From Publishers Weekly
Canadian Aubert's third Ellis Portal mystery (Free Reign; The Feast of Stephen) is a well-written, if pedestrian, descent into the world of homeless young women. A professional criminologist, the author brings compassionate insight into the pathetic, often terrible, people who inhabit this underworld. These insights, alas, are the high points of the story. Middle-aged detective Ellis Portal, a former judge who fell from grace through drink and drugs, wound up homeless on the streets and re-ascended to the edge of respectability, helps his friend, Det. Sgt. Matt West, to locate a young woman, Carrie Simm. Her father, a Toronto movie producer, was murdered in front of her, in full view of hundreds of people, at a film premiere. Possibly fearing for her own life, Carrie disappeared. She has a history of running away, and West suspects she's hiding with her homeless women companions. He asks Portal to use his contacts to locate her. No surprise Portal soon finds himself looking for a lot more than a missing girl. Too much, perhaps. Aubert introduces so many characters and concerns that Carrie almost becomes a McGuffin. Bland, whiny and self-absorbed, Portal endlessly relives his rise and fall, while his success as a detective is entirely due to incredible luck. Both he and West make some stupid errors in judgment. The worst judgment of all is the author's: her killer never could have gotten away with the method Aubert chooses. A consistently readable, often interesting, but ultimately disappointing book. (June 1)best mystery novel of 1999.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Readers who have been starved for a follow-up to Aubert's sumptuous Feast of Stephen (1999) need wait no longer. The third entry in the Toronto-based series takes us further into the fascinating life of former judge Ellis Portal, who, approaching 60, is making his way slowly back into society after a dramatic fall from grace that left him temporarily homeless. Even though he has come into money again, Portal's problems are far from over. While trying to reestablish a relationship with his estranged son, Jeffrey, Portal loses his current home, a rented room in a boardinghouse run by an enigmatic, street-smart young girl. Meanwhile, police detective Matt West recruits Portal's aid in finding the missing daughter of a murdered Toronto film director, which requires the judge to solicit the trust of a group of young female gang members. Portal's indomitable integrity and checkered past make his ministrations to the troubled girls utterly believable and moving. This is quickly becoming a very special series. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2001
"Heartfelt and often piercing in its portrayal of life on the edge for all the once and future homeless"


Book Description
In The Ferryman Will Be There, Ellis Portal is recruited by Toronto police detective Matt West to help after a famous movie director, filming in Toronto, is murdered in full view of fans, and his teenage daughter disappears.


From the Publisher
Praise for the writing of Rosemary Aubert and for the previous novels in her Ellis Portal mystery series: On “THE FEAST OF STEPHEN” "Amazingly compelling....A strikingly original, moving mystery." —Lev Raphael, Detroit News and Free Press "In an era where most mysteries are notable for their similarities rather than their differences. Rosemary Aubert has succeeded in crafting a series that is fresh and original. Her unusual milieu and unconventional protagonist combine with a complex plot to provide a novel both suspenseful and satisfying." —Robert Wade, San Diego Union-Tribune "So richly written that it stands out in a genre often divided between stories with good characters and those with good plots....A true feast for the mind, spirit, and heart." —Booklist (American Library Association), starred review On “FREE REIGN” A "smart, suspenseful whodunit…[Ellis Portal is] a character with great dignity and unusual moral depth." —Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review "Engrossing...well-drawn characters, supple prose and effectively delivered emotional surprises." —Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal Chosen as best mystery first novel of 1997. — Tom and Enid Schantz, mystery columnists, Denver Post "Introduces a most unusual and winning protagonist." —Peter Handel, Sunday San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle


About the Author
Rosemary Aubert was born in Niagara Falls, New York, and now lives in Toronto, where her work in the criminal justice system has given her firsthand familiarity with the milieu where her novels are set. Her 1999 mystery “The Feast of Stephen” won the Canadian Crime Writers' Arthur Ellis Award, was reprinted in paperback in the U.S. and translated in Germany and Japan. The first in her Ellis Portal series, “Free Reign,” also reprinted in paperback, was translated in Germany, France, and Japan.

FROM THE PUBLISHER