SaskBooks Book Picks - 'Griffin's Cure' set in Saskatoon

Griffin’s Cure
By J.C. Paulson
Published by Joanne Paulson
Review 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.

As a resident of Saskatoon, I love the fact that the books are set in familiar surroundings. In Griffin’s Cure, when Paulson describes the young man sitting on a park bench, perched on the hill overlooking the South Saskatchewan River I can see it so clearly in my imagination. Her description of the Thorvaldson Building: “built to resemble a small castle, the old building’s stone exterior loomed with sturdy elegance over the students rushing in and out of its heavy doors” conjures up a vivid picture in my mind. Even the mention of the Esso on the corner of Clarence and Eighth made me smile in recognition.