Books·Canadian

The Red Chesterfield

The Red Chesterfield is a novel by Wayne Arthurson.

Wayne Arthurson

M is a bylaw officer, living with two brothers, in their parents' old house. While investigating a suspicious yard sale, M discovers a red chesterfield sitting in a ditch. Looking closer, M finds a running shoe — and a severed foot.

Now M is involved in a murder investigation. Meanwhile, older brother K's work for a new political party begins to seem suspicious, while younger brother J navigates the complicated world of young-adulthood, and boss Rhonda demands more and more attention. M must navigate a world of Russian gangsters and neglected wives, biker gangs and suspicious coincidences. On top of everything else, M is determined to track down the owner of that red chesterfield and make sure they get a ticket.

The Red Chesterfield is a delightful, unusual novel that upends the tropes and traditions of crime fiction while asking how far one person is willing to go to solve a crime, be it murder or the abandonment of a piece of furniture. (University of Calgary Press)

Wayne Arthurson is a writer of Cree and French Canadian descent. He is the author of five novels, including Blood Red Summer and The Traitors of Camp 133.

Interviews with Wayne Arthurson

Featured VideoEdmonton author Wayne Arthurson on subverting the detective genre in his novel The Red Chesterfield.
Featured VideoThe Edmonton writer talks about his latest book, Blood Red Summer, and why his protagonist, Leo Desroches, is so screwed-up and yet so likeable.
Featured VideoWe spoke with Wayne Arthurson about his writing and why it's so important to him to set his stories in Edmonton.

Other books by Wayne Arthurson

 

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