Revenge Finds a Home

In 1820, young Irish lad Peter Lynch signed on to an English fishing vessel, which was to ply the codfish-rich waters off the coast of Newfoundland. His dreams were soon dashed when mistreatment and hardship became the norm for him. Before the schooner was to return in the fall, Peter decided to take his chances by jumping ship and running inland. His escape was burdened with injury, after which he was taken in by the native Beothuk tribe.

One hundred and eighty years later, Inspector Bob Lynch of the Irish police force An Garda Síochána decided to emigrate to Newfoundland, Canada, where he joined the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. He was always aware of his great-great-uncle Peter Lynch, who had at one time lived in Newfoundland. His ancestor had written a vivid memoir, and it is this memoir that comes to mind when Constable Lynch is assigned to an unusual homicide—one whose victim was killed by an arrow to the neck. The arrowhead is made of a stone that was used by the native people of Newfoundland and Labrador.

As the investigation proceeds, a pattern emerges. Similar murders in Brazil, North Dakota, and British Columbia also involve the ancient Ramah stone from northern Labrador. How could that be? And what connection might these crimes have to the now-extinct Beothuk tribe?