Robert Sutherland is known for fast-paced contemporary young adult mysteries set around Westport, northeast of Kingston, Ontario. His current one sticks to the same geographical area but moves back in time to 1845. Fourteen-year-old Will Martin is faced with a seemingly impossible task – to find a murderer in less than a week. His father, Lieutenant James Martin, has been sentenced to hang in seven days for the murder of his commanding officer during a robbery. Only three other people knew the army payroll was in the blockhouse. One of them, Sapper Tom, apparently hid the loot before he drowned in Devil Lake close by Westport. Will heads there, hoping to find one of the remaining two attempting to recover the loot.

Sutherland heroes always have two things going for them: incredible energy and incredible luck. Will Martin proves no exception. Not only does he quickly make the acquaintance of the people he needs to investigate, but his only clue – a parrot whose garbled speech hides the clue to the murder – also conveniently appears on the scene and immediately precipitates actions that lead to the guilty person. Before he solves the puzzle, however, Will and his two new friends Tod and Tabitha experience some heart-stopping adventures on Devil Lake.

This is not a historical novel. The Rebellion of 1837 and the building of the Rideau Canal are mentioned as important events in the near past; however, neither has any bearing on the outcome of the plot. Although details of daily life in 1845 are well researched and presented, the relationships among the teenaged characters have rather too contemporary a ring: Tod seems to have no chores to do, and Tabitha spends the night in the woods with the boys. Not only is this far more freedom than a middle-class girl would be allowed in the 1840s, it is far more than even the spunkiest girl of the times would be likely to take. These cavils aside, The Secret of Devil Lake is a fast-moving adventure story that will give readers a taste of the rough frontier life of mid-19th-century Ontario.