Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I enjoyed this book and find it interesting that I had several books that were recently published about reopening murder investigations from the past. This particular book focuses more on the systemic racisms in police investigations. The two missing men's investigation was not concluded because the police felt like the men died due to exposure, and they should have known better. They were considered incompetent because of racism. There was another story involving betrayal by some business partners and that is probably how their murders took place.

I admit, I DNF'd this the first time and after a while decided to give it another go. My first instincts were correct. I just never felt a connection to the story and it seemed a bit disjointed. It was hard to keep all the people's names straight with possible theories and those they interviewed. I have read a lot of true crime and it is definitely my go-to genre but I just didn't enjoy this one and eventually flipped through the last bit without truly reading.

In 1967's culturally prejudiced climate, the indigenous peoples of Canada were treated with disdain and indifference. As their people started to protest and push back against this ingrained prejudice, leaders were treated like superstars by their tribal members. James Brady, a Metis, and Absolom Halkeet, a Cree, were prominent speakers against the less than equal treatment of the indigenous peoples. They were activists who gave a face to the changing times Canada was facing. So it was with no surprise that the RCMP's investigation into their disappearance resulted in nothing but questions.
The authors of this true crime story did an excellent job of building the back story of the disappearance of two tribal members who were important to the people's push to be treated fairly and equally by Canada. After a 50yr lapse in time, they were still able to find more clues and present more evidence than the entire RCMP investigation produced at the time. They expanded the probability of foul play in the disappearance to such a degree, the RCMP now declares the case open, yet cold. At this time, it has still not been solved.

I was excited to read Cold Case North as I enjoy murder mysteries. The book is written about a real life murder mystery and follows along as the team discovers new clues surrounding the deaths of two men. Overall a good read.

*Spoiler for the ending included* From the beginning, I found the writing in this book problematic. It seemed uneven and verbose, so it was a hard read for me. I story of the missing men is very compelling and the facts surrounding the case are unsettling, to say the least. There is little doubt that these men were murdered and the RMCP and other authorities conspired to cover it up.

I salute the people who forged ahead, despite incredible odds, to get to the truth. Their perseverance, as well as some pretty incredible luck, brought them to the brink of finding answers. I was quite literally on the edge of my seat ready to find out the truth. Then, after a couple of setbacks and some words of warning from Elders, the abandon the search and simply walk away.

This decision is framed as being motivated by the beliefs of the peoples involved, but it seemed to so sudden and random that it was very jarring and off-putting. I felt like they ran a marathon and stopped at mile 22. I was very disapointed and felt cheated that I had invested so much time reading this book, coming to care about the characters only to be let down not by the ending but by the lack of an ending.

Cold Case North details the investigation of the disappearances of Metis leader James Brady and Cree Band Councillor Absolom Halkett over fifty years ago in Saskatchewan.
As the investigative team goes over the original investigation, questions arise as to why assumptions were made regarding evidence found and the questioning of possible suspects. It also highlights how differently cases involving Indigenous people are handled by the Canadian government.

This was really good. I liked how the mystery was mostly (?) solved. the storytelling was well paced and continually kept me interested. I will reccommend this to any true-crime fans.

The synopsis for Cold Case North: The Search for James Brady and Absolom Halkett (University of Regina Press, 2020) captured me immediately. Two prospectors, Jim Brady and Abbie Halkett disappeared from the Northern Saskatchewan bush in 1967. After an extensive ground, water, and air search, nothing of note was found and the RCMP assumed they must have died of exposure, gotten lost, or been consumed by wildlife. Jim and Abbie’s communities and families; however, were not convinced of these theories and had ample reason to believe that foul play was involved. Although Cold Case North delivers on its synopsis, I struggled with how this story was told and from whose perspective it came. Jim and Abbie were Indigenous men who spent their lives fighting for the rights of their people. The authors of this book are very right to criticize the RCMP investigation (or lack thereof) that was done, because it was done with extremely damaging Indigenous stereotypes in mind. Blatant racism on behalf of the RCMP was one of the many reasons why this case was never solved. And so, why then, I kept wondering as I read, did the perspective and narrative telling of this story come mostly from a white Australian man who had no ties to the community in which the crime took place?


