The Road to Heaven

A gripping noir mystery introducing artless young detective Patrick Bird, set in Torontos Parkdale during the tumultuous 60s. I didnt kill her. I had the thought, the idea. Whats the saying? The road to heaven is paved with bad intentions? Police academy burnout turned private eye Patrick Bird works divorce cases, using his camera to catch the unfaithful and the lonely looking for love in rented rooms. But his easy routine is shattered by a new case involving a missing girl. Sixteen-year-old Abbie Linklater hasnt been home for three days. Her mother believes Abbies getting an abortion. Her twin brother thinks shes studying at the library. Her best friend couldnt care less. Her father has no idea; he just wants her home without involving the police. Before the sun sets on the first day of his investigation, as Bird roams the streets of Toronto looking for the runaway, hes caught a drifter prowling in the Linklaters backyard, stumbled into a creepy church with a belligerent minister, sparred with the client, been hit by a car, and discovered some loose ends in a bank robbery gone wrong a decade earlier. And that was before he found the body.