The Calling

A female detective on the verge of retirement must track a gruesome serial killer across Canada in this "bracingly original mystery" ( Publishers Weekly, starred review). Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef spent all her days in the small town of Port Dundas, Ontario, and is now making her way toward retirement with something less than grace. Hobbled by a bad back and a dependence on painkillers, she's also blindsided by divorce after nearly four decades of marriage. But when a terminally ill Port Dundas woman is gruesomely murdered in her own home, Hazel and her understaffed department must spring to life. And as one terminally ill victim after another is found—their bodies drained of blood, their mouths sculpted into strange shapes—Hazel finds herself tracking a truly terrifying serial killer across the country. Through the cacophony of her bickering staff, her unsupportive superiors, a clamoring press, the town's rumor mill, and her own nagging doubts, Hazel can sense the dead trying to call out. But what secret do they have to share? And will she hear it before it's too late?