TV Series review: Agatha Raisin

                                                 

Agatha Raisin is a sharp-witted, very attractive PR executive who swaps her high-flying London career for a quiet life in the English village of Carsley, imbued with the bucolic charm that only English villages with extraordinarily high murder counts can achieve. The Cotswolds seem to be light years away from the hustle and bustle of London life, but Agatha is kept very busy as murders follow in her footsteps. Soon she is an unofficial sleuth, and very shortly after her talents are both recognised and deplored by the local coppers, she opens an official detective agency. The series is adapted from MC Beaton’s novels of the same name and blend quirky charm with cosy murder mystery and the unique sense of ‘Britishness’ of a typically English rural setting.

Ashley Jensen is Agatha; attractive, quick-thinking, and with a love of very expensive shoes with very high heels. I think a large section of the budget must have been devoted to the shoes. She lives next door to James Lacey, played by Jamie Glover, and their on/off love affair plays out over the episodes. He is handsome, rugged-looking, suave, and well-dressed. Even his jeans are pressed. However, he is a bit of a stuffed shirt and pretty soon I thought Agatha was better off without him. So did she. Then we have Sir Charles Fraith (Jason Merrells) who is a confirmed flirt and desperate to find love. He lives in a stately pile that any woman would be happy in. The exact opposite of James, Sir Charles always looks slightly dishevelled, as if he jumped into a laundry basket and then wore what stuck. He is so funny and disarming and is much more appealing.

The coppers mentioned above start out like the Keystone Cops so it’s easy for Agatha to run rings around them. Matt McCooey plays DC Wong, a handsome half Japanese officer who is utterly sweet and disarming. Jason Barnett plays DC Wilkes, a chubby black officer who is very officious and has a few run-ins with Agatha. These two are hilarious and prove that there are no small parts. However, the absolute scene stealer is Marcia Warren as Mrs Boggle. The name says it all; the old lady who inserts herself into every aspect of village life. She is so funny and well worth watching. There are no age barriers when it comes to acting.

The absolute joy in watching this series is the ensemble acting. The village has a great sense of camaraderie and so do the characters who make up Agatha’s team. There are a few more I have not mentioned. While there were a few determined DEI castings initially, I think soon the scriptwriters stopped meddling and the makeup of the village was determined by the stories and the situations leading to the murders. This is a great pick for weekend viewing but be warned: you will binge watch so make plenty of popcorn!

Movie Review: The Commuter

 

I started watching Fuze which sounded exciting; a WW2 unexploded bomb in London. What a boring and dismal movie. A wooden Aaron Taylor-Johnson headed up the army detail sent to defuse it. Long and dreary, with much time wasted in exchanges with various people who seemed to have no connection to the various departments in the army. No sense of panic and mayhem when people were being evacuated. It was so dull that I stopped watching and found The Commuter, starring Liam Neeson who does thrillers so well. Yes, it sounds like a rehash of Non-Stop, set on a plane, but this one is set on a train. When an insurance broker, Michael MacCauley, very strangely loses his job and is on his way home, his future in tatters, he is approached by a woman who says he can earn a quick $100,000 by doing one very simple thing. But as with all these scams, nothing is ever simple.

The photography is excellent and Neeson comes across as a man who has had his nose to the grindstone, weary and beaten down by life and mortgages and bills. His desperation fuels his frantic actions, as he must identify someone on the gradually emptying train. A witness to a murder committed by the cops. This is not just any murder. It reveals deep-seated political corruption. But as he tries and fails and tries again, it seems as if the woman who hired him has her claws in his family, and the people she works for have infiltrated so deep.

