I became a fan of Canadian author Sylvia Maultash Warsh after reading her first novel, To Die In Spring. Warsh’s protagonist, Dr. Rebecca Temple, moves with ease through the streets of my own city, recalling places and events that I had all but forgotten.

So I was not surprised to learn that Warsh’s second novel, Find Me Again, was the winner of the 2004 Edgar award. Her adept use of historical research to create a compelling tale that is both timeless and readable makes Warsh a voice to be heard among modern crime writers.

In Season of Iron, Warsh’s third and most sophisticated Rebecca Temple mystery, our heroine meets Birdie, a homeless Toronto schizophrenic who appears to claim squatters’ rights in the backyard of a German fencing instructor. But when Birdie is found brutally murdered, Rebecca must look to the horrors of Nazi Germany to uncover the truth of this tragic woman’s life -- and death.

Rebecca Temple is much more than an amateur sleuth. Warsh has created a persona that possesses depth and intelligence, wrapped up in layers of complexity and speaking in a voice that one can recognize as ‘real’. Alternately, in the Frieda character, Warsh presents us with a level of nobility that will move the reader.

Three novels into this series, it is still Warsh’s love of history that drives her work, giving it a unique, rich flavour and setting it apart from its genre. Warsh’s understanding of human motivation on both sides of the morality coin is highly believable. It leaves the reader with the unsettling sense that yes, it could happen again, and that we must take care in our society to comport ourselves with the utmost of compassion in order to ensure that history does not repeat itself in our generation.

I first read Season of Iron when it was released in 2006. Since then the story has stayed with me in a series of memorable images, and I believe it will continue to do so.

This, above all, is the greatest gift that an author can give: to tell a tale that will not be forgotten.