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A Joanne Kilbourn Mystery #7
Burying Ariel
Joanne Kilbourn is looking forward to a relaxing weekend at the lake with her children and her new grandchild when murder once more wreaks havoc in Regina, Saskatchewan. A young colleague at the university where Joanne teaches is found stabbed to death in the basement of the library.
Ariel Warren was a popular lecturer among the students and staff, and her violent death shocks � and divides � Regina’s small and fractious academic community. Kevin Coyle, a professor earlier accused of sexual harassment, is convinced the murder is connected to his case, even as Ariel’s long-time lover, Charlie Dowhanuik, a radio talk-show host, seems to point the finger at himself in his on-air comments on the day of the murder.
Aghast at Charlie’s indiscretion, his father, Howard, asks his old friend Joanne for her help. But before Joanne has a chance to start searching for the truth, she is scorched by the white-hot anger of militant feminists on campus when a vigil for the dead woman turns ugly. Instead of a tribute to Ariel’s life, the vigil becomes an angry protest about violence against women. Some of the women there are certain they know who killed Ariel, and they are out for vengeance.
The everyday family problems and joys Joanne Kilbourn experiences as she solves baffling murder cases have endeared her to a growing number of fans, as have the television movies, starring Wendy Crewson as Joanne. The seventh novel in Gail Bowen’s much-loved series, Burying Ariel offers readers an imaginative, compassionate, and, above all, challenging mystery.
From the Hardcover edition.
Ariel Warren was a popular lecturer among the students and staff, and her violent death shocks � and divides � Regina’s small and fractious academic community. Kevin Coyle, a professor earlier accused of sexual harassment, is convinced the murder is connected to his case, even as Ariel’s long-time lover, Charlie Dowhanuik, a radio talk-show host, seems to point the finger at himself in his on-air comments on the day of the murder.
Aghast at Charlie’s indiscretion, his father, Howard, asks his old friend Joanne for her help. But before Joanne has a chance to start searching for the truth, she is scorched by the white-hot anger of militant feminists on campus when a vigil for the dead woman turns ugly. Instead of a tribute to Ariel’s life, the vigil becomes an angry protest about violence against women. Some of the women there are certain they know who killed Ariel, and they are out for vengeance.
The everyday family problems and joys Joanne Kilbourn experiences as she solves baffling murder cases have endeared her to a growing number of fans, as have the television movies, starring Wendy Crewson as Joanne. The seventh novel in Gail Bowen’s much-loved series, Burying Ariel offers readers an imaginative, compassionate, and, above all, challenging mystery.
From the Hardcover edition.
272 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 2000
9 people are currently reading
166 people want to read
About the author
Gail Bowen
53Ìýbooks170ÌýfollowersGail Dianne Bowen (née Bartholomew) is a Canadian playwright and writer of mystery novels. Born in Toronto, Ontario, Bowen was educated at the University of Toronto, the University of Waterloo and the University of Saskatchewan. She subsequently taught English in Saskatchewan, and is currently a professor of English at First Nations University of Canada. Bowen's mystery novels feature Joanne Kilbourn, a widowed mother, political analyst and university professor who finds herself occasionally involved in criminal investigations in various parts of Saskatchewan. Many have been adapted as Canadian television movies by Shaftesbury Films.
Series:
*
Awards:
â—� Best Novel (1995): A Colder Kind of Death
Series:
*
Awards:
â—� Best Novel (1995): A Colder Kind of Death
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
June 16, 2022
This book made 2000 seem like lifetimes ago.
One of the funny things in this series is Joanne always mentions some HUGE thing that just somehow happened in the background of all the murder in her life like it was NBD and never mentioned in any other book and only gets like one sentence. Eg in this book she mentions running in the last provincial election just totally offhand. Lol. Also when did the other dog die? It's sort of like your friend who just starts talking about things or people in their life without giving any background and just assumes you somehow already know. Love it.
One of the funny things in this series is Joanne always mentions some HUGE thing that just somehow happened in the background of all the murder in her life like it was NBD and never mentioned in any other book and only gets like one sentence. Eg in this book she mentions running in the last provincial election just totally offhand. Lol. Also when did the other dog die? It's sort of like your friend who just starts talking about things or people in their life without giving any background and just assumes you somehow already know. Love it.
June 14, 2021
I loved Gail Bowen’s first few mysteries and appreciate Saskatchewan not pertaining to pioneers or agriculture. It is a look at modern prairie city life, whose beauty, weather, and mosaic of people are conveyed beautifully. The novels have political content, recognizable to Canadians and duly educating every other reader. Acquainting the family offsets the unpleasantness of crime types of mysteries.
Although “Deadly Appearances� only débuted in 1990, Gail is my parents� age. Cats and people have gained longevity. It is aggravating that protagonist, Joanne, is 10 years older than me but serious and world weary; my complaint of Patricia Cornwell’s heroine. However, Joanne has warmth that blankets family, friends, and crime victims.
