Introduction: Miss Montreal by Howard Shrier
Miss Montreal
by Howard Shrier is the fourth book in the Jonah Geller series, and now I am up-to-date reading all the books in the series. Shrier’s first two book in the series, Buffalo Jump
and High Chicago
both won the Arthur Ellis Award. For those who read the blog regularly, I have been paying homage to local talent by reading books by authors in the Greater Toronto Area. In the Jonah Geller series, the main character, a private investigator always travels to another city to solve a crime.
What is Miss Montreal by Howard Shrier About?
In Miss Montreal by Howard Shrier, Jonah Geller gets a call from Arthur Moscoe to notify him of his grandson, Sammy Adler’s death, and to investigate. Sammy was viciously beaten to death, and it is made to look like a hate crime was committed by Muslims. There is also the added urgency because Mr Moscoe is dying from lymphoma and leukemia. Jonah hadn’t seen Sammy for many years, the two had met at camp two decades ago. Jonah’s business partner, Jenn Raudsepp who often travels with him, has taken an extended leave because she was raped in the Boston Cream 
story. His friend, former hit man, Dante Ryan has offered to travel to Montreal with him to determine who killed Sammy Adler.
Like the other books in the Jonah Geller series, Howard Shrier writes about topics that were/are in the news. For those who do not know much about Canada, Quebec is very different from the rest of Canada, and the residents primarily speak French. The province has formally tried to break away from Canada but hasn’t been successful. In Miss Montreal, Jonah and Dante are confronted with fundamentalists, gun traffickers, and right wing politicians. Laurent Lortier is as right wing as you can get, and he has formed the Quebec aux Quebecois party and is trying to get elected. The hatred that spews from his mouth is alarming, and the scary part is that there are people like that in the real world. He is anti-Semitic and anti-immigrants
As the story unfolds, the reader learns that Luc, Lortier’s son killed Sammy Adler and blamed it on the Muslims by the way he commits the murder. Luc wants to make sure that his father gets elected and plans his last hurrah with the intent of bombing a concert venue where his father is going to speak. Jonah and Dante stop him in the nick of time, and Luc instead kills himself.
Final Thoughts: Miss Montreal by Howard Shrier
The story is very engaging, and those who are murder mystery fans will enjoy the book. The story is realistic with well-developed, flawed characters. I like the way the story unfolds as Jonah solves the mystery. I recommend Miss Montreal by Howard Shrier.
Jonah Geller Mysteries 3-Book Bundle: High Chicago, Buffalo Jump, Boston Cream
Miss MontrealLostport
