Who's afraid of Inger Ash Wolfe?

A couple of months ago I was in a used bookstore minding my own business when, quite literally, a book fell off the shelves and into my lap.  I was sitting on the floor (because I can only imagine the unsightly view one might be faced with as I bend over in a half headstand to see what's buried on the bottom shelves) - so, I was sitting there while someone else, above me, was attempting to put a book back. Long story short, the shelf was jostled and a precariously perched book fell - into my lap. 


The book was The Calling by Inger Ash Wolfe, an author I had never heard of, with good reason. She doesn't really exist. Inger Ash Wolfe, according to the book jacket, is "the pseudonym for a North American literary novelist." (Code, some think, for a Canadian author).


Now, you have to understand, I've fallen for this gimmick before and have been burned (Thanks John Twelve Hawks), so I wasn't hooked THAT easily, BUT since I do give the Fates some credit now and then, I opened the book and began reading. After hitting chapter three, I figured $3 was a darn fine price to pay to make this book mine. I took it home and finished it in three evenings.


The Calling is a mystery, but even if you're not into mysteries per se, you still might like this book. The author, whomever s/he is (some, including myself, lean towards Margaret Atwood) creates wonderfully tangible characters. The main character is Hazel McCallef, a 60-something Detective Inspector (police chief) in a small Canadian town with all the ailments that might befall a woman in her 60s. She's backed up by a rag-tag crew of small town deputies - none of whom have ever dealt with a murder, at least not in their small town.


PW says of the book, "This bracingly original mystery from the pseudonymous Wolfe opens with the grisly slaying of an elderly cancer sufferer..." and it is grisly, but the characters overtake the grosser aspects of the story, so don't let that stop you from reading it. The review continues, "...in Port Dundas, a remote Ontario town that has gone years without a homicide. The murder hits at a particularly tough time for 61-year-old Det. Insp. Hazel Micallef, who's struggling to come to terms with a surprise divorce and battles daily with her acerbic 87-year-old mother. A serious staff shortage and an injured back add to the department commander's woes."





Now, a second novel in the series, The Taken, has been released (July 2010).  Both books have gotten fairly decent reviews, although I was hard pressed to find many reviews at all. I had to rely somewhat on the readers over at Amazon.com, most of whom have given the books 4 stars (although Tim Rutten at the LA times panned The Taken. You can read his review for yourself - Personally, I lean towards liking the books). 


PW says, "Lovers of twisty but plausible plotting and an out-of-the-ordinary lead will embrace Wolfe's standout second police procedural featuring Canadian Det. Insp. Hazel Micallef."


As far as collectibility of these books, well...


It turns out that the very first prints of The Calling list the author as Inger Wolfe (big Oops). For those that don't know, Inger Wolf (sans e) is a [living] Danish writer who publishes crime fiction (double oops, since Mysteries tend to blur the "crime fiction" line). Wolfe's publisher and literary agents quickly recalled the books and sent a letter of apology to the Danish Ms. Wolf and rereleased the books under the Inger Ash Wolfe pseudonym. If you could lay your hands on one of those copies, it would undoubtedly be quite valuable.  As it stands now, however, first editions of the Canadian version of The Calling (released just prior to the U.S. edition by McClelland & Stewart of Toronto) are listing for up to $60. My $3 U.S. copy is listing for about $26. Not a bad return, but it sure would be cool to find one of those first Inger Wolfe copies.

[Update: They actually caught the error before publication, so no books were published without the 'Ash' middle name.]



[updated 7/16]

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