Sam Klein, the ex-brothel security guard turned private detective who first appeared in The Blood Libel, is not a typical Winnipegger. A local hero for his role in solving several high profile cases, Klein is still excluded from “polite” society because of his Jewish heritage and marriage to a beautiful ex-prostitute. In Sins of the Suffragette, Klein returns to take on a tangled case in the freezing Winnipeg winter of 1913.

When Emily, the several-decades-younger wife of Klein’s friend and prominent establishment attorney Alan Powers is found dead in a downtown alley alongside her young Italian lover, Powers becomes the most likely suspect. His fast confession seems to seal the police case, but neither Klein nor Powers’ lawyer, his son Graham, believe he is the killer. Klein’s subsequent investigation into Emily’s well-concealed past turns up several contradictory elements. Was she the intended victim, or was her lover Antonio the prime target? It takes all Klein’s perseverance, plus a trip to New York City, before he can make his way through a maze of drug conspiracies, corrupt cops, ethnic communities, political apathy, and a determined group of women promoting Christian temperance and universal suffrage.

This is one of those rare novels that manages to both entertain and instruct. There are several credible and complex mysteries embedded in the story and their solutions are embellished and augmented by a wealth of historical, social, and local detail. In these days of ultra-political correctness it’s somewhat shocking to realize that less than a century ago one of Canada’s largest cities openly condoned segregation, bigotry, discrimination, and police corruption. These evils may have diminished rather than disappeared, but this fact-based novel shows how far we’ve managed to come.