The Frailty of Flesh

by Sandra Ruttan

Book Overview

When a young boy is found murdered in a park, the boy's brother says that his sister was the murderer--but she's nowhere to be found. Constables Hart and Tain find evidence that the sister is innocent... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0843960752
• ISBN13: 9780843960754
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: Leisure Books
• Length: 335 Pages
• Weight: 0.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 4.1" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

his Canadian police procedural is so action-packed, readers never have a moment to catch their breat

RMCP Constables Tain and Hart are partners who worked a different case in which one shot the perp while the other was the perp's victim. This created a strong bond between them, which is miraculous because Tain is a loner. They are called on a murder case in which the victim is a four year old child Jeffrey Reiman; his brother insists he witnessed their sister Shannon kill their sibling. When the cops go to notify the parents, they are stunned by the lack of reactions; in fact the father calmly calls his lawyer a high powered defense attorney who usually defends drug traffickers. Shannon is missing while the two police detectives continue to investigate the murder and her whereabouts; as the evidence mounts they begin to believe she is not the killer and is in danger; instead they find plenty of proof of abuse but not certain who the abuser is as the Reiman patriarch provides persistent legal roadblocks to the official inquiry. This Canadian police procedural is so action-packed, readers never have a moment to catch their breath and are engrossed in this one sitting read. Like the lead cops, fans will wonder who the perp is; as paradoxically everyone and no one stands out. The police partners are unique three dimensional people who have struggles in their personal lives while working a complex case made more difficult by the victim being a little kid and his father circling the wagons. Sub-genre fans will appreciate Sandra Ruttan's obvious skills as this is a strong whodunit.

One good hook leads to another ...

The Frailty of Flesh ... Sandra Ruttan's follow up to What Burns Within is immediately engaging and a solid read through to the dark ending that serves as an intriguing hook to the next Nolan, Hart and Tain novel. A child from a seriously dysfunctional family, albeit very wealthy, is found beaten to death and his brother (a witness to the murder) accuses their sister of committing the crime. The police procedural that follows keep the pages turning as an old case haunts one relationship (father-son) and the same son's (Nolan) relationship with the woman (Hart) of his choice (also a police colleague) ... except the course their police life takes (in two different directions/two different cases) slowly then drastically alters what happens to and for them ... all the while the third party (Tain) has ghosts the murdered child case brings to the surface and when it all comes together at the end ... well, no spoilers here, but the novel leaves off with yet another hook to what will become the next highly anticipated installment to the series. Ruttan knows how to hook her readers, book to book as well as page to page. What Burns Within was the original solid hook. The Frailty of Flesh sets the hook firmly in place and will leave readers of the series in an excited state of anticipation for the next one.

The Frailty of Flesh

Lisa Harrington has received notice that Donny Lockridge, the convicted murderer of her sixteen-year-old daughter, Hope, is up for parole, and she asks Canadian Constable Craig Nolan for help in thwarting his release. Lockridge, convicted as a teenager, had served ten years of a twenty-year sentence, and the brutal way in which Hope had been killed is enough to convince nearly anyone that he does not deserve to walk the streets again. The conflict for Nolan is in the fact that his own father had worked the original investigation, and was instrumental in obtaining the conviction. In Port Moody, in the Vancouver area, Constables Hart and Tain are handling the investigation of the violent death of a four-year-old boy, the only witness being the eleven-year-old brother of the victim, who identifies the killer as his older sister, who has disappeared. When the parents are told what has transpired, their first reaction is to refuse to talk with the RCMP officers, and to consult with their attorney, one who is well-known to the police, and not in a good way, and who is also the attorney threatening a lawsuit for the alleged wrongful conviction of Donny Lockridge two decades ago. The two cases, each dealing with the violent death of a young child, have unsettling parallels. The author details the procedural investigation with deliberation while building up suspense at the same time as the cases proceed, and the reader gradually realizes that the present case may present a crime to which there is no good solution. The complexity of the relationships among the players as well as the cases, past and present, are riveting. Whatever one might guess as to where the author is taking you, nothing can prepare the reader for the shocking resolution. One reservation: I must admit to some confusion about the final chapters of the book, which had almost an anticlimactic feel to them. Nonetheless, it is a great read, and I am looking forward to the next entry in the series. The three protagonists are each skillfully drawn and certain to have Ms. Ruttan's readers anxious to know them better, as am I.