The action scenes are just spectacular and Neeson is incredibly fit. He was 64 when this movie was made. The focus is on his character, but this does not bypass others like Vera Farmiga (the woman), Sam Neill (chief of police), and Patrick Wilson (his former colleague in the force). Critics complained they were underused but there are no small roles, only small actors and an observant viewer will see the back script, the history behind the relationships, and the tiny nuances that say more than the dialogue. A look, an expression, eyes shifting sideways tell the viewer what is really happening. The suspense and tension escalate as the train journey comes to an end, and the witness must be found. The final train smash sequence is absolutely breathtaking, and it must have been spectacular on the big screen. If you want action, a hero, an almighty train smash, justice, and deep politics corruption in spades, this is your movie. Make popcorn. Lots!

TV Series Review: Gone

 

Gone is a British TV series starring David Morrissey. The story revolves around the disappearance of a headmaster’s wife at the elite boys’ school in Bristol where they both work. One day Sarah Polly just does not come home. Her husband Michael takes a while to report her missing, which immediately raises red flags. The school rallies around him but he is a hard person to sympathise with, appearing cold, uncaring, indifferent, and guilty. There’s no body, no note, no indication of whether she left on her own or was kidnapped. Gradually initial sympathy from the other teachers, parents, and the boys turns against Michael, and he becomes the prime suspect. When her body is found in the woods, not far from their home, next door to the school, the gloves come off and the police actively seek to pin the murder on him.

David Morrissey gives a master class in restrained anguish. Gradually the icy wall he has constructed around himself starts to crack and finally break. In an amazing performance, he demonstrates the class and social issues in the UK, the school ethos, the personal history that moulded him from boy to man; and the breakdown of the marriage. Also revealed are the machinations of the various teachers and their pursuit of career goals, the marital issues of several parents, with each new reveal taking the viewer deeper into a maelstrom of drama, deception, lies, and obfuscation. When the murderer is finally revealed, I was gobsmacked. I had no idea.

For once the scriptwriters used a light touch in the casting and we did not get the usual heavy-handed woke nonsense with unsuitable POC castings that require dense backstories to explain why they are there. Every character was cast in a believable way and there were no ‘issues’ aired that had nothing to do with the story, which is a refreshing change from the usual tiresome twaddle peddled as British TV entertainment. Generally, an excellent cast, albeit overshadowed by Morrissey whose agony over the death of his wife and indeed the death of his ambitions and dreams tears at your heart.

If I have one criticism, it is the casting of Eve Myles as DS Annie Cassidy and the lack of due diligence by the scriptwriters, who clearly have no idea of how the police work and how police procedure is followed. No detective secretly records a witness or a suspect. It would be completely inadmissible in court and violates all protocol and the suspect’s rights. No detective inserts themselves into a suspect’s home and takes up residence there day and night. No detective initiates ‘intimate’ conversations and oversteps the boundaries. Eve Myles was misdirected and as a result the series lost a lot of credibility. The producers fluffed quite a few procedural steps. However, apart from that, Morrissey is riveting, giving a towering performance. Watching him was an absolute pleasure. The character breaks down once in tears and, like me, I think viewers will also reach for the tissues. Do not miss it. Scores a perfect 10.

Book Spotlight: To Murder a Marquis by Arabella Sheraton

 

When Jane Carstairs goes to Chelston Hall to complete an archival project, she wakes up in the woods there, only it's no longer 2015 ... it's 1815, and she's faced with the discovery of a possibly dead man…

Escape into the drama and romance of the Regency era with To Murder a Marquis, an immersive time travel adventure full of mystery and passion!

When modern-day Jane Carstairs awakens in 19th century England, she’s thrust into a captivating world of lords and ladies, grand estates, and old-fashioned courtship. But Jane soon realizes there’s a sinister murder plot afoot. As Jane works to discover the truth, she finds herself entangled in a web of intrigue. Will she solve the mystery in time or fall victim to the assassin? And can Jane resist the magnetic pull of attraction in this unfamiliar era?

Transport yourself back to the richly detailed Regency world and join Jane on her unforgettable quest for justice and love. With vivid descriptions, gripping suspense, and passionate romantic encounters, To Murder a Marquis is a time travel adventure you won’t want to miss. Embark on the journey today and discover why readers are raving about this unique, spellbinding tale of courage, connection, and timeless romance.

