In Valhalla’s Shadows

Valgardson (The Girl with the Botticelli Face) examines one man’s depression in this sprawling novel, which incidentally concerns a mysterious death. Tom Parsons, a former Mountie who is suffering from PTSD, is separated from his wife and estranged from his children. Tom leaves home in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and, through a series of chance encounters, winds up living in the tiny enclave of Valhalla, about an hour’s drive from the city. Just a few weeks after his arrival, he discovers the shoeless body of a 15-year-old girl lying face down in a puddle of muddy water. Tom becomes a person of interest for the local Mounties. From that premise, the story settles into its real purpose: allowing Tom to meet his eccentric neighbors, explore Icelandic-Canadian culture, dig into the darker strata of life in an isolated community, and come to terms with his own conflicted past. While this is not for readers looking for a whodunit, it will resonate with those seeking a poetic slice of the Great White North. (Mar.)