It is the spring of 1885 and rebellion has broken out in Canada's North West Territories. Amid the chaos and strife of the Battle of Batoche, Reuben Wake is murdered: shot at point blank range. Terrance Le Biche, a Métis man, is arrested for the crime. But Le Biche claims innocence―he admits he had every intention of killing Wake, but says someone beat him to the foul deed.
When Durrant Wallace, a sergeant in the North West Mounted Police, begins his own investigation into Le Biche's possible motives, he learns there were many who wanted Wake dead. And their grievances with Wake mirror the varied causes of the Northwest Rebellion itself. Durrant uncovers a series of covert conspiracies surrounding Métis leader and prophet Lois Riel, and, during the weeklong intermission in Riel's trial, he and his friends set a trap for Wake's true killer.
The Third Riel Conspiracy is the second book in the Durrant Wallace series of historical mysteries.