Stonechild and Rouleau Mystery Books In Order

Publication Order of Stonechild and Rouleau Mysteries Books

Stonechild and Rouleau Mystery is a series of Police procedurals written by Brenda Chapman. Set in Canada, the books follow the exploits of two detectives struggling to balance their personal and professional lives.

+The Story

The Stonechild and Rouleau Mystery series kicks off with ‘Cold Mourning’, a novel that finds a police unit in Ottawa struggling to make sense of the sudden disappearance of a wealthy businessman.

The Stonechild and Rouleau Mystery series is named after its primary protagonists, Kala Stonechild and Jacques Rouleau. Jacques runs a specialized unit in Ontario. By the time the Stonechild and Rouleau Mystery series begins, Jacques is struggling to get his unit in order.

He’s a little short on manpower and the case at hand is proving problematic. It is here that Kala Stonechild comes into play. Kala is aboriginal. When she comes to the Specialized Ottawa Crime Unit, Jacques quickly realizes that the resourceful young woman is the one piece his unit has been missing to achieve optimum efficiency.

Kala and Jacques are a lot alike. They are both inundated with personal and professional problems, and more often than not, their personal problems tend to exacerbate their professional problems.

Kala had a troubled childhood. She spent her days hopping from one foster home to another. But by the time she matured into adulthood, the young woman had a good head on her shoulders and a keen intelligence that proved particularly effective for crime solving.

Coming out of a First Nation’s Reserve and initially operating with the Northern Ontario detachment, Kala comes to Ottawa to escape some of her personal problems, chief amongst which is the animosity with her ex-boyfriend.

Her attempts at putting as much space between them take a complicated turn when Kala is thrown onto Jacques’ specialized unit and realizes that she must learn to play nice.

As effective as Kala can be, she is a lone wolf. And the idea of sharing her workload with a partner does not appeal to her. However, Jacques Rouleau doesn’t give her much of a choice in the matter.

Jacques initially comes down hard on Kala and her unit. It quickly becomes clear that the man is somewhat overwhelmed. Generally kind and fair, and a respectful leader, by the time readers are introduced to Jacques, his personal life is in the process of unraveling.

Not only does he receive shocking news about his father and ex-wife but he knows that the unit over which he was given leadership was designed to fail. Jacques’ own boss is a conniving little weasel with his own agenda.

Any other man would have thrown his energies into resolving his personal issues, allowing his department to crumble under the weight of a failed system. But Jacques is a far more noble man and he makes it his goal to see the unit succeed, if only for the benefit of his officers.

The Stonechild and Rouleau Mystery series explores Kala and Jacques’ personal trials and triumphs as they go about solving mysteries. Each new novel introduces a new mystery for Kala and Jacques to solve.

The day-to-day aspects of crime solving are primarily tackled by Kala and her partner Paul Gundersund. Jacques primarily manages the overall operations of their department.

The mysteries in question are of a complex nature. Kala and Paul deal with everything from premeditated murder to crimes of passion. The perpetrators are also quite wide-ranging, from deranged killers to ordinary people whose reactions to extraordinary circumstances drive them to commit crimes.

Like Jacques, Kala is often distracted by her personal issues which include familial conflicts. The Stonechild and Rouleau Mystery series finds her trying to carve out a new life as a foster mother.

She must also come to terms with her feelings for her partner. Kala knows that Paul is estranged from his wife. But the fact that she is the team’s coroner makes her an ever-present figure that frequently discourages Kala from pursuing her husband.

Kala’s self-control is tested by the fact that she spends most of her waking hours by Paul’s side. The author also shows signs that Paul might be falling for Kala. Their relationship is allowed to develop very slowly.

The Stonechild and Rouleau Mystery series has been praised for its impressive character development. Brenda Chapman’s heroes and heroines are nice, caring people that are overwhelmed by personal weaknesses and problems.

The author has also been praised for her complex mysteries and ability to balance multiple storylines within any given novel.

+The Author

Brenda Chapman is a Canadian author that was born in 1955. An author of mystery novels that has produced short stories and novellas for children and adult readers, Chapman grew up in Ontario.

She studied English Literature and Education. She spent more than a decade in special education before the government brought her onboard as a senior communications adviser.

+Cold Mourning

Christmas is just around the corner. Tom Underwood is a wealthy businessman that is nowhere to be found. For all intent and purpose, Tom seems to have disappeared into thin air. And from what Detective Jacques Rouleau can tell, plenty of people wanted him dead.

The mystery is his to solve, and he expects Kala Stonechild to help him make sense of the situation. Kala is a new police recruit from a First Nations Reserve. Previously stationed in Ontario, Kala joins the Specialized Ottawa Crime Unit where she must shirk her lone wolf persona by learning to work with her new colleagues.

Jacques expects Kala to bring Tom back home in time for the holidays. She will need every tool in her arsenals to make sense of the seemingly impossible case.

+Butterfly Kills

Jacques Rouleau has made the move to Kingston to take care of his ailing father. Now the head of Kingston’s criminal investigations division, Jacques wants to solve his manpower problem by bringing Kala Stonechild onboard but she is nowhere to be found.

Meanwhile, a university student in the area has been murdered and another woman claims to have been raped by her husband. On the surface, it looks like the two cases are unrelated.

But then Jacques’ team investigates and proves otherwise. Fortunately for Jacques, Kala has finally made her appearance. But she’s only promising to stick around long enough to solve the case.