Free Reign

On the day he graduated from law school, there was little doubt that Ellis Portal would have a brilliant future. Indeed, he and five of his similarly gifted colleagues commemorated the splendor of their shared expectations with an expensive dinner and the presentation, to each, of a specially commissioned signet ring. For a time, those expectations were borne out, and Ellis took his place at the top of Toronto society. However, he has fallen hard. Homeless now, cut off from his family, he lives in Toronto's shadows and has almost succeeded in forgetting his own past. And then one day he makes a grisly discovery. It's not unusual: all cities have their share of dead bodies. But on one finger is an unusual, unmistakable signet ring. And Ellis, against his will, begins to remember. Free Reign is the first mystery in Rosemary Aubert's "Ellis Portal" series.