Read Sample Here.

To Murder a Marquis is available at Amazon.

╰┈➤Book Details

➢Title: To Murder a Marquis

➢Author: Arabella Sheraton

➢Genre: Regency Romance

➢Sub-genre: Time Travel

➢Language:English

➢Pages: 324

➢Publisher: Bublish

➢Publication Date: February 23, 2025

➢Formats: Paperback, Kindle

➢Paperback ISBN: ‎978-1647048969

➢Price: Paperback $14.99, Kindle $2.99

╰┈➤Excerpt

Furious barking woke me from a very nice dream in which my ex-fiancé Allan Hunter was on his knees, begging me to stay, and I had just flung his ring back in his face in a most satisfying manner. The fact he’d dumped me for a full-breasted bistro waitress called Tawnee—that’s right, with a double “e”—who clearly said all the right adoring things, had the intelligence of a single-celled organism, and was a tigress in the bedroom was something I chose to ignore.

The dog wouldn’t stop barking. I opened my eyes, and there he was, a beautiful russet-coloured retriever, barking like mad, but with his tail wagging. Still slightly dazed, I shook my head. What the hell was I doing lying under a tree? I was supposed to be in the library at Chelston Hall, helping Dad, who was in hospital in London with bronchitis, collate the archives of the Hadley family. I could almost hear him say, “Jane Carstairs, what on earth are you doing there when you should be working?”

The dog was still barking. I’m not afraid of dogs so I raised myself on one elbow. “Here, boy. What’s the matter?”

I held out one hand for him to come over and have a sniff as an introduction. The dog took a few steps forward, then ran back to his original spot, and barked once. Clearly, a clever canine. He was telling me something. But what? I struggled to sit up. For some reason, my clothes were constricting; something like a straitjacket encircled my chest. Instead of my casual T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, I wore an ankle-length flowing dress, and short lace-up boots, along with a tight, short, long-sleeved jacket. I was in period costume straight out of Pride and Prejudice. Not funny! Someone had obviously pranked me but managing to undress and get me into this suffocating costume was beyond a joke. Plus, how did I get from sitting in a chair in the library to lying under a tree? 

Back to the dog again, which now seemed very agitated. He ran back and forth a bit and whined. By pulling my dress and copious amounts of petticoat up to my knees, tearing something at the jacket shoulder in the process, I managed to stand. The dog ran off through the trees as if on a mission. Maybe someone was hurt, and the mutt was looking for help? Dogs can be so clever that way. Running in the narrow skirt was impossible so I hitched the skirt as high as I could and chased after the dog. Ten minutes later I arrived, panting, at the scene of a bloody accident. Bloody is no exaggeration. A man, also dressed in period costume—riding gear—lay on his back, his arms flung out. He was either asleep, or unconscious, or ... I didn’t even want to consider the last option. The dog stood next to him, its tail wagging. It looked at me, whining as if to say, “Help him.” I knelt and took a closer look. Robert William Edward Hadley, the Marquis of Coleston, lay before me. An arrow protruded from the top of his left shoulder, a massive amount of blood soaked the front of his fawn-coloured coat, and he looked very dead.

– Excerpted from To Murder a Marquis by Arabella Sheraton, Bublish, Inc., 2024. Reprinted with permission.

About the Author

From Jane Austen to Georgette Heyer, Arabella Sheraton has found both enjoyment and inspiration in sparkling, witty Regency novels. She also loves history and generally finds the past more fascinating than the future. Arabella wrote her first Regency romance to entertain her aged mom who loved the genre. Arabella is honoured to share the adventures of her heroes and heroines with readers.

Arabella’s book, To Murder a Marquis, is available at Amazon.

Visit her website at https://www.arabellasheratonbooks.com.

