Moon Lake

Rating:
Summary: Spooky thoughts on the Dark Woods
Review: I've never read a more fascinating book about the territory around the Lake of the Woods. The characters are well drawn in this account of family secrets and suppressed violence. At times my hair stood on end. There's a sort of mystery at the heart of this book, to do with the spoooky woods and the passions of people who live away from civilization. This novel is a really good read, comparable to Tim O'Brien's In The Lake of the Woods.

Rating:
Summary: Gripping
Review: Wayne Tefs' Moon Lake is more than a murder mystery. It is also a story of life in the Canadian Shield. The murder is the perfect vehicle to carry the life stories of the seven and possibly eight suspects in the murder.

As an abused wife, Cassie had a good reason to want her husband, La Flamme, dead. His daughters, Ruth and Virginia, had suffered physical, emotional and sexual abuse from their father. His son, Roger, had endured his violent outbursts.

The two hired men, Mort and "the Finn," as well as the residents of a nearby reserve had also been ill-treated by La Flamme. Alex, Mort's brother, and his nine year-old son arrive at Moon Lake on the night of the murder. Mysteriously all the suspects are found to be out and about at the very time and place of the murder (in the woods at the dead of night).

The book is divided into two almost equal parts. The first part concerns the murder of La Flamme and its aftermath. In the second part, the scattered members of the La Flamme family are called back to Moon Lake 25 years later about another family crisis.

With amazingly detailed description of sights, sounds and smells, Tefs defines how the dramatic, yet intimate habitat around Moon Lake affects the lives of the people who live there.

Tefs uses the sounds of the woods as life-affirming images. On the night of the murder, a newcomer on his way to Moon Lake notices, "the chatter of night birds, skitters in the leaves of bushes, in the far distance what sounded like voices shouting or calling, strange in the quiet night."

The mystery of nature, which appears to be part of the spirituality of the people, is beautifully portrayed. The residents of the reserve near Moon Lake take their old ones to a special rock outcropping where "their spirits passed from this world in peace." There are several instances of out-of-body experiences, spooky sightings, strange dreams and ghostly images.

The "whodunit" aspect of the story moves along smoothly, taking the reader from the seclusion of Moon Lake to the familiar streets of Beausejour and Winnipeg.

Moon Lake has appeal for anyone who loves the beauty of the wilderness and for those who wonder about the unsolved mysteries it keeps hidden in its depths.