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Forty Words for Sorrow
Forty Words for Sorrow | Giles Blunt
26 posts | 11 read | 20 to read
A shake of the dark head, a shudder in the shoulders. Another tiny splash on the linoleum floor. Husband murdered, and now her daughter too. The Inuit, it is said, have forty different words for snow. Never mind about snow, Cardinal mused, what people really need is forty words for sorrow. Grief. Heartbreak. Desolation. There were not enough, not for this childless mother in her empty house. [Forty Words for Sorrow, page 42] The mutilated body of a young girl has been discovered in an abandoned mine shaft on the desolate Lake Nipissing island of Windigo. Missing since September, Katie Pine has finally been found, encased in a block of ice as if preserved in amber. The intense police investigation when she first disappeared had gone nowhere, and Detective John Cardinal went from solving murders to investigating burglaries and petty crimes. But now all bets are off. Cardinal is back on the case; this time with a new partner. Lise Delorme, a sexy and passionate former internal investigator, makes Cardinal uneasy. With a guilty conscience to fuel his suspicion, Cardinal wonders if Delorme isnt there to investigate him. And his suspicions are well founded. Delmore has made a deal with the devil: in order to leave SIU for good, she must gain Cardinals trust and then betray it. There are allegations of corruption on the force, and Cardinals extracurricular activities during a counterfeiting investigation are being called into question. Delorme is convinced that Cardinal is innocent of any wrongdoing and even when her investigation calls his integrity into question, she is reluctant to believe it. When Cardinal makes the gruesome discovery of the bodies of two more missing teenagers, he doesnt spend time worrying about his suspicions concerning Delorme. His focus is on a more sinister concerna serial killer hiding somewhere in this quiet northern town. That concern becomes laced with urgency when Karen Steen, a young woman from Guelph, arrives to speak to Cardinal about her missing boyfriend, Keith London. Cardinal begins to believe that Keith is the fourth young person to disappear in Algonquin Bay. But unlike the other victims, he believes that Keith may still be alive. The question now becomes, what is the connection between the three dead and one missing teenager? Can Cardinal and Delorme find Keith London before its too late? From the Hardcover edition.
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TheRegular_coffeeandbooks
Pickpick

Really enjoyed it. Can‘t wait to read the rest of the series

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WhiteDayLilies
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As a zoologist when I see things like this in books it makes me a little angry. Did the author purposely not check their animal info or are they trying to make the character relatable because people actually think these things about raccoons???

For the record: Raccoons are definitely NOT rodents. They are of the order Carnivora. Raccoons also do not hibernate and are active all winter long especially around people because there is always food!

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Andrea4
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Think this is far as I'm getting on #autumnbingo because I won't be reading anything with football in it. Oh well, very close!
@Tiffy_Reads

shendrix413 I like how you have that written out! I'm going to try that! 6y
Andrea4 @shendrix413 thanks! I was feeling creative that day! 6y
Cinfhen Beautiful 6y
Andrea4 @Cinfhen aw thanks! 6y
11 likes4 comments
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Andrea4
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Mehso-so

Great pacing, really dials up for "the chase." However: constant objectification of women, at times unrealistic portrayal of the main female characters, 2nd plot was boring/predictable, unlikable MC. & I found the level of graphic brutality/torture literally made me feel sick; for multiple reasons it was probably not removed enough from me to make it palatable. Pretty much every trigger warning for this book. Won't be continuing.