Michael Nest, the first listed author of this book, is clearly an accomplished writer and researcher. He did everything he could do to earn the respect and trust of the people for whom this story was not just a story but a part of their everyday life and family histories. His portions of the book are meticulous, balanced, compassionate, and well written. In short, he is everything you could want in a researcher. However, who I really wanted to hear more from was Dr. Deanna Reder and Eric Bell, who are also credited as authors. Deanna, a Cree-Métis Indigenous Studies and English Professor beautifully opens the book and explains her ties to La Ronge, Saskatchewan, the small town in which these crimes took place. Deanna’s account introduces readers to the crime and its reverberations, but more than this, it places the people who have been affected by it in the center of the narrative. Deanna relies on all the typical pieces of information that are important when investigating a cold case, but she also graciously invites her reader into conversations with elders, with her mother, and with other community members. In short, she relies on the rich storytelling culture that is prominent in Indigenous communities, and for me, this was fascinating. I learned from Deanna in a way that was invaluable to me.

Perhaps that is why I found the shift that the book takes into Michael’s perspective so jarring. It is certainly not that Michael’s perspective or account is not as valuable—Michael goes into great detail about who Jim and Abbie were as people and who they were to their communities. He also chases down every conceivable lead with detail and precision, while also rightly criticizing the RCMP at every turn. This being said, he is lucky to have Deanna as well as Eric Bell who are knowledgeable about the land, the people, and the crime from the inside looking out. Without Eric Bell, their investigation into this case would have stalled—he’s clearly a jack of all trades and someone who is well respected and well trusted in his community. Indeed, Michael, Deanna and Eric are able to actually look for Jim and Abbie’s bodies in Lower Foster Lake because of Eric’s incredible abilities to make things happen (along with Deanna’s dedication to securing funds for their research). As tips began to trickle in and plans began to be made, I found myself yearning to hear this story from Deanna’s perspective. I found myself wondering how Eric was faring in the community when new developments were coming to light about the case. Put simply, Michael’s contribution to the text, while extraordinary, was a little too narrow to tell me everything I wanted to know as a reader.

The sheer number of theories about what happened to Jim and Abbie that are explored by the book are extraordinary and well worth reading about. As far as cold cases go, this one is extremely complex with many players and moving parts. When the authors are given one final tip that gives them the potential location of Jim and Abbie’s bodies, I was riveted. I thought, finally, a cold case with a conclusion! I won’t spoil here what they discover in the end. What I will say is although there were things about this text that didn’t fully track for me, the story of Jim and Abbie is one that needs to be read about. Michael concludes his section of the text by explaining what their far-reaching investigation accomplished:

“What we did do was expose the RCMP’S failure in 1967 to listen to the community, to treat the missing persons case as a potential crime, to interview everyone who should have been interviewed, and to put an experienced officer in charge of the case.”

The long list of failures committed by the RCMP in this case are also echoed by Deanna, who ends the text by not only explaining where the investigation concluded, but by explaining her own feelings and her communities’ feelings about where the investigation had gone. After discussing the case with an elder, Deanna says that:

“He shared with me a word that was on his mind—pâstâhowin—a Cree word that warns against passing a forbidden point. Implied are the bad effects on the person who goes against the rules in place. Later I read a quotation from Cree language teacher Reuben Quinn, who says that pâstâhowin means to ‘shatter the future.’”

