After surviving the horrors of the Great War, Paul Shenstone works as a police detective in 1920s Toronto. The murder of prominent industrialist Digby Watt gives him an opportunity to make his name on the force.

The waters are muddied when the investigation starts uncovering connections between the deceased and soldiers Shenstone knew in Flanders. What will Shenstone’s choice be if he has to arrest one of his own comrades? He has promised Watt’s attractive and independent daughter that he will bring the perpetrator to justice, but bonds forged in war are not easily broken.

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The cover illustration is by Group of Seven member Franklin Carmichael.

“Yeah, I was at the battery that May afternoon when Horny Ingersoll had everything between his legs cut away by a piece of exploding field gun. When he hooked on the lanyard and gave it a pull, the breech block just flew apart. Even the gunners were stunned by the noise. The officer had telephoned for high explosive shells, and it was beyond miraculous none of the rest of us was hurt.”

“From its brief but powerful descriptions of First World War horrors to its careful but lively descriptions of Toronto life in the 1920s, the book is a winner. Beyond that, and more importantly, Bradshaw has written a compelling literary examination of some important moral matters. The word ‘honour’ doesn’t crop up much these days — nor does it in Quarrel with the Foe — but it’s nevertheless the main and troubling concern of this very fine novel.” (Joan Barfoot, London Free Press)

The cover illustration is by Group of Seven member Franklin Carmichael.Eric Kennington, Gas Mask

Old City Hall was home to Toronto’s police headquarters in the 1920s.

Two Dozen Words That Entered Dictionaries in the 1910s and ’20s

camouflage
defeatism
jazz
hokum
mah jong
blurb
crossword
twerp
check-up
dippy
vamp
undies

plywood
minimalist
posh
hooey
rayon
slimming
debunk
racketeer
flivver
xenophobia
leftism
kitchenette

“Paul Shenstone is a likeable character, a regular guy who likes his liquor but also takes his detective work seriously. Bradshaw has a winner here and potential for a series.” (Jeff George, Quill & Quire)

Webley Mk VI revolver

Quarrel with the Foe

A Paul Shenstone mystery by Mel Bradshaw

Paperback 240pp

ISBN: 978-1-89491-728-5

Page last updated 2017-08-22

Quarrel with the Foe

Quarrel with the Foe

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