Stan Coveleski (Stan Coveleski, detective)
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An ex-police officer, he is now a private detective. He works in the Montreal region. It is 1947. |
 Illustration : Bernard Duchesne |
A very valuable necklace has been stolen from Mrs. Dufresne, a crotchety old lady who lives in Outremont. Coveleski is charged with recovering it. He first checks out the servants. They all seem above suspicion, except Dan Cloutier, an ex-driver with a coloured past. Then he looks into the family. That's when the case gets complicated : Mrs Dufresne's children have broken all contact with their mother, except Henri-Paul, an overbearing man who doesn't appreciate the detective butting into the family's affairs. There is also Jeanne, Mrs. Dufresne's beautiful daughter, and in particular Sylvia, Jeanne's daughter, much too smart for her seventeen years. Like the good investigator he is, Coveleski uses his contacts to recover the jewel. One night, everything goes awry : he is savagely attacked near Beaver Lake on Mount Royal ; his informant is murdered and, worse yet, the police are after him. But while he was being beaten on the mountain, Coveleski recognized a voice... |
| Maxime
Houde La Voix sur la montagne (The Voice on the Mountain) 274 pages, $13.95 |
 Illustration : Bernard Duchesne |
Coveleski is not happy with his divorce from Kathryn. Some evenings, in his darkest moments, he goes to the red light district and confides in Fleurette, a prostitute he once helped get out of trouble. During one of these visits, he is picked up in a police raid and has to confront an old colleague, Frank DeVries, who meanwhile has become chief investigator. As head of Heading up the team that is hunting for the man who is raping and killing women all over the city, DeVries would like to get Coveleski back working with him, but Coveleski declines. There is no way he will use the dubious methods of the Montreal police force : it is this rotten work environment that had made him so gloomy and finally drove Kathryn away. But when the mutilated corpse of Fleurette is discovered... Between his awkward efforts to get back with his wife, the mounting number of murders, an investigation that is going nowhere and the reporters getting up in arms, Coveleski, sick at heart, wonders : will he find any light at the end of all his tunnels ? |
| Maxime
Houde La Mort dans l'âme (Sick at Heart) 275 pages, $13.95 |
 Illustration : Bernard Duchesne |
Life is far from restful for Coveleski : not only has someone trashed his office but the same thing happened to the apartment of Emma, his secretary - who has disappeared to boot! Conrad Knox, the big boss of the gambling world, is the first who offers to exchange Emma for the pictures. Then Madame Beauchamp, the bordello queen of the red light district, does the same. But what pictures ? wonders Coveleski, who is caught between the two, his heart in his boots ! As if this were not enough, the police are now taking an interest in his comings and goings, and Louis, his ex-partner, seems to be closely connected to the case. But the worst thing is that this story has reminded Coveleski of an incident that has been tormenting him for years, the event that precipitated the break-up of his marriage. If he wants to win back his wife as well as his dignity, Coveleski must reveal his secret to Kathryn. But in order to do that, he must first stay alive ! |
| Maxime
Houde Le Salaire de la honte (The Salary of Shame) 278 pages, $13.95 |
 Illustration : Bernard Duchesne |
Stan Coveleski is feeling good : his wife has invited him to spend the weekend with her at the house of an old girl-friend of hers, Clémence Durand, in Joliette. Clémence's husband, Jacques, a lawyer, would like the PI to investigate the Count of Fontenailles, a real estate developer who recently moved to the region. According to the lawyer, the man is a crook. When they arrive, Clémence immediately monopolizes Kathryn, while Coveleski is treated to the husband's loud, bitter speeches. It is in Jacques' noisy company that Stan begins his investigation. But everyone they meet has only kind words for the Count, much to Durand's disappointment, and Coveleski is close to believing that the lawyer is jealous of the high regard people have for the Count. Then, in the evening, the detective is attacked by two men who order him to leave Joliette. And a murder disturbs the peace of the snow-blanketed little town. Is the case more serious than Stan thought ? Only when Kathryn disappears does Coveleski finally realize what is happening : what he thought to be a simple weekend outing is turning into a horrible nightmare. |
| Maxime
Houde Le Prix du mensonge (The Price of Lies) 242 pages, $13.95 |
