Numbers

It's 1939, the Second World War is ramping up in Europe, troops are marching through the streets of London, Ontario, and Detective Joel Franklin, speaker for the dead, is on the trail of a killer cult with an obsession for numbers.

It all started innocently enough with a phone call from a man with a raspy voice, but an attempted murder at the sprawling, palatial Ontario Hospital for the Mentally Ill has raised concerns about the future safety of its target, Robert Van Stotten.

Bobby arrived at the hospital weeks earlier, babbling numbers and claiming that mysterious figures from a shadowy cult were trying to kill him. Professional opinions are divided, but it turns out his fears were justified, even if his statements don't add up. Why is he asking for Det. Franklin, and how does Bobby know about Joel's ghostly friend, Walter? Joel had to find the missing variable in the equation.

A second assault on the hospital leads to a nerve-racking game of human chess as Joel and the elusive leader of the Destiny cult try to outmanoeuvre each other. It will take all of Joel's wits, the help of multiple supernatural essences, and the combined power of several police agencies, to track down and bring the unscrupulous manipulator to justice. But will it be enough? The challenge seems to be growing exponentially.

Numbers is the 15th book in the Joel Franklin Mystery series.