The author speaks…
In the last months of Joe Biden’s presidency—and don’t worry, this only touched briefly on politics—he said something profound about the justice system:
“Even when individuals have done nothing wrong — and in fact have done the right thing — and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances.”
This was the president of the United States, admitting that the justice system has the power to harm innocent people, simply by accusing them of crimes.
The presumption of innocence. The burden of proof. An innocent person can be crushed by the legal process, in more ways than one.
The Last Exile takes that as its starting point. A working class woman named Maggie Zito is arrested for the double murder of a rich retired gangster and his wife. Even if she’s ultimately exonerated, every day Maggie sits in custody is another chance for the dead couple’s friends to make her pay. It’s only a matter of time before they get to her.
At the end of Sunset and Jericho, the previous entry in the series, private eye Dave Wakeland decides to leave Vancouver for Montreal. To bring him back, I needed a case that would not only feel urgent enough, but also put something at stake that related to his own sense of belonging here in the Pacific Northwest. Maggie Zito fills that role.
For Wakeland, what makes the place home is what a friend called “the smell of sawdust”—the working class, ethnically mixed, foulmouthed yet openhearted soul of a city. When people can’t afford a home, and when everything seems geared to benefit the rich, a city loses that soul.
In a way, that’s what Maggie’s case represents for Wakeland. Standing up for her offers him a chance to come home—although staying there will require a bargain with the devil.
When I wrote Sunset & Jericho (2023), I wasn’t sure if Dave Wakeland would come back. The cases and the violence take a toll, and I never want to trivialize either. You can only get punched in the face so many times before you start considering a change of scenery.
What I landed on was that Wakeland would leave for Montréal, then be summoned back. It’s a way to keep the series fresh and to reflect the city as it is now.
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- Here’s the excerpt…
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- The Last Exile (2025) | Buy this book | Kindle it! | Read an excerpt |
Respectfully submitted by Sam Wiebe.
