READING IDEAS FOR THE WEEK

The Adventures of Isabal, by Candas Jane Dorsey, Pushkin; £8.99

The Adventures of Isabel is a raucous fastpaced murder mystery that wittingly explores the underbelly of inner-city Canada. This first instalment of Dorsey’s highly anticipated detective series introduces us to a quirky, pansexual and unnamed protagonist who narrates her escapades with acerbity.

An “involuntarily retired” 23-year-old social worker contemplating prostitution to make ends meet, she is hired by her sexagenarian friend and Katherine Hepburn lookalike, Hep, to investigate the murder of her street-working teenage granddaughter, Maddy. Fearing the case will be dismissed as just another drug death, the amateur detective befriends a group of misfits from society’s periphery and immerses herself in the perilous reality of street life, on a quest for justice. Together with her shrewd homeless side kick, Jian, her pitifully pious cousin Thelma and a cat called Bunnywit, the savvy sleuth edges uncomfortably close to violence, drug dealing and high-stakes fraud. When she finds herself embroiled in a dangerous police sting, it becomes clear murdered Maddy had been caught up in a complex criminal underworld.

The puzzling rapid-fire plot offers many surprising twists along with insights to the workings of city crime. Dorsey’s narrative is dialogue heavy, which contributes to the gritty depth of her characters, providing a warts-and-all expose of their redeeming ordinary failings. But the triumph of the characterisation is in the bold inclusion of much diversity as Dorsey brazenly smashes stereotypes, particularly on behalf of the LGBQT community.

The language is, at first, mildly jarring and although it takes several pages to acclimatise to the Canadian colloquialisms and pop culture references, it’s worth persevering. The short punchy chapters maintain an urgency which is punctuated by an abundance of laugh out loud one-liners.

But don’t be misled by the slick sitcom tones that dominate this peculiar post-modern murder mystery – the main themes are not for the faint hearted.

Tackling the ugly issues of societal dysfunction – the treatment of sex workers, drug abuse and violence towards LGBQT groups – Dorsey’s detective romp offers a fresh perspective on the hardships endured by a city’s non-conformists. Despite the serious underlying social commentary, The Adventures of Isabel can be enjoyed as a stylish, funny and heartwarming tale of community and empathy.