The Globe and Mail: One Minute More is a Canadian mystery you won't want to put down

One Minute More, Robert Rotenberg (Simon & Schuster, 336 pages) Robert Rotenberg is emerging as one of Canada’s best crime authors with his terrific series featuring Toronto cop Ari Greene. In this excellent prequel to that series, Rotenberg takes us back to 1988 for Greene’s first case and it’s a humdinger.

It’s July in Toronto and the leaders of the world are about to meet for the G7 Summit. Ronald Reagan will be the star but the rest of the leaders are all poised for debate on everything from tariffs to war. When the Toronto police chief gets a tip that an assassin is crossing into Canada with plans to kill some or all of them, he dismisses it as a prank. After all, the RCMP is on the case and the Toronto police are calling out, literally, the big guns and the world’s secret services are all going to be present. A mouse couldn’t disrupt this summit.

Still, notice must be given. Off goes young copper Ari Greene to the Vermont/Quebec border to ensure that the tip is followed up. Ari arrives on the Fourth of July for the parade and spots the assassin, who then disappears. Ari is in a race against time as the plans for the summit go forward. The chase is on and no one is safe. In a time before cellphones and instant messaging, Ari has to depend on his wits to stop a catastrophe.

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