Murder on Highway 2 a Claire Burke Mystery by Emma Pivato

Emma Pivato is a Canadian author who writes “cozy mysteries” a popular mystery genre that shuns graphic violence, sex, and profanity. It is quite popular amongst young adult readers and mature ones alike.

Murder on Highway 2 is book number 5 in the Claire Burke Mystery series (Book #6  was Deadly Care) and while one need not have read the previous titles in the series, it certainly helps in familiarizing oneself with the various characters in Claire’s ever-widening circle of friends and family. In book #5, Hilda Boaz’ husband Gary and her mother Marion are killed in a motor vehicle accident on Highway 2 (the setting is Edmonton, Alberta). Devastated, Hilda turns to alcohol, takes time off work, disconnects her phone, and puts a Do Not Disturb sign on her door. She simply cannot cope with the double loss in her life.

While the Edmonton Police believe the deaths were the result of an accident, Claire, ever interested in getting all the facts and looking for opportunities to solve a mystery, thinks otherwise when it was discovered by forensics that the driver of the van that hit them was wearing a crash helmet! This motivates Claire to get her team together to follow leads that the police have not investigated yet, such as a biker’s clubhouse, pulling encrypted files off a PC and so on.  The team meets regularly to hash out issues and discuss findings so that everyone is on the same page. A lot of tea and cookies are consumed.

Read the rest of our review at the Books & Benches website here.

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James M. Fisher is the owner and editor-in-chief of The Miramichi Reader. He began TMR in 2015, realizing that there was a genuine need for more book reviews of Canadian literature. It has since become Canada’s best-regarded source for the finest in new literary releases. James has been interviewed about TMR on CBC Radio and other media sites. James works as a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Technologist and lives in Miramichi, New Brunswick with his wife Diane and their tabby cat Eddie.