Connect with her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/regencyromances/ and X at https://x.com/ArabellSheraton.

Sponsored By:

Book Blast: Under the Norse Star by Cheryl Carpinello

Nothing in their wildest imagination could have prepared Rosa and Jerome for what lay in wait in Ancient Iceland as they search for the 2nd Feather…

Rosa can hear the dead. That gift has already pulled her into impossible places… and deadly danger.

Now, on the Autumnal Equinox, Rosa and her cousin Jerome are summoned again. Their mission: travel to Iceland, the Land of Fire and Ice, and retrieve the second Golden Red Feather of the Phoenix. Because only when all five Feathers are united can Atlantis rise from the ocean depths and its lost people finally return home.

But Iceland isn’t empty.

Ancient guardians still roam beneath the Norse Star… and something far worse has arrived first. A shapeshifting Horseman rides the frozen wilderness, hunting the Feather, and willing to kill for it.

With earthquakes shaking the land, wicked laughter in the wind, and a mysterious Ancient One waiting in the ice, Rosa and Jerome must survive the most dangerous quest yet… before time runs out. 

Under the Norse Star (Feathers of the Phoenix Book 2) is available at Amazon and  the author’s website.

╰┈➤Book Details

Genre: Time Travel/Fantasy

Sub-genre: Norse Mythology/Legends/Teens & Young Adult

Language:English

Pages: 132

Paperback ISBN: 978-1804401323

╰┈➤Here’s What Readers Have To Say!

“Spellbinding, chilling, and dazzling, Rosa’s icy quest for Phoenix feathers enthralls completely. Highly recommended.” – The International Review of Books

“It’s a multilayered adventure that blends time travel, ancient lore, and danger. It can easily stand alongside Rick Riordan’s Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, which blends modern fantasy with Norse mythology. But Under the Norse Star also stands out in its own way with its rich world-building and its engaging and memorable storyline.” – ReaderViews

Excerpt:

Off in the distance, calving ice trembles and explodes, bouncing off granite, sending ocean waves crashing across the northern fjords of Eyjafjordur. Puffins flee into the cloudless sky. Killer whales expose their white bellies as they leap in the air and dive deep into the reverberating blue ocean to escape. And always the stench of rotten eggs makes its way across the water to the land beyond.

Just beyond the horizon, beneath the ofttimes frozen earth, molten lava courses. Continually through light and dark, it forges a way through millennium old glaciers, melting a pathway through the volcanic rock. Sharp, red hot surfaces create vents the liquid fire rises through, filling the air with odorous sulfur. Gaseous clouds form inches above the ground, fatal to any invaders, and wind their way up my valleys bounded by basalt cliffs

Still further yet across its width, mountains tremble, shake, cry, and break as the Earth-fire comes alive. Thunderous roars fill the air, twisting trees, crashing rocks, splitting the earth. More caustic odors flow from newly missing mountain crowns. Fiery liquids flow down those sides further reshaping the terrain and carving out deep furrows. Immense heat incinerates all it touches: vegetation, trees, and ice. The mountains keep belching, sending scorching lava faster and faster down the slopes. Soon entire valleys disappear beneath hot, red glows. As night approaches, the mountains cough and quietly go to sleep. In the cool of late night and early morning, fires burn out, leaving blackened lava rock on the earth. Steaming vapors find a way through and curl up into small clouds hanging just inches from the burnt ground. 

Protecting and watching.

Long before the dawn of civilization, before today’s world took shape, this island stood here. Long before humans set foot on its shores and rocky landscape, beings lived here. Mystical beings which guarded and protected this isle.

Always this isle is guarded. Land Spirits (Landvaettir) watch. In the North, a massive Griffin roams. A Fire Breathing Dragon guards the East. The South sits under the all-seeing eye of a Giant who stands taller than the trees. In the West, an enormous bull watches for danger. My guardians, forever on duty, ensure the safety of our home. I oversee them all.