Compassion, even fictional, is always important. My grade is three stars because there was little to like about characters and their attitudes, with a barrage of topics. We encountered feminism, interracial love, protestor etiquette, and scarred skin. I understand spreading suspicion and making rounds to solve mysteries. However, there were too many guest personages and two of Joanne’s friends� histories to acquaint. A friend well-known by readers would do better in a convoluted novel such as �Burying Ariel�, 2000.
A professor at Joanne’s university was murdered, whose boyfriend was the son of that political friend. Howard and the boy are irritating, personas non gratas. Ariel used to be a child with whom Joanne’s daughter played. Joanne rode to Ariel’s private family service by air, at an island cottage. This showed the majesty of hidden prairie landscapes.
The moments of warmth, scenery, and humour were diluted by ugly components. With Howard’s needy son, is a chauvinist male colleague and a female, personifying angry protestor stereotypes that Joanne viewed with disdain. Neighbours of Ariel’s and her boyfriend’s townhouse were a circus unto themselves. Perhaps I will like mystery #8 better.
Although “Deadly Appearances� only débuted in 1990, Gail is my parents� age. Cats and people have gained longevity. It is aggravating that protagonist, Joanne, is 10 years older than me but serious and world weary; my complaint of Patricia Cornwell’s heroine. However, Joanne has warmth that blankets family, friends, and crime victims.
Compassion, even fictional, is always important. My grade is three stars because there was little to like about characters and their attitudes, with a barrage of topics. We encountered feminism, interracial love, protestor etiquette, and scarred skin. I understand spreading suspicion and making rounds to solve mysteries. However, there were too many guest personages and two of Joanne’s friends� histories to acquaint. A friend well-known by readers would do better in a convoluted novel such as �Burying Ariel�, 2000.
A professor at Joanne’s university was murdered, whose boyfriend was the son of that political friend. Howard and the boy are irritating, personas non gratas. Ariel used to be a child with whom Joanne’s daughter played. Joanne rode to Ariel’s private family service by air, at an island cottage. This showed the majesty of hidden prairie landscapes.
The moments of warmth, scenery, and humour were diluted by ugly components. With Howard’s needy son, is a chauvinist male colleague and a female, personifying angry protestor stereotypes that Joanne viewed with disdain. Neighbours of Ariel’s and her boyfriend’s townhouse were a circus unto themselves. Perhaps I will like mystery #8 better.
February 17, 2017
Picking nits, I know, but Howard's wife's name was Marty in the previous books, not Marnie. It was constantly throwing me out of an otherwise strong story. Couldn't someone have referred to her as Marty just once?
June 24, 2017
After abandoning "Murder at the Mendel" I was bookless, and without wifi service so was forced to reading what I had with me in our camper van. And that was this book. This one I actually enjoyed a bit, enough to get engaged in it and finish it to the end. I must say, I don't love the main character, Joanne, and the likelihood of she and I being friends is slim to none(if in fact she was real) so spending time with her as a fictional character was also not that enjoyable. The whole academic "I'm smarter therefore better than you" flavour of this book overshadowed the more likeable aspects of it (family togetherness, new grandmotherhood, indigenous integration) but on the whole, i enjoyed it, and the fact that I remember much of it a couple of weeks later, speaks to its impact. Will I search out this author to read her other novels? Nah. Very unlikely.
September 22, 2019
I always learn from Gail Bowen's mysteries as she tosses in a few unfamiliar (to me) quotes and bits of Canadian history. With this seventh foray into her amateur sleuth's adventures, the mystery is somewhat secondary to the reactions of the various people who knew and/or loved the victim. One interesting facet of death is the competition among those who survive as to who was closest to the deceased. Bowen explores this phenomenon subtly as her heroine pulls together clues to discover the murderer.
February 28, 2018
One of Joanne's co workers is found stabbed in the archive room at the University. A tale of over zealous women who want to use Ariel's tragic murder to garner further support for their group seeking support for Little Red Riding Hood murders. The son of Joanne's friend and former Premier, Howard Dowhaniuk is the prime suspect so Joanne is motivated to sift through the department politics and uncover the truth. Not one of my favourite Gail Bowen books.
February 9, 2019
This plot seemed a bit busy and it seems to me that, having read later books, Taylor and Joanne are ageing at different rates.
October 20, 2022
I quite enjoyed this mystery. Not to mention I didn't get who "dunn it" till the end; admittedly the why didn't seem quite match up. But that could just be me. Tiny details confused me, but that too, could be, because this was the first of the series I have read. Really dumb details. What does hemp oil have to do with be intimate? How did all the kids fit into the family? I'm sure as I read the earlier books in the series, it will become clear.
