There is no greater joy in a reviewer’s life than to discover a new author. The setting of The Silk Train Murder, the debut mystery by Vancouver writer Sharon Rowse, is a bar frequented by protagonist John Lansdowne Grenville, who is running from his past. A chance encounter with old friend Sam Scott launches a chain reaction of trouble and murder.

The introduction of Grenville is a mite clunky, but once it is disposed of, Rowse really hits her stride. Her chosen locale is Vancouver circa 1900. Grenville and Scott successfully guard a lucrative silk train from would-be robbers until their client’s untimely murder lands Scott in prison.

Rowse knows her characters – how they think, how they act and interact. Grenville progresses from a lightly defined son of an English nobleman to a fully rendered amateur detective, with a quick wit and a sharp gaze. The supporting players also stand out – from young Trent Davis, who turns from failed train robber to Grenville’s adopted assistant, to Scott’s sister Fanny, a professionally shrewd opera dancer who is nonetheless tender underneath, to the haunted, opium-smoking prostitute Gracie.

But The Silk Train Murder would not work so well if not for the presence of Emily Turner, a believable young character chafing against the rules and mores of late-Victorian society and her train-owning father, craving intellectual stimulation, and willing to break with tradition if it will save the lives of those she cares about most. The chemistry between Turner and Grenville is potent and charming, focused  more on investigation than romance, but with enough hints of a lasting partnership for future installments. It’s just another of the many unexpected pleasures that make Rowse one of Canada’s newest mystery writers to watch.