Fire on the Runway - (Paul Shenstone Mystery) by Mel Bradshaw (Paperback)

About the Book

In the mid-1920s, Torontonians move to the beat of the Jazz Age and war is the furthest thing from their minds. Then a fatal grenade explosion breaks the rhythm. Police detective Paul Shenstone believes it was an attempted assassination and uncovers dangerous secrets about an illicit rearmament scheme that threatens world peace.

Book Synopsis

In the mid-1920s, Torontonians move to the beat of the Jazz Age and war is the furthest thing from their minds. Then a fatal grenade explosion breaks the rhythm. Police detective Paul Shenstone believes it was an attempted assassination and uncovers dangerous secrets about an illicit rearmament scheme that threatens world peace.

Review Quotes

Bradshaw does a good job of combining personal lives, specific crime investigations, and large, grave international trends and events in compelling, reasonably logical fashion.

Bradshaw's skill for depicting details is what brings post-war Toronto to life.

Fire on the Runway is Bradshaw at the top of his game. He writes a story in which murder, espionage and good old-fashioned detective work are challenging and satisfying despite the absence of forensic toys.

This excellent police thriller set in 1926 Canada is the second case (after Quarrel with the Foe) for Bradshaw's World War I vet. It's reminiscent of John Buchan's classic The Thirty-Nine Steps, with abundant espionage and historical detailing.

Whoopee! Mel Bradshaw takes us to the Jazz Age in Toronto just in time for the Great Gatsby party. Historical reconstruction is Bradshaw's forte (his early Victorian mystery, Death in the Age of Steam, was short-listed for an Arthur Ellis Award) and he's at the top of his game here with mysterious maidens and hot jazz.

Bradshaw does a good job of combining personal lives, specific crime investigations, and large, grave international trends and events in compelling, reasonably logical fashion.-- "London Free Press"

Bradshaw's skill for depicting details is what brings post-war Toronto to life.-- "Merchant of Menace: Sleuths of Bake Street Newsletter"

Fire on the Runway is Bradshaw at the top of his game. He writes a story in which murder, espionage and good old-fashioned detective work are challenging and satisfying despite the absence of forensic toys.-- "Hamilton Spectator"

This excellent police thriller set in 1926 Canada is the second case (after Quarrel with the Foe) for Bradshaw's World War I vet. It's reminiscent of John Buchan's classic The Thirty-Nine Steps, with abundant espionage and historical detailing.-- "Library Journal"

Whoopee! Mel Bradshaw takes us to the Jazz Age in Toronto just in time for the Great Gatsby party. Historical reconstruction is Bradshaw's forte (his early Victorian mystery, Death in the Age of Steam, was short-listed for an Arthur Ellis Award) and he's at the top of his game here with mysterious maidens and hot jazz.-- "Globe and Mail"

About the Author

Mel Bradshaw studied English and philosophy at the University of Toronto and continued at Oxford. His first novel, Death in the Age of Steam, was shortlisted for an Arthur Ellis Award for best first crime novel. He lives in Toronto.