I will say Joanne is quite a good protagonist. Having read mysteries where I wonder how the protagonist gets here or why they are investigating, this all flowed quite well. I do folks who have depth and "skills" not apparent to the human eye; ones that slowly reveal themselves,
By the time, we get to a woman trying to insult Joanne by calling her "middle this and middle that", we, the reader, know that this person thinks she knows Joanne, and yet, we also know, this is a very superficial knowledge of her. I like characters that are so much more than they seem, that slowly reveal why they are the ones at the center of our tale.
I will say Joanne is quite a good protagonist. Having read mysteries where I wonder how the protagonist gets here or why they are investigating, this all flowed quite well. I do folks who have depth and "skills" not apparent to the human eye; ones that slowly reveal themselves,
By the time, we get to a woman trying to insult Joanne by calling her "middle this and middle that", we, the reader, know that this person thinks she knows Joanne, and yet, we also know, this is a very superficial knowledge of her. I like characters that are so much more than they seem, that slowly reveal why they are the ones at the center of our tale.
March 30, 2020
Joanne Kilbourn mystery. Nice to have story set in place I know and even using occasional characters and businesses I know. Kilbourn solves murder of female instructor in her U of R poli sci department. Weaves personal life with kids and love into the mix -- like real people. Great lit maybe not, but a quite enjoyable read.
February 6, 2020
This was good. I have read the first in the Charlie series and saw this one on the library list so downloaded it and was not disappointed. Joanne is a fifty year old with a very full life. Now I want to read more of Gail's books. I am curious about the Marty/Marne topic though.
December 22, 2018
Another great book in this series
February 25, 2019
1st Joann Kilbourn Mystery I've read. Saw both movies. Enjoy the book more.
August 22, 2024
Horrible
June 17, 2020
A young colleague at the small University were Joanne teaches is found stabbed to death in the basement of the Library. Ariel Warren was a popular professor at the University. Ariel’s boyfriend, Charlie is suspected and his father, a close friend of Joanne seeks her help. The tensions are very raw at the University. An ultra feminist group posts a vengeful website that seeks to find justice for Ariel.
An angry protest against violence against women breaks out on what was supposed to be a quiet vigil to the dead woman. Excellent story of family life make this series quite enjoyable.
An angry protest against violence against women breaks out on what was supposed to be a quiet vigil to the dead woman. Excellent story of family life make this series quite enjoyable.
December 14, 2013
Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ apparently didn't like my review because it ate it before it posted :)
These books continue to get better in my opinion. I really like Joanne and her kids, and can imagine hanging out with them. I love that Joanne is approachable enough that she is often asked for favours from people she doesn't really know.
The writing in these books is wonderful, Gail Bowen seems to be unafraid to use big words and classical allusions, rather than assuming the reader won't understand. Off to find the next in the series.
These books continue to get better in my opinion. I really like Joanne and her kids, and can imagine hanging out with them. I love that Joanne is approachable enough that she is often asked for favours from people she doesn't really know.
The writing in these books is wonderful, Gail Bowen seems to be unafraid to use big words and classical allusions, rather than assuming the reader won't understand. Off to find the next in the series.
July 12, 2007
My first foray into Gail Bowen's engaging series of mysteries featuring a 50ish woman who is an academic at a Canadian university. It has a touch of Canadian earnestness and gives itself a little too much of a pat on the back for its diversity, but axit retains an edge.
August 22, 2009
Gail Bowen's mysteries truly bring out Saskatchewan. This Joanne Kilbourn story involves, murder on a University Campus and the close connections of media, politics and the personal in small town Canada.
December 9, 2010
I enjoyed the humor of this author as she writes of a mysterious murder. She sprinkles her main character Joanne, with wholesome family values in a modern Canadian family. There is nothing wholesome about this murder or the people involved as the novel unfolds...
September 8, 2009
Tough to get into after reading Ruth Rendall. The quality of the writing is miles apart. So what if it's set in Regina.
April 22, 2010
A so-so mystery, part of a Canadian series. Set in academia with shrill feminists and an implausible plot.
May 23, 2010
Better than I thought it would be. Glad I didn't pass it by (which I was going to do simply because it was one of those sunday afternoon network tv movies)
June 1, 2022
It has been over 20 years since I read this the first time.
I really enjoyed it again.
I really enjoyed it again.
April 8, 2012
Another good book in the series. The rabid feminists in this book made me a bit uncomfortable but the mystery was a page turner.
February 28, 2013
Great read. Started in the middle of the series and am hooked. Now I have to go back to the beginning. Can't wait!
Read
May 1, 2016Ariel, a colleague of Joanne's, is murdered at the U. Suspicion falls on her boyfriend, Charlie Dowhaniuk.
-very strong women-libbers: actual man-haters
-not a very compelling story
-very strong women-libbers: actual man-haters
-not a very compelling story
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 8, 2016
Well written as usual, but a bit darker, and with less likeable and slightly less fleshed out characters than previous books in the series.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
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