"Immerses readers in harsh Arctic landscapes" - review of A GIFT BEFORE DYING

A GIFT BEFORE DYING by Malcolm Kempt (Baskerville, 2026)

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

After a botched high-profile murder investigation, Sergeant Elderick Cole is exiled to the remote, rugged landscape of Nunavut, a vast territory in the Arctic Circle known for its untamed beauty, frigid temperatures, and endless winter nights.

His bleak existence takes a sinister turn when he discovers the hanging body of Pitseolala, a troubled Inuit girl whom he had sworn to protect. Her death dredges up demons he thought he'd buried along with the scars of a fractured marriage and the aching divide between himself and his estranged daughter.

Against fierce backlash, Cole's overriding desire to redeem just one aspect of his otherwise failed life becomes an obsession - and he's willing to break every rule in his unyielding pursuit of justice and the smallest shred of redemption.

Newfoundland author Malcolm Kempt immerses readers in the harshness of Arctic landscapes, and the lives lived among them, in his terrific debut A Gift Before Dying. Sergeant Elderick Cole is enduring a frigid exile in Cape Dorset, a tiny hamlet perched among the vast, rugged expanses of Nunavut, after botching a high-profile murder investigation on mainland Canada. 

His tough, haunted existence becomes even tougher after he discovers the hanged body of Pitseolala, a troubled Inuit girl that he knew. Seemingly just another suicide in a bitter, desolate place; Cole thinks something more my be going on, though is he just fooling himself, or trying to atone for past mistakes, professional and personal?

Meanwhile, Pitseolala’s adolescent brother Maliktu, often bullied due to his appearance, believes he’s being visited by her ghost. Can the damaged duo find a killer, if one even exists? 

Kempt, who reportedly worked as a criminal lawyer in the remote Arctic for seventeen years, dealing with violent crime in a violent place, draws readers in with his vivid, authentic storytelling. 

He marches in to places others my avoid, from bloodstained circle of life to the trauma and weight carried by those whose careers accept violence and death as commonplace. Very good.. 

This review was first published in the New Zealand Listener magazine

Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned writer, editor, podcast host, awards judge, and event chair. He's the founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards, co-founder of Rotorua Noir, author of Macavity and HRF Keating Award-shortlisted non-fiction work SOUTHERN CROSS CRIME, editor of the DARK DEEDS DOWN UNDER anthology series, and writes about books for magazines and newspapers in several countries.