Hilda Frances Young: Community connector

Full disclosure: I have known the author since high school . We first met in 1967 at WCI in Waterloo and have remained friends. So I felt like I was reading some of Jane’s personal life in between the “light hearted murder mystery”. On the book jacket the “about the author” hints at Jane’s background in local municipal politics. The most successful writers “:write about what they know” and can embellish the “truth” to make the plot believable. Jane’s short bio states that she represented the City of Waterloo as an elected Regional Councillor for 18 years. Previously she represented the city as a trustee on the Waterloo Region District School Board. She worked as the librarian at Renison University College. Jane loves mystery and suspense novels. She lives in Waterloo with her child and two grandchildren. The “official bio” leaves out a lot of details. For instance. the name of the main characters husband is John, also the name of her husband who passed away. The details about cooking and looking after the lead character Libby Allen’s family speak of how Jane lives her life. Not sure if she suffered as much as Libby as a councilor, being ignored as the sole woman, however I know that she took the role of representing the community seriously and was always available to her constituents. I was amused as she blended imaginary old community “along the 401 corridor: “Garbardine” could be any small town with Scottish roots that had suffered from loosing its main employer over time. From old stories of holidays renting a cottage near Perth, Ontario I can imagine that Jane has based some of her description on the Perth-Kingston area. She ahs created a believable community and a story that can develop over several novels as some of the shady characters may still be “hit over the head with a commemorative brick.”

A fun read that blends the intrigue of municipal politics, party politics and the need to balance the environment, and community needs. Looking forward to seeing if Jane kills off some of the nasty councilors especially the owner of the strip show.