Prisoners of Hope: An Amanda Doucette Mystery

In Fradkin’s taut third Amanda Doucette mystery (after 2017’s The Trickster’s Lullaby), former overseas medical worker Amanda, who’s engaged in a cross-Canada charity tour, embarks on a kayaking trip in Ontario’s Georgian Bay to benefit a group of abused women and their children. Out on the bay, she and Ronny Gifford, a local guide, rescue a young woman whose boat has capsized and who says her name is Sophia. Ronny takes Sophia to the mainland, leaving Amanda stranded on an island. Amanda is rescued by the grieving Candy, whose father, Toronto neurologist Henry Benson Humphries, died under mysterious circumstances the day before at the estate of his party-loving, foul-mouthed wife, Janine Saint Clair. Amanda learns that Sophia is actually Danielle Torres, Janine’s overworked Filipino nanny, and she’s the chief suspect in Henry’s death. When Amanda later finds Ronny’s body in a remote rural area, suspicion again falls on Danielle. RCMP Corporal Chris Tymko, Amanda’s love interest, and Matthew Goderich, who runs Amanda’s Fun for Families charity, assist Amanda in tracking down the killer. Fradkin combines a white-knuckle mystery with a look at the serious social problem of foreign worker exploitation. (Oct.)