Totem by Matthew Hall

Totem by Matthew Hall

When the man Jessie Cunningham has fallen for is accused of murder, clearing his name will lead her back to the powerful world she thought she'd escaped, and towards secrets some people will do anything to protect.

After years of punishing hours and moral compromises, Jessie has finally made partner at one of Toronto's most powerful law firms, only to find herself questioning everything she sacrificed to get there. Seeking refuge in the wilds of British Columbia, she volunteers with a conservation charity and meets Todd Samson, a troubled local with deep ties to the land.

When Todd is arrested for the murder of a conservation officer, Jessie begins asking questions of her own, only to discover that the Three Valleys community is under growing pressure to surrender its ancestral territory. Soon, she starts to suspect that Todd's arrest may be part of something much bigger.

The deeper she digs, the closer the trail leads to the world of money, influence and corporate power she knows only too well, and Jessie must decide how much she is prepared to risk to uncover the truth.

From the BAFTA-winning screenwriter of BBC's Keeping Faith and bestselling author of the Jenny Cooper novels, Totem is a gripping, atmospheric thriller of murder, corruption and conspiracy, set against the vast wilderness of British Columbia.

Matthew Hall is a BAFTA-winning screenwriter and bestselling novelist. A former barrister, he wrote the hit BBC drama Keeping Faith, for which he won a BAFTA Cymru, and is the author of the acclaimed Jenny Cooper novels, beginning with CWA Gold Dagger-shortlisted The Coroner. The series was adapted for television as Coroner, which ran for four seasons on CBC in Canada. Hall has strong family connections to Ontario and Vancouver and has visited Canada regularly since 1983. He lives on the England/Wales border.