Mystery readers are used to fictional detectives from a wide variety of occupations, but the freelance writer/sleuth is a new species on the Canadian scene. Sid Rafferty, it turns out, is a lot like his creator, Vancouver Island writer Matt Hughes. Both worked in Ottawa, dabbled in several areas of journalism and communications, and then drifted west to beautiful British Columbia.

Rafferty is, like most of his freelance brethren, perpetually hovering on the edge of poverty. He almost makes the big time with a movie deal but then finds his best chance for temporary fiscal relief is a puff piece for a new local ski resort. His only other “opportunity” is writing a brochure for a speculative company fronted by sleazy Vancouver stock promoter Leonard “The Weasel” Geisel who hopes to recover platinum from mine tailings. Rafferty takes on both jobs before he discovers their flaws – the ski resort is funded by Mafia money, the platinum recoverers won’t even talk to him, and he is almost killed when their laboratory explodes.

His next job, offered by his politically connected ex-wife, involves the transformation of a charismatic paraplegic from local hero to key player in a coup to unseat the provincial premier. While Rafferty conscientiously does his thing, he finds unexpected links with the ski slopes and platinum processors. He also draws the unwelcome attention of fervent fundamentalists, agents of foreign commercial interests, and sophisticated political players who have raised amorality to an art form.

By the time all the bits fall into place after an explosive climax, the reader has seen plenty of action, duplicity, and romance, linked with some snappy humour. The result is neither great literature nor blockbuster suspense – Downshift fits easily into the pool of comfortable, laid-back Canadian crime fiction. As an added bonus, Hughes provides plenty of B.C. background, from political notes to comments on road conditions, ferry operations, and the habits of island denizens.