Author pens whodunnit that’s set in Iqaluit

donalee Moulton has never pretended that she was a local to the North, and she won’t claim that she knows what it’s like to be one.

But working for four years as a fly-in communications instructor in Iqaluit did expose her to a part of the world she feels fortunate to know.

“It’s a very special place, and a wonderful community that kindly welcomed me as an outsider,” Moulton said. “I have memories I continue to look back on.”

Many of those memories inspired a fictional short story Moulton wrote over the past year. The tale, titled Swan Song, is set in Nunavut’s capital city and was selected to appear in the Crime Writers of Canada’s 40th anniversary anthology, called Cold Canadian Crime.

This year’s Cold Canadian Crime anthology of the country’s best crime stories includes a murder mystery set in Iqaluit, written by Halifax writer donalee Moulton. (Image courtesy of donalee Moulton)

Her piece joins 20 others, out of 46 total crime story submissions. Each story had to pass the scrutiny of three judges.

Without exception, Moulton said, she received comments from each judge that they were pleased to read a story from an area that doesn’t get enough attention in literature. Her story is the only one that was set in the North.

“I’m taking a little bit of pride that maybe I’m introducing some people to the region,” she said.

Moulton, who is originally from Halifax, chose to set the piece in Iqaluit because members of the Crime Writers of Canada said submissions had to follow a theme of “cold Canadian crime.”

The concept of cold was left up to the author to interpret as they wanted, but Moulton said she chose to take the path of least resistance.

Swan Song is a murder mystery that follows incoming police chief, Doug Brumal. A newcomer to the North from Humboldt, Sask., he is tasked with running a new local police force that has replaced the RCMP.

During his third day on the job, the force receives a call about a body that’s been found at a nearby hotel, the Tundra Inn and Suites.

From that point on, Brumal, his executive assistant Ahnah Friesen, and two constables in training, Kallik Redfern and Willie Appaqaq, must find out who killed Eira Winter.

In the story, Winter, owner of HR Exemplary, a training firm out of Calgary, was a regular visitor (like Moulton) who stayed at the hotel and flew to Iqaluit several times a year as a contract worker.

The story wasn’t difficult to write, Moulton said. With experience in writing legal articles, she was familiar with the subject matter. Most of the narrative is also set in a hotel, which was also prime headquarters for Moulton on her placements.

She includes small, learned details in her writing, like how the floors of buildings shift because of ice and permafrost. She describes a dinner of pan-fried Arctic char, and notes it comes with microwaved frozen peas because a head of lettuce normally costs $6.99. Later on, caribou stew is consumed.

And when Brumal decides to walk home from the hotel one October evening as a blanket of snow has fallen over the city and stars drape the night sky, readers experience a fleeting moment of how Moulton once saw the city.

“I walked back and forth through the snow that night, retracing my steps three or four times,” she recalled. “I was so taken with the environment and how beautiful it was.”

The anthology was published May 15, and is available online for purchase as either an e-book or paperback copy.

Moulton said she isn’t sure if the story will mean much to locals of Iqaluit. She hopes she was able to respectfully and accurately set the scene of the region and would like to know, she said, if anybody who calls Iqaluit home feels she got anything wrong.

“Bless their hearts if there’s any interest … I know I’m just a writer from the south,” she said.

“But I sure tried to pay tribute the best way I know how.”