareness, and adding tension to the tale. Even though the murder is what brought the cast of characters together, it is not all that the story focus on. The characters lives, relationships, the past and future hopes are all measured and weighted. 
The book is a sequel to the novel Broken But Not Dead yet can be read as a stand-alone story. A very informing and detail oriented tale, you feel like you learn about the culture, the people, and the procedure. It is a thought-provoking story which behind solving the crime  gives a window to the life of the characters while shining the light on heavy social issues from racism towards Native Americans, to suicide, and to abuse. The enigma of the crime lives on till the end, keeping the suspense high, and the readers engaged. 
~ Three Spoons with a teaspoon on the side

Chapter 10
Six kilometres up the hill from the police detachment, I see grey-bellied clouds hovering over the city of Prince George. They look like snow clouds ready to burst. I descend into the downtown core, close in on the first of several intersections, gear down, and swear. Hell if I'd know a snow cloud from a rain cloud. Maybe the weatherman was right, no flurries until after tomorrow when I get the new tires installed. I hope so. It rained during the night and the roads froze. Traffic creeps tentatively along on black ice.

At the bottom of the hill, I ease to a stop at the intersection of Victoria and Seventeenth. The roof of the detachment a few blocks away is now visible.

Mrs. Warner said Meshango and Lacroix are living together. How did I not know? Unless it isn't true?

It is. Sergeant Lacroix interjected himself on Doctor Meshango's behalf for a reason. But why? Because he thinks she killed Warner or because he knows she did? If no on both accounts, then why protect her?

Damn, what was he thinking? What was he thinking with?

I can't ask him outright, not without compromising my career.

I clutch the steering wheel. Enough with the stupid questions. I'm a cop, not a vigilante. What I need to do is not compromise the investigation by alerting Lacroix and Meshango to the fact they are now on our suspect list. I give my head a shake. Staff Sergeant Lacroix isn't stupid. Nor does he strike me as a willing accomplice to murder.

Before I left Warner's I called dispatch from my car, spoke directly to a member of my team. Dr. Meshango wasn't questioned in person earlier. The constable, instructed to interview her, had ran into Lacroix outside the detachment. When Lacroix asked him where he was headed and the constable told him, Lacroix said questioning Dr. Meshango wasn't necessary. Later, while I was with Norse in Vanderhoof, someone else caught the mistake, called Meshango and interviewed her over the phone.

Bad policing.

Sure, Lacroix is our staff sergeant, sometimes intimidating, but he still knows better than to interfere in a murder investigation. He's not an idiot. Why stop the constable from interviewing Dr. Meshango? Why leave the report vague? He must know what kind of shit this will bring down on his head. All he succeeded in doing was to make himself and Meshango look guilty. Dr. Meshango's alibi was written as solid in the report. When this gets out, those in a position to fire Lacroix's ass just might.

My fault. I should have followed up on it personally, not simply read the report and took it as verbatim. But I didn’t, because, hell, the guy's an idiot, but he's still a good cop.
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Can't fault him for trying to protect Meshango though. Men do stupid things when they're in love.

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BUY LINKS

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AMAZON

Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C Amazon.ca   

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When Joylene's father died in 1983, she wrote her first full–length manuscript to channel her grief. The seven-year process left her hooked and she began Dead Witness within a few weeks of finishing Always Father's Child. Today Joylene is the author of three suspense novels: Dead Witness, Broken But Not Dead, and the steampunk collaboration Break Time. While she'll admit being published didn't fix all the wrongs in her life, she wishes her parents had lived to see her success. Dead Witness was a finalist in the 2012 Global eBook Awards. Broken But Not Dead won the 2012 IPPY Silver Medal and its sequel Mâtowak Woman Who Cries is due for release November 1, 2016.
Joylene lives with her husband and their two cats Marbles and Shasta on beautiful Cluculz Lake in central British Columbia. They spend their winters in Bucerias, Nayarit, Mexico.
For more on Joylene and her writing, visit her website and blog then connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and her Amazon Author Page.

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