The Silk Train Murder: A Mystery of the Klondike

Neither very mysterious nor set in the Klondike, Canadian author Rowse's debut drowns out its straightforward whodunit plot with somewhat awkward period detail. John Lansdowne Grenville, an English nobleman's fourth son, sought his fortune in the New World, but came up bust after a stint in the Yukon gold fields. Later, in Vancouver in 1899, Grenville runs into his former partner, Sam Scott, who convinces him to sign on as a guard for a silk train, a high-speed train that rushes raw silk shipped from the Orient to Vancouver onto the East Coast. When a body is found near the train, Scott is arrested for murder. Grenville declares himself a detective and sets about attempting to clear his friend's name, taking on young errand boy Trent Davis and bored society girl Emily Turner as sidekicks. Perhaps the proposed series will flesh out the characters and setting, but Rowse does little more than set the stage in this unprepossessing kickoff. (Nov.)