Annie Hansen and Small-Town Murder

Gunshots interrupt life in Serendipity in Kenna McKinnon's Batshit Crazy On Murder Island. Annie Hansen goes to Ben Rough's butcher shop and discovers that he has been killed. What first appears to be a local crime leads toward connections with the Canadian criminal underworld.

A familiar town becomes a crime scene

The arrival of violent drug dealers changes the stakes in this otherwise quiet community. Ben, known as the Butcher, is connected to people and activities Annie must understand if she is to make sense of his death. The investigation requires looking beyond the shop and the first discovery.

Annie works with her partner, RCMP Detective Mark Snow. Their shared involvement gives readers both Annie's personal investment in the clues and a connection to the police investigation. The question is how those clues fit together, rather than simply who happened to be nearby when the shots were fired.

A protagonist with an ongoing life

Annie also lives with schizophrenia. Following her through the investigation means meeting a protagonist who brings an ongoing life and personal challenges to the work of making sense of a crime.

This second Annie Hansen mystery continues her partnership with Snow while giving them a death close to the town's daily life. Ben's shop is the point of discovery, but understanding his connections takes the inquiry beyond that familiar setting and toward the people bringing new danger into Serendipity.