The Sulphur Springs Cure: who doesn't love a good mystery?

12 Feb 2024 - Photos by Marc Song

Jeffrey Round has published many mystery novels over the past two decades, including his popular Dan Sharp books. But that series has wound down. “His voice just left my head,” he told me over lunch at The Bishop and Belcher. So it was time to do something new. It helped that Jeffrey's mother, who read all his manuscripts, asked, “Are you ever going to write a book I can show my friends?” In other words, a book with no sex or violence or gay stuff? His newest novel, The Sulphur Springs Cure, is just that. 

The Sulphur Springs Cure is the story of Violet, a 14-year-old girl whose mother requires therapy for an injury, so the family goes to a spa in Dundas, Ontario to take the cure. The spa is one of those big old houses filled with intrigue. Most of the occupants are adults, but Violet bonds with the owner’s daughter, Julie. Together, they gossip about the others and muse about the seemingly sexual relationship between the hot gardener, Ned, and the chamber maid Celeste. Violet snoops around a lot, drawn in by her curiosity and her libido, but all of a sudden she finds herself in the midst of a murder investigation. As Jeffrey says, that is the moment where Violet realizes, “I’m never going to play with dolls ever again.” Decades later, the old Violet, in the process of moving into a seniors’ home, reignites her interest in the murder. She rings up her niece and the two of them return to the scene of the crime, now in ruins but still flush with clues.

The whole thing was inspired by a day trip Jeffrey took to Dundas, Ontario, which features some fascinating ruins. Looking at the rubble, Jeffrey thought, “This place has stories, I can feel them coming out of the ground.” But he still wasn’t thinking about writing a book. Once he did, his publisher at Dundurn Press missed the sex and violence of the Dan Sharp books and passed, but it just so happened that the publisher at Cormorant was actually looking for something lighter at the time. The Sulphur Springs Cure is Jeffrey’s first book with no gay content, but that doesn’t mean it lacks male eroticism. I freely admit the character of Ned got me all worked up. It’s a brisk, fun read, and the overall atmosphere of the setting and the precocious characters reminded me of the movie Atonement. I enjoyed it, and you will, too. After all, who doesn’t like a good mystery?