As you can tell from the back cover blurb of NO SADNESS OF FAREWELL, the fourth March and Walker Crime Novel, a forensic anthropologist is called in by the coroner to assist OPP detectives when human remains are found on a property near Rideau Ferry.
While Dr. Ash Latimer is an eccentric personality who ends up becoming friends with Detective Constable Kevin Walker in the novel, real-life forensic anthropologists in Ontario are a very interesting breed in their own right.
A recent Ontario Forensic Pathology Service (OFPS) annual report explains that "Forensic anthropologists make an important contribution to death investigations where the remains are skeletonized, burned, decomposed, mutilated or otherwise unrecognizable. [They] act as part of the death investigation team, and as consultants to forensic pathologists."
In Ontario, the OFPS has one full-time forensic anthropologist, Dr. Kathy Gruspier. An associate professor of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto, she has performed extensive field work in Italy, Jordan, Kosovo, East Timor, Cambodia, and Poland. Read more about Dr. Gruspier here.
In addition to Dr. Gruspier, there are also a number of consulting forensic anthropologists who work on a part-time fee-for-service basis for the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario, the OFPS, and police services. Like Ash Latimer, they are generally found on the faculties of Ontario universities where they are key members of departments of Forensic Science.
Ash was a fun character to work with, but my research showed that what forensic anthropologists do for a living is serious, highly specialized, and very important to the successful completion of many difficult death investigations.
An important source of information for me was Introduction to Forensic Anthropology: A Textbook by Steven N. Byers (Pearson Education, Inc., 2005). I would encourage you to do your own research on this fascinating line of work.
Hats off to the real-life specialists who give us a chance as writers of crime fiction to explore new and engaging territory!
Yes, the wait is over.
NO SADNESS OF FAREWELL, the fourth installment of the March and Walker Crime Novel series, has been published and is now available for purchase.
When human remains are found behind a barn on a property along the historic Rideau Waterway, OPP Detective Constable Kevin Walker finds himself riding herd on a forensic anthropologist brought in by the coroner to supervise the removal of the bones.
But as the wildly eccentric Dr. Ash Latimer excavates the unmarked grave, the bodies begin to multiply and Detective Inspector Ellie March is abruptly forced to recuse herself from the case. Her next-door neighbour, Ridge Ballantyne, may have known the victims, and General Headquarters decides that the possibility of a conflict of interest necessitates her removal from the investigation.
As Ridge struggles to recover from a stroke, he must deal with the possibility that an old friend from Scotland and his young son may have been murdered five years ago and buried in an unmarked grave thousands of miles from home, while Ellie March fights an uphill battle against internal politics to return to the case.
NO SADNESS OF FAREWELL is available in paperback from your local independent bookstore. In Ottawa (Canada) for example, Perfect Books and Books on Beechwood carry the series and will order the new one for you. It's also available online through Amazon. More links will follow soon.
The novel may also be purchased in eBook version from Amazon for Kindle and from Kobo for those of you who use an epub format.
This is a really good one, folks. It may also be the last, depending on how things go, so if you enjoy the series, please give it a read and let me know what you think.
Thanks for your ongoing interest in my work. -- Mike
