• Age: 11 to 18
• Grade: 6 to 12
• Reading age: 9 to 10

Mike's lies are spinning out of control and now he's the prime suspect in a murder. He can't explain his bruised and skinned knuckles, and he can't explain why he was seen near the park where Robbie was killed. But he insists he's not a murderer. Still, if Mike really is innocent, why doesn't his alibi check out, and why are the police so sure that he's guilty?

Norah McClintock est l’auteure de plus de 40 livres, dont ceux des collections Chloe & Levesque, Mike & Riel et Robyn Hunter Mysteries, tous publiés chez Scholastic Canada. Les livres de Norah ont été traduits dans une douzaine de langues. Elle a remporté le prix Arthur Ellis dans la catégorie du meilleur roman policier jeunesse et beaucoup d’autres récompenses. Native de Montréal, Norah a obtenu un baccalauréat en histoire de l’Université McGill. Une mer de chagrin est son premier roman historique. «Il est temps d’utiliser toutes ces connaissances en histoire», a-t-elle dit. Norah vit maintenant à Toronto.

Norah McClintock is the author of Tell and Snitch, both Orca Soundings novels. Norah lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Norah McClintock's profile page

"In this book, Mike McGill, orphaned at 11 when his mother is killed in a hit-and-run accident, is now 15. Mike meets his new history teacher, John Riel, a former homicide detective. The two begin to cooperate and discover that Mike's mother was actually murdered. By the end of first title in the series, Riel is Mike's foster parent. As Mike, going through the usual teen-age angst, and Riel develop their relationship, they continue to solve mysteries. The engaging plots unfold from Mike's viewpoint. As one of the rare cases of a foster child serving as protagonist, the series, written by Norah McClintock, can also serve as a basis for discussing what it means to lose a parent." —Library Media Connection

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"It has been three years since fifteen-year-old Mike McGill's mother was killed by a hit-and-run driver; three years that Mike has been living with his uncle Billy, who is just ten years older than Mike. Billy likes to party, is not keen on parenting, and often forgets to buy food, but he is family, and he cares about Mike. Mike is a pretty good kid, helping out neighbors like Mrs. Jhun, whose husband was killed in a robbery shortly before Mike's mother died. Mike has a habit of being in places where trouble happens, however, and getting nabbed, whether he is involved or not. It is good that his history teacher, Mr. Riel, is paying close attention, and even better that Riel is a former police detective. In fact, Riel is the officer who investigated Mike's mother's death. When Riel gets Mike talking, it turns out he is good at solving cases, whether they are three-year-old murders, or the recent beating murder of one of Mike's classmates.

While avoiding graphic crime scene details, these new-to-the-US murder mysteries do not skirt the rudderless realities of growing up without a parent or the painstaking fact-finding of police work. Rather, they bring the two together in a gritty first-person narrative that is both nuanced and complex. The main characters have depth and complexity, which adds to the uncertainties as events (some of them harsh) develop. Motives and involvement unfold in the gradually quickening plot. Mike & Riel will appeal to readers who enjoy realistic fiction as well as mystery buffs." —VOYA

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