Blood in the Water

A True Story of Small-Town Revenge

By: Silver Donald Cameron

Narrated by: David Ferry

“Fascinating! [A] must-read for all concerned about how humans manage to live together. Or not.” —Margaret Atwood

“Superb... an instant true crime classic.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A masterfully told true story, perfect for fans of Say Nothing and Furious Hours: a brutal murder in a small Nova Scotia fishing community raises urgent questions of right and wrong, and even the very nature of good and evil.


In his riveting and meticulously reported final book, Silver Donald Cameron offers a stunning, intricate narrative about a notorious killing and its devastating repercussions.

Cameron’s searing, utterly gripping story about one small community raises a disturbing question: Are there times when taking the law into your own hands is not only understandable but the responsible thing to do?

In June 2013, three upstanding citizens of a small town on Cape Breton Island murdered their neighbor, Phillip Boudreau, at sea.

While out checking their lobster traps, two Landry cousins and skipper Dwayne Samson saw Boudreau in his boat, the Midnight Slider, about to vandalize their lobster traps. Like so many times before, the small-time criminal was about to cost them thousands of dollars out of their seasonal livelihood.

Boudreau seemed invincible, a miscreant who would plague the village forever. Meanwhile the police and local officials were frustrated, cowed, and hobbled by shrinking budgets.

One of the men took out a rifle and fired four shots at Boudreau and his boat.

Was the Boudreau killing cold blooded murder, a direct reaction to credible threats, or the tragic result of local officials failing to protect the community? As many local people have said, if those fellows hadn't killed him, someone else would have...

Critic reviews

Shortlisted for The 2021 Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence.

"Loving, intimate look at Acadian culture. . . [and a] courtroom drama [that] asks big questions beyond simply 'Who done it?'"
--The Minneapolis Star Tribune

“This is an instant true crime classic.”
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“...an absorbing study of the way an isolated community handles conflict as well as the failures of the Canadian legal system.”
--Booklist

"How a small fishing community responded to the violent death of one of its most notorious citizens . . . Cameron artfully links the central drama to broader discussions about socio-economic inequality, natural resource management, police interrogation tactics, and the consequences of a loss of faith in law and order . . . An often gripping, insightful examination of a well-known crime and the Acadian milieu in which it took place."
--Kirkus Reviews

"Silver David Cameron knew intimately the Cape Breton community where the brutal murder of a local who was vandalizing lobster traps took place. But instead of that insider knowledge giving him too narrow a focus, it enables him to see beyond the broad strokes of the story -- and so bring to life ideas about power, law, vigilantism and community."
--Toronto Star

A "masterful true account of a celebrated small-town murder."
--The Globe and Mail

"It became known as the 'murder for lobster' case. But that description . . . comes nowhere near capturing the complexities of the crime and its effects on the local community. [Cameron] successfully weaves together courtroom drama, memoir, and an insightful exploration of people and place . . . While much time is spent in a courtroom, Blood in the Water is not particularly concerned with innocence and guilt. It's a book about place, relationships, and our responsibilities to each other."
--Quill & Quire

"A dramatic narrative set in a unique, lovingly drawn setting, where a story about one small community has universal resonance. This is a story not about lobster, but about the grand themes of power and law, security and self-respect."
--CBC

"A vibrant portrait of a hardscrabble town . . . Blood in the Water demonstrates how even the quietest towns are capable of explosive violence."
--Foreword Reviews

Interesting story

The book was interesting, but the various voices for the characters was very unnecessary and took away from the narrative.

Best of the genre

True crime often wallows in the sensational detail of gruesome acts of despicable characters. This book lifts the genre to philosophical & emotional heights. SDC gives us a Dostoevskian treatment that illustrates the complicated human questions that should drive the foundational ideals of any justice system. As a resident of the area, he spins the web of familial and civic connections that shape every community, large and small.

Laws: Abstract Ideals versus Reality

I thought this was a full presentation of the many vectors that affected this community through this particular crime. The relationships of the community members with one another, with their history of British Law, through the pleas of help from the community through to the court that seemed I’ll-suited to handle the after-effects. Each time the judges spoke it was like they introduced another “off by one” error in the process so the final result was an ugly mess.

I want to know more about these cases but I really want to read more of Cameron’s thoughts on the legal and societal schisms.

Island justice or perpetrator as victim

Bringing Silver Donald Cameron’s words to dialectical life, David Ferry liltingly phrases each sentence with Cameron’s wisdom. The arc of his storytelling is logical, moving from the point of a local ne’er-do-well’s chilling, concisely-executed murder, to its easy arrests of local lobster fishermen and their frank confessions, to its ultimate trial and verdicts. Emanating throughout is Cameron’s insightful searchlight among selected Acadian fisherfolk alternately harassed and helped by the Robin-Hoodlike, endearing and maddening murder victim. Readers can know the setting, the people, and the conflicted situation that boiled over to its final and expected confrontation. Cameron’s rendition of one vigilante incident reveals his sensitivity and sorrow for a community. It became wrought up, meaning to reform one of their own yet enforcing his way of life adding to his vengeance on them for his plight: a dog bites his master’s hand, and citizens lay a master’s exacting response. For all, compromise and justice are elusive.

Exceptional.

This is a real true crime story. However, it's so much more then that. It's a story of an ideal community, a lesson in compassion and tolerance, a beautiful portrait of the Isle of Madam, the ocean, fishing life........

This story allows you to feel and understand both sides and shows how to humbly respect differing opinions but still move on as a community united.

This book is exceptional and goes onto my all time favorite classics shelf. A reread for eternity.