And above all, long before names were given, long before humans knew of them, heavenly stars lit this northern world. Given names by the Norsemen, these guiding stars brought far away travelers to these shores. Today, some call them by different names, but one is always known by the same name: the Norse Star. This star and others still shine, in the light and in the dark, upon this land adding mystery to the magical. These beings watch closely even over me.

This is my home.

I am the Gyrfalcon. Greatest of Strength and Speed. I am the Land of Fire and Ice.

I am Iceland.

But once, from centuries far removed, a simple golden red Feather floated down and hid itself here. And now danger threatens all.

– Excerpted from Feathers of the Phoenix: Under the Norse Star Book 2, Silver Quill Publishing, 2025. Reprinted with permission.

About the Author

 

Cheryl Carpinello is a retired high school English teacher. Her Tales and Legends appeal to readers of all ages, particularly those who have struggled with reading. Through her 25 years teaching diverse readers, she’s found that stories from the Ancient Worlds and Arthurian Legend draw in readers of all abilities.

She writes Arthurian Legend focused on these cornerstones: Courage, Honor, Loyalty, & Friendship. Her tales from Egypt & the new series Feathers of the Phoenix meld the ancient/medieval worlds with today. The Atlantean Horse and Under the Norse Star, books 1 &2 of Feathers of the Phoenix, brings the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse out of the Bible & into the modern world.

Her Grandma/Grandpa’s Tales, short illustrated nature stories, help the youngest readers build their reading skills. At the 2nd grade reading level, these stories are suitable for readers aged 4 and up.

She also does classroom & zoom visits where students can create their own Illuminated Poetry.

As retired teachers, Cheryl and her husband love to travel. They attend college football games around the US each year and also travel abroad for fun and research. They’ve been to Egypt, the UK, Iceland, Norway, Mexico & the Caribbean. 

Visit her website at  https://www.cherylcarpinello.com.

Connect with her on social media at:

╰┈➤X: https://www.x.com/ccarpinello 

╰┈➤Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cheryl.carpinello1

╰┈➤Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/ccarpine1/

╰┈➤BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/cheryl-carpinello

Book Blast: Deadly Wilderness Showdown by Lisa Weaver

 

Hunted through the wilderness…can they survive animals and criminals?

He saved her once. He’ll risk everything to save her again. 

After surviving a brutal encounter with a sadistic serial killer, Abbie Renforth finds peace in the Maine wilderness. But peace turns to peril when a vengeful crime family brings their war to her doorstep, turning her sanctuary into a battlefield. 

Ethan Knight, the former detective who once saved her life, is reluctantly pulled back into the fray. Together they must outwit ruthless enemies and unravel a dangerous tangle of lies. Can they outmaneuver a merciless crime family and unearth the truth before their time runs out?

Deadly Wilderness Showdown is available at Amazon.

╰┈➤Book Details

 Genre: Inspirational Romantic Suspense

 Sub-genre: Christian Mystery/Suspense

 Language:English

 Pages: 20

 Paperback ISBN: 978-1335957863

Excerpt:

Abbie Renforth had witnessed more than her share of psyche-scarring moments in her former career as a photojournalist for an international news agency. She’d captured far too many heart-wrenching images in the aftermath of earthquakes, floods, wildfires and senseless crimes than she cared to remember. Some things, once seen, could never be unseen.

She’d experienced the worst the world had to offer—and not only in her professional life. Now, amid the wild and rugged beauty of Maine, where she’d retreated after losing her job and very nearly her life, she was experiencing the best.

Recalling how close she’d come to missing out on the chance to spend three months in this idyllic expanse of backcountry courtesy of a visiting artist program, she was grateful she’d overcome her hesitation. Fear had nearly kept her from saying yes when she’d first been offered the opportunity to take part in this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Since she’d been attacked, her formerly borderless comfort zone had shrunk to an anxiety-restricted microcosm. Nearly dying at the hands of a demented serial killer had a way of doing that to a person.

