Erasing Memory

Written by Scott Thornley

Narrated by Richard Poe

Detective Superintendent MacNeice is returning from a pilgrimage to his wife's grave when he's called to a crime scene of singular and disturbing beauty. A young woman in evening dress lies gracefully posed on the floor of a pristine summer cottage so that the finger of one hand regularly interrupts the needle arm of a phonograph playing Schubert's Piano Trio. The only visible mark on her is the bruise under her chin, which MacNeice recognizes: it is the mark that distinguishes dedicated violinists, the same mark that once graced his wife. The murder is both ingenious and horrific, and soon entangles MacNeice and his team in Eastern Europe's ancient grievances. Erasing Memory is a thrilling and assured debut that kicks off an exciting new crime series from Scott Thornley.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781980060192

Scott Thornley

SCOTT THORNLEY grew up in Hamilton, Ontario, which inspired his fictional Dundurn. He is the author of five novels in the critically acclaimed MacNeice Mysteries series: Erasing Memory, The Ambitious City, Raw Bone, Vantage Point, and Middlemen. He was appointed to the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts in 1990. In 2018, he was named a Member of the Order of Canada. Thornley divides his time between Toronto and the southwest of France.

Reviews for Erasing Memory

[jarichardsonsmyth · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC. There will be spoilers.

A solid police procedural. The pace of the story changes frequently - it starts slowly, which I think really showcased MacNeice's detecting methods. He quietly takes in the scene of the crime, the sights, sounds and smells. The author reveals a lot about MacNeice in the first few chapters; for me this meant I was right at home in his pocket as he goes about investigating. As the story unfolds, various characters are pulled into the fold - his fellow detectives, the medical examiner - although some with smaller roles than others, I felt like I could see the author put all the pieces on a board, ready to be built (into I hope many books!!).

What I did not like about this story was the crime / mystery itself. It started out beautifully - a tragic end to a young violinist's life, her hand upon the record player .... her brain erased by acid injected into the ear. There was something about the death that was so refined. It continues, the father a dealer in rare books and documents (I admit, since I am a librarian, I got so excited at this point!!) ... then the let down. I typically like juxtaposition between scenes (so the refined death scene and the gritty scene at the marina); however I could not connect them in this case. That the death turned out to be about the brother getting the formula from the father to create biological weapons (so long to get there!) in a war between Romania and Bulgaria was .. anticlimactic and for me jarred with the death. It felt too weird - plus, throw in a bunch of other tensions, and I had the feeling I was an inch away from the kitchen sink. Then the suicide of the professional who orchestrated such a refined death - it just felt too twilight zone to me.

That being said - that I was unhappy with the crime / mystery had little effect - I still enjoyed the book and would highly recommend it. I am also looking forward to reading his next one - and from what I can tell, there are currently 3 others I can read.

[gypsysmom_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My sister loaned me this book which is the first in a Canadian mystery series. I thought I was pretty up on all the Canadian mystery writers but Scott Thornley was unknown to me. Nice to find a new interesting series.Detective Inspector MacNeice is a homicide investigator in a fictitious Ontario town that is based on Thornley's home town of Hamilton. His wife, who was a violinist, died about 3 years prior to the start of this book. MacNeice has been visiting her grave some spot north of the city and is on his way back when he hears a call about a body in a cottage on Lake Charles. He is very near to the turn-off to the lake so he arrives first. He discovers a beautiful young woman dressed in a designer gown lying on the floor with her hand draped over a portable record player. A recording of the second Schubert Piano Trio is playing and every time the record arm hits the woman's hand it goes back to the beginning and starts over again. There are no marks of violence on the body and she has no identification on her. MacNeice does notice that she has a small bruise on her neck which he recognizes as the mark a violin leaves. Going on that small piece of evidence he believes she may be a graduate of a music school who was celebrating her graduation at the cottage when her life ended abruptly. A search for recent graduations turns up the woman's name. She was Lydia Petrescu, daughter of Antonin Petrescu, a man who immigrated to Canada from Romania. He runs an antique furniture which obviously does quite well judging by the house he lives in. His daughter had an apartment elsewhere so he didn't know she was missing and he was devastated by the news that she was dead. Even worse was what the pathologist had discovered about the manner of her death. A syringe of sulfuric acid had been inserted in her ear and the contents injected into her temporal lobe. The acid dissolved her brain killing her almost instantly. She would have been knocked out and have felt nothing but it was still a horrible way to die. Unfortunately, Lydia's body is not the only one to be discovered at the lake. It seems like a dangerous place to hang out. MacNeice is on the case and through diligent work plus superior investigative skills he manages to solve all the killings. MacNeice is obviously still grieving his wife's death but he maintains an interest in other matters, particularly music and reading. I got a very good idea of his personality from the music he enjoyed in particular. I have never been a big Schubert fan but I have to admit that the trio piece is quite lovely.There are a number of versions available on YouTube.

[dokfintong · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As I finished this book I tried to imagine how it came to be what it is. I have decided that Mr. Thornley first thought of, or heard about, the murder method. To use it best, he needed an unusual murder scene. As he began plotting the crime, one that grows more horrific as we read, he finds he needs a grotesque murderer with a grotesque motive in order to match the power of the grotesque murder.I am not sure he entirely succeeds. To my mind the book would have been much much better if the plot were entirely domestic. Hermetic. One that did not involve sinister international intrigue. But never mind. In the process Mr. Thornley creates Mac MacNeice who is a masterpiece of a detective. For giving us MacNeice, I can overlook a plot that goes way over the top. I received a review copy of "Erasing Memory: A MacNeice Mystery (#1) by Scott Thornley (Spiderline) through NetGalley.com. The book was first published in 2011 by Vintage Canada.

[christineellei · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book would be number two on my “2011 Favorites So Far” list.

“Mac” MacNeice is a homicide detective in Dundurn, Ontario (which bears a striking resemblance to Hamilton, Ontario where the author grew up). Driving home from visiting his wife’s grave he picks up a police call about a girl murdered in a remote cottage on the lake. Mac’s investigation leads us through an interesting suspect pool involving Eastern Europeans still reeling from the fall of Soviet Union.

The story in itself was very good, but I especially liked the characters that Mr. Thornley has given us. Mac is a complex man with interests so far removed from his job that he cannot help but be a little unique. I liked the Southern Ontario setting, as it was fun to try and guess the locations in the book, and that definitely added to my personal enjoyment. Although the plots are not similar I enjoyed this book for much the same reasons as I enjoyed The Calling by Inger Ash Wolfe. If you also enjoyed The Calling then this first time author is a must read.

[paradiseporch · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

(Crime Fiction, Police Procedural, Canadian) MacNeice, police detective in the southern Ontario Canada industrial city of Dundurn, investigates the murder of a beautiful young musician.I was interested in this book chiefly because Dundurn is really Hamilton, Ontario, our “hometown” for 12 years before we moved to Nova Scotia. To my disappointment, the city doesn’t really play much of a part in the story which was a little far-fetched and hard-edged to suit me.Read this if: you enjoy tough police procedurals or you’re a long-time Hamiltonian who’s looking for a new series. 3 stars