By the Time You Read This

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
This Giles Blunt crime fiction thriller starring Canadian detective John Cardinal (Black Fly Season, The Delicate Storm, et al.) is an intensely heartrending tale of sorrow and loss that revolves around two very different cases: one involving the suicide of Cardinal's wife, Catherine, who had battled manic-depression for years; and the other dealing with a pedophile who, after apparently posting hundreds of sexually explicit photos on the Internet, has been traced to northern Ontario.

Cardinal is still reeling from the sudden death of his wife, who jumped from a high-rise building and left behind a hand-written note beginning, "Dear John, By the time you read this…" -- after decades spent in and out of psychiatric hospitals, Catherine finally seemed to be taking strides toward wellness. But while Cardinal should be home grieving, the appearance of sadistically taunting sympathy cards in the mail propels him to further investigate his wife's death -- even if it puts his job in jeopardy. Meanwhile, Cardinal's partner, Lise Delorme, is given a "real stomach-turner" of a case involving pictures of the vile sexual abuse of a child -- pictures that seem to identify the detectives' jurisdiction, Algonquin Bay, as one of the assault locations. As Cardinal and Delorme unravel equally disturbing mysteries, they come to a horrific realization: The cases are somehow linked.

Comparable to Steve Hamilton's Alex McKnight novels (A Stolen Season et al.), By the Time You Read This is a darkly atmospheric page-turner that will be next to impossible to put down. Paul Goat Allen

Publishers Weekly

Set in remote Algonquin Bay, Ontario, Blunt's compelling fourth crime novel to feature John Cardinal (after Blackfly Season) finds the police detective mourning the death of his wife, an apparent suicide. Then Cardinal starts receiving cold, hate-filled notes gloating over his loss. Stirred and angered into believing that his wife may have been murdered, he sets about looking into who might be refusing to let the dead-or, more particularly, himself-rest easy. Meanwhile, his partner, Lise Delorme, is busy trying to track down the pedophile responsible for a cache of appalling photos featuring a small girl who may live in or near Algonquin Bay. An unexpected yet utterly realistic twist lifts this novel into extremely interesting (and entertaining) territory. Sharp dialogue, complex characters and a satisfying conclusion should help Blunt, who has won Britain's Silver Dagger and Canada's Arthur Ellis Award, win new readers in the U.S. Author tour. (Feb.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

In Silver Dagger Award winner Blunt's latest, Det. John Cardinal (Blackfly Season) is back, and this time it's personal. His wife, Catherine, who for several years has been hospitalized on and off for depression, has seemingly leapt off a roof to her death, leaving a note behind. The coroner and police department rule it a suicide, and her psychiatrist, Dr. Frederick Bell, concurs. Cardinal has some doubts when disturbing notes arrive at his home, but he quickly realizes he is the only one with these doubts. Fellow police officer Lise Delorme feels bad for her friend, but she is tied up trying to track down a local pedophile who has plastered pictures of a young girl all over the Internet. More suicides among Dr. Bell's patients in this small Ontario town further convince Cardinal that something is amiss, and, contrary to departmental policy, he continues to investigate on his own while assisting Delorme with her investigation. Ostensibly a police procedural, this beautifully written and unusual story is really more of a suspenseful, psychological study of evil. Strongly recommended for all public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ10/15/06.]
—Stacy Alesi Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Kirkus Reviews

Canadian detective John Cardinal (Black Fly Season, 2005, etc.) won't have to worry about his depressive wife anymore: She's taken a fatal plunge from the roof of an apartment building. If ever there was an open-and-shut case of suicide, it's Catherine Cardinal's. She'd been hospitalized a dozen times for depression; her psychiatrist, Dr. Frederick Bell, acknowledges that she was "no stranger to suicidal thoughts"; she left a clear-headed note to her husband; and the rooftop where she'd gone to take pictures shows no signs of anyone's presence but her own. Even so, the more closely Cardinal looks into her death, in flagrant violation of departmental rules, the more convinced he is that Catherine didn't kill herself-or that if she did, her death is only one of a suspicious rash of suicides in little Algonquin Bay. Chief R.J. Kendall, livid at Cardinal's cowboy sleuthing, tries to pull him off the case by assigning him to Lise Delorme's search for a pedophile who's spent five years documenting in photographs his abuse of a young girl. But Delorme's investigation offers no relief, partly because it's equally grim and unsparing, partly because it turns out to have a sickening, surprising connection to Cardinal's own. Along the way, Blunt pulls off a remarkable feat: He makes a story drenched in sadness almost unbearably exciting. The result is the most beautifully written, deeply felt page-turner of the year.