Darkness at the Stroke of Noon

RCMP Sergeant Booker Kennison is reassigned to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories from Ottawa where he conducted a review of corrupt RCMP officers. Shortly after arriving, he is put on a plane and sent to Victory Point, even further north and even more desolate, to solve two murders.

Victory Point is the site of an archeological dig site trying to find proof that Franklin and British nationals sailed through the Northwest Passage. Such findings could compromise Canadian arctic sovereignty, which is why ex-FBI agent Ruby Cruz is sent up there. Cruz's employers believe that their sponsored scientist, who is now dead, found a journal to prove this fact. In a desolate, dark, frigid environment Kennison must determine what exactly happened.

This book is very relevant, as Canadians have concerns about arctic sovereignty, which has been questioned by other nations in the not too distant past. It's also incredibly rare for mysteries to be written in Canada, let alone in our territories. I really enjoyed how the landscape became a character in the novel. There are some things in this novel that only Canadians will get (Tim Hortons addiction, Canadian Tire vs. Wal Mart).

The plot, however, deserves some criticism. Parts of it were completely unnecessary and were left unresolved at the end of the book. Kennison is targeted because of the work he did previously in Ottawa, exposing corrupt RCMP officials. Once he is targeted, that's all we heard about this plot line. Where is the resolution? I also think there would have been enough mystery without the involvement of the rebel Inuit group the Turqavik.

Finally, it would have been nice if included at the front of the book was a map of Franklin's arctic expedition. I'm sure many readers won't have an in-depth understanding of the geography of the Canadian north, so this would help them picture how remote the area is.

Captivating novel set in the Canadian north during a few days of an arctic summer.


RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Sergeant Booker Kennison has recently been posted to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Whether it is punishment for uncovering shady dealing within the RCMP or to protect him from criminal elements from his previous post in Ottawa, we don't know. He is soon sent to investigate the deaths of two researchers at Victory Point, King William Island, Nunavut.


From the moment Kennison steps foot on Victory Point the drama intensifies till the climax in the final pages.


We quickly find out that an unknown diary from the Franklin Expedition of 1845 has surfaced and that it might contain evidence of the truth of what happened to the crews of the Terror and Erebus and whether they actually traversed the North West Passage. Also seeking this diary is Ruby Cruz from the Arctic Exploration Institute in Mount Winans, Maryland.


To further complicate matters, a violent group known as Turqavik have travelled to Victory Point to seize the diary at any cost.


Within pages of meeting Kennison I knew that he was a character that I wanted to see more of. Unfortunately this will be his only story, the author, Dennis Richard Murphy passed away shortly after he finished writing this novel. Mr. Murphy easily conveyed the difficulties of working in a northern climate and had me pulling another quilt over myself to ward off any shivers. I could imagine pulling on layers of clothing and creeping outside into the wind to go to the rescue of the missing scientist (you'll have to read the book to find out which one).


This book was a terrific follow-up to my recent read of "Wanting" by Richard Flanagan. We learn about the Franklin Expedition via the diary written by William George Bearman of Kent, England. Evidence does support that the crew suffered from scurvy, lethal levels of lead poisoning and that there was clear evidence of much cannibalism. While I could not find a list of the crews of either ship, I did enjoy the mix of fact and fiction.

This book should have a wide appeal to people who read history, politics, love adventure, police stories and even a bit of romance was thrown in. I could imagine that had there been a further novel, there would have been 'something' between Kennison and Ruby Cruz.

With the current thoughts on global warming, its possible that more evidence of the Franklin Expedition will be found and that the use of the NWP could become a more regular event.

Ruby, recently widowed, wants out of the FBI. She takes a job with the AEI (Arctic Exploration Institute). Her first assignment is to travel to the Victory Point archaeological dig in Nunavut, Canada and accompany one of their scientists, who has made an unbelievable discovery in the Canadian Arctic, back to the U.S. At the same time, RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) Sergeant Booker Kennison, who has been banished to the Yellowknife station for reporting corruption within the Mounties, is sent further north to Victory Point as well. It's supposed to be a routine assignment - document two accidental deaths at the Victory camp due to a fire. But it turns out to be anything but routine. The deaths are murder. And the discovery is unimaginable. It's an intact diary from the lost Franklin expedition, detailing their voyage. The information contained within could impact international borders and land rights.

The story flips between past and present. Murphy has done an amazing job in envisaging a diary of the Franklin expedition. This is a story on it's own. Back to the present - it's bitterly cold, the light is shorter every day, the food is running low and someone in the camp is a murderer.

Darkness at the Stroke of Noon is an action packed page turner. The choice of setting makes it a uniquely Canadian tale, as do the references peppered throughout the book - Tim Hortons and Canadian Tire. I laughed out loud at Ruby's view of Canadians...

"At forty-one, she didn't feel too old for a fight, although fighting Canadians seemed like the punch line of a bad joke. They were just French-speaking wannabe Americans who spent their winters in Florida getting melanoma until they ran home for free operations."

I enjoyed many of the supporting characters, especially the local doctor who acts as a coroner and her assistant. Their dialogue over the autopsy table is blackly humorous.

I finished the book and was hoping that this was to be the first of a series. Reading the back flyleaf I was saddened to find that Dennis Richard Murphy passed away just before publiction of Darkness at the Stroke of Noon.