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Andrea4
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Day 26 #novemberbythenumbers
Well, I'm sticking this book out so far...I just got a kick out of seeing my hometown, Guelph, mentioned. But something about reading about murders in the places I know makes it all a little more disturbing.
@Tiffy_Reads @JoeStalksBeck
#dogsoflitsy

Tanzy13 🐶 6y
18 likes1 comment
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Andrea4
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Bookish mail!!! Thank you so much @DebbieGrillo !!! I don't have any bookmarks like this and I love it! I also love the card, as random as it may be 😁
#bookmarkswap @Clwojick

DebbieGrillo I'm so glad it arrived! Enjoy. 😊 6y
23 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Andrea4
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I thought all the Litsy librarians would looooove this description...
Also, it works for #quotsynov17 #library AND look at the page number...1 + 21 = 22! #novemberbythenumbers 😂 ok, that one is a stretch!!
@TK-421 @Tiffy_Reads @JoeStalksBeck

llwheeler 😂 awesome 6y
25 likes1 comment
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Andrea4
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This might be the first and last reference to good ol' Gord that I'll ever see in one of my reads!! 🍁🍁

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Andrea4
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So you're telling me Delorme puts up with a**holes for colleagues but can't get over a photographer "ruining" a teenage relationship???!! Years later, probably many relationships later, I'm supposed to believe she feels enough hatred toward these photographers over some highschool crush that she nearly equates them with RAPISTS. WTF WHAT THE ACTUAL F*CK.
Ok I may bail on this book and just watch the series...at this rate, it's probably better.

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Andrea4
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In every chapter there seems to be some chauvinistic comment made about Delorme and her looks, and always an additional blaming aspect to them and I'm pretty f***ing tired of it.
If I were Delorme, I'm pretty sure a few of my male colleagues would go mysteriously missing....

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Andrea4
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The discussion about the daily life and treatment of aboriginals is still, unfortunately, spot on- this passage especially hits close in regard to all the missing aboriginal women in our country.
Sadly, the latent racism portrayed in the book is all too present still too.

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Andrea4
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I was doing the mental math on this and coming up confused until I realised this book was published in 2000. Made a whole lot more sense after that.
And then it hit me...that was 17 years ago...and then I started doing the whole -well, I was only in middle school...aaaand down the rabbit hole! 😂😂

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Andrea4
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Andrea4
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....so far, Cardinal is not winning any affection from me...

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No_One
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#AwesomeAutumnBooks @Jess7 #mysteryMonday

This is the first book in this series with Detective John Cardinal. I read it after watching the TV miniseries and it is SO GOOD! I loved the main characters. The criminals were horrendous and the story was shocking. I enjoyed the Northern Ontario setting a lot. 🕵💰🗡🔫

Andrea4 Is it bad that I'll stack this because of the Ontario setting? 😁 well, I like mysteries and thrillers too. 7y
No_One @Andrea4 not at all! It is really worth it for the setting. "Algonquin Bay" is a loosely disguised North Bay. 7y
Andrea4 @No_One I was wondering what town "Algonquin Bay" might be standing in for :) 7y
71 likes5 stack adds3 comments
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eclecticreading
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#currentlyreading I want to finish reading this before watching the tv show 😆

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StaceyKondla
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Pickpick

I just watched the first episode of Cardinal, based on the novel Forty Words for Sorrow by Giles Blunt. I absolutely LOVED all the books and this first episode of the TV series was fantastic! It is very Canadian, but I would say that if you liked Wallander, you will also like this - and seriously, check out the books - they are soooooooooo good!!!

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PurpleyPumpkin
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It's the first Tuesday in November. Time for my #novembertbr! It's a mix of hardcovers and audiobooks. Looking for to it!#photoadaynov16 #tbr

valeriegeary The Snow Child! 🤗 7y
Zelma @valeriegeary agreed. ❤️ The Snow Child. I wanted a few more mystical elements but it was lovely anyway. 7y
PurpleyPumpkin @valeriegeary @Zelma Sounds like I made a good choice. Thanks for letting me know!😉 7y
50 likes3 comments
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Shemac77
Pickpick

Solid beginning to a series. Looking forward to the next books.

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Shemac77
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Morning reading.
#readeverydayeverywhere

StaceyKondla Great book! He's such an under-rated author that deserves more recognition 8y
Shemac77 Loving it so far! @StaceyKondla 8y
15 likes2 stack adds2 comments