The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penny

The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penny is a mystery that is very different from your usual mystery. That's why I read it.

The story takes place in Canada around the time of the U.S. Civil War, maybe a little before then. People from various parts of Europe have come there to brave the elements and live in a settlement together, all speaking English but with lots of different accents. A French trapper has been murdered, and the obvious suspect is a 17-year-old who has fled the settlement.

Most of the book involves the boy's mother, a halfbreed Indian, and an employee of the Hudson Bay Company hiking across Canada in a search for the boy. 

The mystery is, at first, who killed the French trapper.  It turns out to be more than that, though.

Yes, this is quite different from your usual mystery. But, frankly, most of it bored me. It was so darned slow! There isn't anything thrilling about it.

I wouldn't have read the whole book but for two factors: 1) it wasn't a long book and 2) the book was a gift.

I also felt like this book was beneath my reading level. That is, it seemed to be a book I might have liked when I was in the eighth grade.

It's possible, though, other readers will disagree. Anyone else read this and like it?