Ball Park

By John Farrow

Getting inside is easy; the stress comes in getting out clean. A case of breaking and entering escalates after Émile Cinq-Mars transfers from the Night Patrol.

Montreal, 1975. Detective Émile Cinq-Mars is transferring from the Night Patrol – the notoriously tough department of officers in charge of watching over the city as it sleeps – to the day shift. His old superior has seen to it that he’s assigned to partner Yves Giroux, another ex-Night Patrol detective some say isn’t on the ‘up and up’.

Getting in a house is easy for thief Quinn Tanner. The stress comes in getting out clean. On finding her getaway driver dead after her latest heist, she goes underground.

For his first case on the day shift, Émile is sent to the property that Quinn has just visited, and their paths are set to cross. But has she stolen something more valuable than she realizes . . . and who is hunting for her now?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Severn House Publishers
• Release date: Sep 2, 2019
• ISBN: 9781448303205

John Farrow

JOHN FARROW is the pen name of Trevor Ferguson, who has written nine novels and four plays and has been named Canada’s best novelist in both Books in Canada and the Toronto Star. Under the name John Farrow, he has written two other novels featuring Émile Cinq-Mars, City of Ice and Ice Lake. He was raised in Montreal and lives in Hudson, Quebec.

Reviews for Ball Park

[datrappert · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This entry in the superb Emile Cinq-Mars series is another flashback, this time to 1975 as Cinq-Mars moves from the Night Patrol to what is suppose to be a more normal daytime job as a detective. Of course, it doesn't turn out that way, as he reunites with his Night Patrol boss, the formidable Armand Touton, to resolve a linked series of crimes involving a 17-year old female burglar and Montreal's mafia boss. Along the way, Farrow (as is his strength) creates a few more unforgettable characters, such as a shady pawnshop owner, the young thief's ex-con father, and Cinq-Mars new daytime partner, a former Night Patrol member who is suspected of being corrupt. It all moves to a rousing conclusion, with a few plot points that don't quite ring true (don't put weapons in the refrigerator--you'll see what I mean), but the characters and the Montreal flavor make it all a very worthwhile read. As I've said before, Cinq-Mars is one of the great characters in detective literature, and Farrow's series of novels about him (or only partly about him, in truth) go well beyond your normal police procedurals. Don't miss them.