Trace Evidence by Stephen Randle
Reviewed by James M. Fisher
Trace Evidence is being promoted by ReBound Press as a “gritty YA urban fantasy novel” which is set in a not-too-distant future following a climate apocalypse. This story, however, provided an engaging experience for this “senior” reader for several hours.
The story unfolds in Hamilton, Ontario, where the rising levels of Lake Ontario have inundated areas near the shoreline, compelling legitimate businesses and residents to relocate to higher ground. Consequently, the “Lower City” has been relegated to the impoverished and is under the dominion of a mob locally led by Frankie Ciccone, a pronounced embodiment of the Italian gangster archetype. Although there is a police presence, the majority of the force is financially beholden to the mob, while the few officers who are not are merely biding their time until they can retire and collect their pensions.
Situated above the Lower City is the Outskirts, a marginally improved and safer area for residence, and further above lies the Upper City, where the affluent reside atop the Niagara Escarpment.
In The Outskirts, representing a type of purgatory (or middle -class) in the order of things, lives Cooper Hart, a twenty-three-year-old Private Investigator. Completing the stereotype of the PI type we all know and love, Cooper is barely getting by. Most of his business comes from scavenging the Lower City looking for possessions clients left behind when fleeing the rising waters, or finding people that may not want to be found for one reason or another. He even does a little work for Frankie, nothing too illegal though, and it pays the bills.
Into Cooper’s office walks a young woman (more like a teen) looking like something “straight out of a Dickens novel, but updated for the modern age.” (This is the first in a series of odd references that I’ll mention later) Suffice it to say that this girl, Tara, wants Cooper to find her missing twin brother Travis. They both live with their grandfather in the Lower City. Tara is quite reticent, and fearful that her grandfather will find out she’s approached a PI to investigate. They sound like a very reclusive family. Not even the police have been notified that Travis is missing. Cooper reluctantly agrees to take on her case.
At the same time, Frankie wants Cooper to meet him in the Lower City, as he wants to get his advice on something. Venturing into the Lower City is always risky, as there is a midnight curfew (police resources are stretched thin) and Frankie prefers to keep a low profile (despite wearing loud Hawaiian shirts). Cooper agrees to meet Frankie, as he has always done right by him, and Frankie always pays Cooper’s fees.
We now have two separate storylines that on the surface seem unrelated, but the deeper Cooper gets involved with both cases, the more he finds that they might be connected. There is a touch of magic realism to the story as well, adding to the mystery around Tara’s family and some grisly murders of a dozen of Frankie’s men in one of his warehouses in the Lower City.
Cooper’s friend Shari tells Cooper:
“Boy, you’ve really stepped in it this time, Coop. You somehow managed to get yourself trapped between the mob and the cops, which is quite possibly the stupidest thing you’ve ever done. If the cops know you’re looking into them, they’re not gonna stop until they get you. Frankie may act like he’s your buddy, but he’s not going to lift one finger to help you if it means putting his own neck on the line. And worst of all, you’re smart enough that you knew all of this before you got involved with him, and you jumped in headfirst anyway.”
While Trace Evidence is targeted to the Young Adult audience, there are a few references that I found a little odd, time-wise, such as the aforementioned Dickens one. There is also a mention of the “Terminator 2” movie (1991) and “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” (book released: 1979). Now, these are references I as a senior (“Boomer”) picked up on, but would a young adult (for instance, a 13-year-old would have been born in 2013) recognize them? And, as this book is set in the future (assuming a few decades have elapsed, at least) would those references even be relevant? Certainly, a 23-year-old Cooper might be a reader of Dickens (he loves to read, and collects books which are now exceptionally difficult to come by), but I doubt Terminator or Douglas Adams would be household words in the future. Star Wars/Star Trek, perhaps. And why were photos taken using a Polaroid camera vs a digital one? Are we to believe that Polaroid film is available that far in the future? Again, odd.
Aside from all that, Trace Evidence is a well-constructed story, and impressive for a debut detective/mystery novel. The Private Investigator trope never seems to get old. From Sherlock Holmes to The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew to Sam Spade and all the TV detectives of the modern age, the PI embodies both the hero and the anti-hero. Cooper Hart is a likeable character, as is Tara (although mysterious) and Cooper’s friend in the Outskirts, Shari. I can see “sequels” written all over this novel, and I would welcome them. Author Stephen Randle has cleverly constructed an odd little world in Hamilton, one that has a multitude of possibilities.
“You are good with coming up with stories that are not quite lies, Cooper.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve found it’s easier to keep track of them if the pretext is mostly true to begin with.”
About the Author
Stephen Randle lives in Waterloo, Ontario. He began reading and writing at a very young age, mostly in the fantasy genre. He has earned two university degrees, one in Computer Science and one in English, which explains why he is currently employed as a head chef at a pub and uses his days off to write. TRACE EVIDENCE is his debut novel.
About the Reviewer
James M. Fisher is the Editor-in-Chief of The Seaboard Review of Books. He resides in Miramichi, New Brunswick, with his wife, Diane, their tabby cat, Eddie, and Buster, their Border Collie. James works as an MRI technologist at the Miramichi Hospital.
Book Details
ISBN: 978-1-0695776-0-3
Publication Date: March 2026
Type: Trade Paperback
Pages: 342