This quotation weighed heavily on my mind as I read the rest of Deanna’s account of those last searches for Jim and Abbie. This section of the book was by far my favorite section. I was deeply moved and frustrated for the authors, for Jim and Abbie, and for a community that so deserves answers. In this section, Deanna also relays a conversation that Eric had with an elder about the word “pâstâhowin”, a conversation in which the elder said that “[s]ometimes you’ll get signs that tell you that this is as far as you can go.” With cold cases like this one, ones in which the original investigation was so poorly carried out, limits are always placed on future investigators and what they are able to discover. It seems to me that Michael, Deanna and Eric did receive the kind of sign that the elder spoke of, despite their extraordinary efforts to close the case for good. This is a story that exposes the very cracks and faults that make up Canada’s past and present, and for this and many other reasons, it is well worth your time.

*A proof of Cold Case North was provided to True Crime Index by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All quotations that appear in this review may be slightly changed in the finished copy.

Jesyka Traynor is an academic living in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. When she’s not writing or researching her dissertation, she’s consuming all the true crime and non-fiction she can find time for. Jesyka holds two degrees in English literature and is currently pursuing a doctorate in contemporary Californian literature.

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Well written and enjoyable narrative about a cold case. I appreciate the fact that the narrative is not about a mainstream group of people. Learning about the culture of indigenous was positive and timely. More narratives about other cultures and less discussed groups of society are dearly lacking so this is a welcome addition to non-fiction.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book to read and review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

These three writers did an amazing job of researching and writing about the pair of well-educated indigenous activists who went missing so suddenly and strangely back in the late 1960s. The two had been dropped off by plane to do some prospecting, and the fairly new pilot accidentally dropped them off in the wrong location, where their maps would be no good. He later realized his mistake and reported it, to no avail. The two men were already missing and being looked for. Was it really an accident? Did they wander off and get lost, or were they injured by a wild animal? Or was it murder. Join this quest looking for the answers. Advance electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, authors, and the publisher.

This book was great and we need more books like this. A cold case is a crime or suspected crime that has not been resolved for many years. The evidence at the time of the case was not sufficient and it remains unsolved. This case is about James Brady, a Metis and Absolom Halkett, a Cree. Metis and Cree are indigenous groups of people in North America. Historically, indigenous people have very much maligned in Canada, labelled as "savages", forced off their land and stripped of most -if not all - of their rights. Although reconciliation has begun in Canada, to this day, cases of missing and murdered indigenous men and women are investigated to a lesser extent and not taken seriously. The (unwarranted) lack of importance of these groups is manifested in the high number of their cold cases.

Brady and Halkett were contractor prospectors in Northern Saskatchewan. They contracted out their time and expertise of the land to mining companies who needed the region prospected for possible mineral deposits. Northern Saskatchewan, being rich in uranium, offered many prospecting opportunities.

It was during one of these prospecting jobs in 1967 that Brady and Halkett went missing. The RCMP were called in, did a search and decided the men tried to walk out of the area and eventually died. No bodies were found and no further investigation was done. They were declared "missing".

However for the indigenous community - it remained a cold case. Most of the community did not believe these men, experienced in the bush, would try to walk out. The non-indigenous RCMP didn't understand these men, their people, their abilities on the land. Rumours persisted that they were murdered - either because they found a claim that the murderer wished to keep secret, or for their strong political activism. Rumours of police corruption were also rampant.

The author, Michael Nest, is an anti-corruption researcher in the mining sector. He was contacted by locals from La Ronge in Saskatchewan to continue their investigation into what really happened. With limited resources and expertise, their amateur sleuthing was at a standstill.

I was impressed with the author's persistence, thoroughness and creativity to get answers. Although he gets a lot of help along the way and gives credit where credit is due, he is extremely modest about his own contributions, as the investigation would never have been re-started without his effort and tenacity. The progress he makes in this 50-year old case is remarkable. He gives credence to the indigenous way of verbal storytelling - which very often accurately keeps historical facts alive through generations. With this understanding and respect he makes great strides in resolving this cold case.

The background is well laid out and the story is clearly told. The people the author interviews are very well characterized. The book is organized and well written. It was a pleasure to read.

If you are at all interested in true crime, cold cases, Canadian indigenous history or just good nonfiction, pick up this book- you won't be sorry.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher NYU Press for this advance reader copy in return for an honest review.