Griffin’s Cure
J.C. Paulson / 22 September 2020

Griffin’s Cureby J.C. PaulsonPublished by Joanne PaulsonReview by Michelle Shaw$20 ISBN 9780995975668 A brilliant scientist lies dead in his laboratory at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) at the University of Saskatchewan. There is no bullet wound, no stab wound, no sign of blunt force trauma. In fact, no obvious cause of death. Yet he was clearly murdered. This is the fourth book in J.C. Paulson’s Adam and Grace romantic suspense series and Paulson really does get better with each book. The plot in Griffin’s Cure revolves around a unique mushroom with unusual healing powers and a brilliant young University of Saskatchewan student Jay Griffin. There’s lots of action (romantic and otherwise) as Detective Sergeant Adam Davis of the Saskatoon Police and StarPhoenix reporter Grace Rampling desperately try to figure out who killed Dr Taras Petrenko before more people are murdered. Once again Paulson sets her story in Saskatoon, this time primarily at the University of Saskatchewan. The Departments of Agriculture and Dentistry feature prominently, a police officer goes undercover as a student and there’s lots of intrigue among academic staff and students. For a little international flair, there’s even a Prague connection. Timewise this book occurs shortly after the previous…

Broken Through
Joanne Paulson / 5 September 2019

Broken Throughby J. C. PaulsonPublished by Joanne PaulsonReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$20.00 ISBN 9-780995-975620 Broken Through is former Saskatoon journalist J.C. Paulson’s follow-up to her first genre-blending novel, Adam’s Witness, and the author’s only getting better. In the new book, heroine Grace Rampling – a Saskatoon StarPhoenix reporter – digs into another gritty story after a friend’s neighbour’s dog is shot on the same day there’s been a fatal hit-and-run in Saskatoon. Then: the neighbor, a young dental hygienist who recently kicked a drinking problem, is found brutally murdered in her home. And – spoiler alert – she was pregnant. The father? The philandering dentist she worked for. That’s hardly all: Rampling’s romantic partner, Detective Sergeant Adam Davis (from the earlier book), is investigating the murder, and the handsome and capable cop quickly connects this crime with others committed against petite, long-haired brunettes in Saskatoon and Winnipeg. Can you say serial killer? The novel definitely earns the moniker of a mystery, but one could also call it a romance. New lovers Rampling and Davis are extremely passionate about one another, but both are also being careful. Davis suffers from PTSD, which manifests in violent nightmares. “I feel like a piece…