Untitled chapter 1
Never Murder At Home
Also By Murray Moffatt
Play
Murder And No Play
Murder Best Unsolved*
Murder Maybe Relative*
Murder Maybe By Evil*
Murder Sometimes Cold*
Murder Not Quite Buried*
A Murder Solved Twice*
Never Murder At Home*
A Tale of Play and Murder**
*A Shane Daniels Mystery
**‘Play’ and ‘Murder And No Play’ combined
Never Murder At Home
A Shane Daniels Mystery
A Novel by
Murray Moffatt
Copyright 2024 © Murray Moffatt.
All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, and recording or otherwise - without the prior written permission of the author except for brief passages quoted by a reviewer in a newspaper or magazine. To perform any of the above is an infringement of copyright law.
ISBN: 978-1-0688512-1-6
Cover Design: Murray Moffatt, Jill Moffatt, Sarah Autio
Author’s Note:
I can tell you that I thought about it for a long time before I decided I would include two of Canada’s most controversial and often divisive subjects in the plot of Shane Daniels’ latest investigation; missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and the infamous residential school system. But they’re important issues and remain a part of this country’s history that can’t be ignored, so I decided to go ahead and weave them into my story.
I encourage everyone to read some of the available online information on both topics. You may also want to look into the case of serial killer Robert Pickton. The partial remains of thirty three women were found on Pickton’s BC pig farm where he lured women, many who were in the sex trade, from Vancouver’s troubled Downtown Eastside neighbourhood. As well, a significant number of Pickton’s victims were Indigenous.
Despite the rising count of missing women, police officials at the time refused to say it was a serial killer or even speculate that the women were dead. It took five years after his name first surfaced as a suspect before Pickton was arrested.
There were allegations the investigation was botched because of bias against the missing women. They did not get equal treatment from the police because they were unstable, unreliable, poor, addicted, vulnerable and Indigenous. A Commission of Inquiry delivered a scathing report in 2012. The Pickton case was the catalyst for raising the issue of murdered and missing Indigenous women in Canada.
The other ongoing issue I’ve included in this novel is homelessness and even though I knew it was a problem in our country, I didn’t realize how serious it was until I undertook some research for my story. One estimate puts the number of homeless people in Canada at approximately 235,000 but statisticians says that figure may be grossly underestimated because of the number of so-called ‘hidden homeless’ people is unknown.
Meantime, while it changes depending on the time of year, a survey by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) had cities and towns reporting at least 1,400 homeless encampments in their communities in 2023.
I hope you enjoy this latest Shane Daniels mystery where he finds himself involved in two cold cases.
I want to extend a sincere thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my novels and for all of the support and encouragement of my retirement hobby.
As always, my love and appreciation for my wife Jill and to my daughters, Sarah and Laura, for their support. I look forward to the day when my grandkids, Winnie, Archie, Wyatt and Hailey are old enough to read my novels.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters and incidents are all products of my imagination. Any mistakes are mine alone.
Murray Moffatt
October 2024
For the missing
“Trust your hunches. They’re usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level.”
American Psychiatrist Dr. Joyce Brothers
“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today”
Abraham Lincoln
“Once a Wolf, always a Wolf”
Aesop
“You feel the last bit of breath leaving their body. You’re looking into their eyes. A person in that situation is God!”
American serial killed Ted Bundy
