Tropeano's Gun ― An Aliette Nouvelle Mystery

It?s late January: cold, bleak, everyone waiting for a much-desired spring. On orders from HQ, Inspector Aliette Nouvelle is attending sessions with the police psychologist. The powers that be have ruled that Aliette?s failure to carry her gun is directly related to the messy conclusion of a major murder case she led the previous summer. She must learn to use deadly force. There is practice at the police shooting range. There is counseling with the psychologist. Both are deemed vital to perfecting her aim. The killing spree begins with savage knifings. When city-based Police Judiciare Inspector Pierre Tropeano becomes a victim, the knife is left. But his service arm is taken and subsequently used in more killings. The knife pulled from Tropeano?s gut changes everything. As she wanders the night streets, getting a feel for the gun in her pocket, Inspector Nouvelle finds clues to the whereabouts of Tropeano?s gun ?and a killer. But her unofficial investigation takes place off-duty and far from her allotted patch. One false step and she could lose her job. Or her life. Is she ready to use her gun?

John Brooke became fascinated by criminality and police work listening to the courtroom stories and observations of his father, a long-serving judge. Although he lives in Montreal, John makes frequent trips to France for both pleasure and research. He earns a living as a freelance writer and translator, has also worked as a film and video editor as well as directed four films on modern dance. Brooke?s first novel, The Voice of Aliette Nouvelle, was published in 1999. There have since been four other follow-ups in the Aliette Nouvelle series: All Pure Souls, Stifling Folds of Love, The Unknown Masterpiece, Walls of a Mind, and now As for Me and My Gun. His poetry and short stories have been widely published and in 1998 his story ?The Finer Points of Apples? won him the Journey Prize.