Juba, South Sudan.

RCMP Sergeant Ray Robertson has spent eleven and a half months serving with the United Nations in the world’s newest country. He’s tired of the chaotic traffic and jostling crowds that fill the narrow streets. Tired of the choking red dust that blows into the capital from the desert. He can’t wait to get back to his wife and kids—and back to policing a world he understands. But when a young woman—the fourth in three weeks—is found dead at the side of a dusty road with a thin white ribbon wrapped tightly around her neck, Robertson fears that a serial killer is on the loose. In a country plagued by years of extreme poverty, civil war and the struggle to establish a functioning government, the policeman realizes that it’s up to him and his Dinka partner, John Deng, to find the killer before they can strike again.

This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for older teen readers and adults who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read!

Vicki Delany began her writing career as a Sunday writer: a single mother of three high-spirited daughters with a full-time job as a computer programmer. The years passed, as they tend to do, and the three daughters, somewhat hesitantly, flew the coop, leaving Vicki more time to devote to her writing. She was able to write three novels of suspense, set in Ontario, two of which, Scare the Light Away and Burden of Memory, were published to critical acclaim by Poisoned Pen Press of Scottsdale, Arizona. In 2007, In the Shadow of the Glacier, the first book in a police procedural series set in the British Columbia Interior was published. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Vicki was raised mostly in Ontario. Vicki majored in modern history at Carleton, her interest more in the lives of ordinary women and men and the circumstances of their times than ‘big men’ and their wars. It was on a canoeing trip in Algonquin Park that Vicki, realizing that she was doing for fun what people in the past would have considered a hardship, told her trip mates stories about the incredible difficulties people endured in their attempts to get to the Klondike in search of gold, and the idea for a series of Klondike Gold Rush mysteries was set.

Vicki Delany's profile page

• Nominated, Forest of Reading Golden Oak Award
• Short-listed, The Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Award - Best Novella

"A page-turner filled with suspense. The characters are true to life as is the setting. Ray Robinson, as the main character, is a believable character complete with flaws. The plot is unpredictable with a twist at the end. Highly Recommended."

CM Magazine

"Tense and gritty, but not overtly so...[Delany has] won awards for previous mystery stories, and [her] talents come through here...Can be easily completed by a struggling or reluctant reader...[and] could spark an interest in reading for those looking for a good detective story."

VOYA

"A murder mystery that explores the complexity of culture, in a simple narrative...The story feels ripped from the headlines...This relevance, coupled with the quick narrative pace, gives the book immediacy. Robertson’s perspective is relatable and insightful. Delany’s handling of setting and culture distinguish this novel from other cop murder dramas—a genre it fits into comfortably. The descriptions are focused, so they’re clear and not wordy...Delany’s skill with concise plotting and characterization means that nothing valuable is left out...A great waiting-room read for people who want to experience worldwide thrills from within the safety of their hometown."

ForeWord Reviews