The Tenderness of Wolves

This is Stef Penney's first novel and it is an intriguing one.

The setting is Upper Canada in 1867.  A brutal murder has occurred in the small town of Caulfield.  A young lad sets out to follow the murderer, but unfortunately he has been pegged for the murder by the investigators.  However, due to the ineptness of the investigators another man, who comes to visit the victim is jailed, for the same crime.  He is beaten up by one of the invesitgators, and later released by the local magistrate.  Meantime another investigator is sent to follow the young lad and bring him back.

The beaten man, together with the mother of the lad who had set out to follow the murderer, now begin a trek in the early winter snows to locate the lad.

Another underlying story in the novel is that two young girls, several years ago, had disappeared while on a picnic.  Will they ever be found?  Will the young lad be found?  Will the murderer be found?

This is an intriguing historical thriller.  Well worth the read.