Detective J. P. Dalpe, later promoted to Sergeant Detective, is assigned in the early 1920s to a special detective squad of the Quebec Provincial Police to fight crime in Hull, Quebec. The crime was so rampant in the 1920s and 30s that the New York Times called Hull "Little Chicago."
Dalpe's first major homicide investigation is the death of a man known in the St. Pierre de Wakefield area as the Hermit. The mutilated body is discovered in the dirt cellar of his small isolated cabin. Whilst this investigation is being pursued, Dalpe is sent south of Montreal to solve the murder of a man whose body is found at a town's nuisance grounds. He tracks down the murderer in Vermont and brings him back to Quebec to face justice.
Dalpe is later called upon to investigate the suspicious poisoning of a young woman in the village of Maniwaki. He suspects the sister has a hand in the death. This investigation is followed by the shooting of a man by his nephew in the same region of Quebec.
With the end of the Roaring Twenties and the arrival of the Great Depression in the 30s, Dalpe is called upon to solve one of the most heinous crimes to have ever occurred in Hull. An unemployed lumberjack is brutally beaten to death in the bush off Aylmer Road on the outskirts of Hull. Dalpe needs to coordinate the investigation with the Hull City Police Force and the Ottawa Police Force to track down suspects. He learns that organized crime is behind the murder.
The last case of Dalpe's distinguished career involves many men who are engaged in treachery, robbery, and murder. A young bank clerk is murdered while he is carrying a large sum of money from the Hull bank where he is employed to an Ottawa clearinghouse. Dalpe, as the senior officer in Hull, is once again brought into a case that is followed by Canadians across the country. He must demonstrate much tact when his boss in Montreal, Chief Detective Jargaille pushes Dalpe to the background and assumes the lead detective role in the case.
Landry, Keith: - Keith Landry is a Canadian author whose first published book was "Allumette Island Massacre and Three Other Canadian Crime Stories." Keith wrote two short stories in the 1980's and submitted them to a magazine writing contest. He won first and second prizes. Because of a busy career in government and raising a family, he did not continue with his writing. Now 70 years old, he spends a lot of time reading old newspapers searching for true crimes that can be brought alive for today's readers through his storytelling. Keith is inspired by crime news reporters of the past who wrote so passionately and without name recognition to meet the tight print deadlines for daily newspapers published for a public thirsty for local and national news. Keith thanks his wife Vivian for her work in the proofing and editing and for her sketch on the book cover. Without her assistance, this book would not be possible. Keith warmly thanks his friend Stephen Duggan who read the book and helpfully identified inconsistencies. Keith thanks all those people who bought his first book. He is most grateful for their support and feedback. keithhlandy.com
