New mystery novel showcases struggle between medical world and Christian faith
With heavy hearts we announce that Brian passed away at home, surrounded by family. He was born in Central Butte and lived all over Saskatchewan. His heart remained in Riverhurst where he grew up, and Bjorkdale and Saskatoon where he spent his final years. Brian had a unique sense of humour and could chat with anyone, most likely finding something in common. He was proud to be in the Kinsmen Club and part of early Telemiracles. He grew up playing baseball and loved the sport his whole life. He started as a Bomber’s fan but converted to the Riders. He also enjoyed collecting antiques and obscure items.
Brian was predeceased by his parents (Henry & Agnes) and sisters (Lynn & Ina Dell). He is survived by his strong and loving wife Yvonne; sons Ryan (Natalie), Trevor (Cynthia), and Dakota (Shantal); and stepchildren Anita (Kimm) Barker, Danielle (Barry) Smith, and Blair (Jenna) Bush. He will be deeply missed by his ten grandchildren whom he loved very much; Halee, Noah, Thomas, Anastasia, Joshua, Halley, Zack, Jesse, Benett, and Cohen. Brian loved spending time with them all and they loved grandpa as much in return. He will also be lovingly remembered by his sisters Ann (Ed) McNally, Gayle (George) Rehbein, Kim Sevigny; brothers Barry (Hedy) Olson, and Kerry (Barb) Olson; as well as many nieces, nephews and beloved dog Daisy. A Celebration of Life was held on January 25. Donations can be made to the Saskatoon Cancer Center.
After 20 years of writing fiction short stories, Dr. Kevin Dautremont has had his first novel published that combines his profession of medicine and his Christian faith.
Scars is a mystery novel that focuses on a physician who moves to a new town to rebuild his life after his family dies tragically. When a young woman under his care dies, her husband is accused of her murder. The doctor seeks the assistance of a lawyer, which throws both of their lives into turmoil as the mystery deepens around them and dark secrets are revealed.
The physician’s Christian faith is also shaken as he struggles to let go of the past while dealing with the guilt over his growing relationship with the woman defending the accused killer.
Dautremont, 62, is no stranger to writing and publishing. In 2008 he was awarded The Word Guild of Canada’s best new Christian author award for a novel he wrote. This novel was nearly published, he explained, when the stock market crashed and caused the publisher to not produce the book.
Since then, he has had two short stories published in anthology books A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider and Christmas with Hot Apple Cider. This series is similar to the Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies. “This is my first novel that’s been published. It’s amazing,” Dautremont said in his office at Hillcrest Clinic. “It’s very thrilling to get it to that point.”
The book can be purchased from Chapters/Indigo, Amazon and Word Alive Press. Scars is also available at the library.
He developed the idea for Scars in 2008, after reading about a husband in the United States convicted of killing his wife. Before she died, the wife wrote a letter saying she feared her husband would murder her. While the letter was later disallowed in court, there was still enough evidence to maintain the husband’s conviction.
Dautremont spent the next two to three years researching for his novel, followed by years of writing and editing. He took a year-long writing course with Christian novelist Jerry Jenkins, the author of the Left Behind series. This was followed by time with DiAnn Mills, another Christian author with more than 100 novels to her name.
After several years of looking for a publisher, Dautremont finally found Christian-based Word Alive Press in Winnipeg.
“I really enjoy writing,” he said. “I read a lot of fiction and non-fiction. It’s enjoyable.” Dautremont explained that he sees God as the ultimate creator and that mankind is made in His image, which means humans have been given a creative spark. The Moose Jaw doctor believes writing is the gift God gave him.
“It is a chance to express my faith and is an opportunity to bring up discussion points that lead to further discussions (about Christianity),” he continued.
Although the novel’s doctor faces a conflict between his faith and his profession, Dautremont has not experienced any similar conflicts since he works in private practice. However, he has seen other staff — particularly nurses — face such restrictions about sharing their faith with patients.
“I do have chances to share with (my own) patients,” he continued. “I am aware of their beliefs. When a patient is in crisis, I ask if I can pray for them. In my 35 years, no one has said no, including agnostics and atheists.”
While the novel’s theme is based on a true-life event, Dautremont noted it also focuses on past hurts, the wounds and scars people acquire through life, and how they deal with those. Despite these issues, he remarked that humans can always come to God for healing and God will accept us regardless of our status. Dautremont enjoyed the whole process of putting together his novel, including writing it and creating the situations, the characters, their personalities, and how they developed.
“Occasionally the characters surprised me, which is fun,” he said, adding readers should buy this book since it is enjoyable and it has a good message of people healing from their hurts and scars.