– Excerpted from Deadly Wilderness Showdown by Lisa Weaver, Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense, 2026. Reprinted with permission.

About the Author

Lisa Weaver lives in Maine with her husband and one very spoiled Maine coon cat. When she’s not spinning pulse-pounding tails, she enjoys hiking, biking, getting her hands dirty in her flower gardens, spending time in nature and baking decadent treats inspired by her fascination with baking competition shows (and chocolate).

Lisa’s latest book is Deadly Wilderness Showdown.

Visit her website at www.LisaWeaverRomance.com. 

Connect with her on social media at:

╰┈➤X: www.x.com/dreamweavings7 

╰┈➤Facebook: www.facebook.com/weaverromance

╰┈➤Instagram: www.instagram.com/lisaweaverauthor

╰┈➤BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lisa-weaver

Sponsored By:

Book Spotlight: The Birth of a Widow by author Kathie Giorgio

The Birth of a Widow is an utterly shattering portrait of the sudden loss of a husband and a shared life that will speak to anyone who has ever loved or lost a loved one. In these poems of electric honesty, Giorgio explores how she struggles to survive her first year as a widow, using all her wisdom, humor, anger, to cross the vast sea of grief to the other shore, bringing us—wiser, too—along with her.

—Jesse Lee Kercheval, author of I Want To Tell You

 

Sixty-six days after Kathie Giorgio’s husband was killed when he was struck and run over by a passenger van while walking to his bus stop, Kathie’s grief broke out unbidden into poetry. For the year after his death, she wrote the poems as they arrived. An intimate study of traumatic loss, Giorgio exposes the full depth of grief’s sadness, anger, and confusion.

Purchase a copy of Murder Under Redwood Moon

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Birth-Widow-Collected-Poems/dp/B0GQ45W871

Barnes & Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-birth-of-a-widow-kathie-giorgio/1149562901

Booshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-birth-of-a-widow-collected-poems-kathie-giorgio/359235e5053bf4b0

You can also add this to your GoodReads reading list 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/249027194-the-birth-of-a-widow

 

About the Author, Kathie Giorgio

Kathie Giorgio is the author of seventeen traditionally published books: eight novels, two story collections, an essay collection, and five poetry collections. Her new novel, Unique In All The World, will be released in February 2027. She’s been nominated for the Pushcart Prize in fiction and poetry and awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Library Association and the Eric Hoffer prize for fiction, among others. 

Giorgio is also the founder and director of AllWriters’ Workplace &Workshop LLC, an international creative writing studio offering online and on-site courses and workshops for all genres and abilities, as well as coaching and editing services.

 

Find the author at:

Website: www.kathiegiorgio.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathie.giorgio.5

Instagram: @kathiegio1   https://www.instagram.com/kathiegio1/

Twitter/X: @kathiegiorgio   https://x.com/kathiegiorgio

Book Giveaway

Don’t miss out on your chance to win a copy of The Birth of a Widow. Enter at The Muffin from June 1 through June 14.

5 Things About A Change in Plans by Mike Martin

 

Food, family, friends and a few dead bodies…

RCMP officer Winston Windflower’s rare afternoon off gets interrupted when a hit and run turns into murder and he must pull together a team of Mounties from Newfoundland to resolve the crime. Following the money and fentanyl— and bodies—Windflower and his team join forces with police officers in southern Ontario to take down an international drug-smuggling ring.

Windflower must face personal doubts and fears when fellow Mountie Fil Romano is kidnapped. While the higher-ups at HQ make plans to give safe passage to the drug lords in return for Romano’s life, Windflower worries Romano will get caught in the crossfire. Windflower again looks to his friends and allies for help in the difficult hours and days ahead. 

╰┈➤Book Details

• Genre: Mystery
• Sub-genre: Cozy Mystery/Police Procedural
• Language: English
• Pages: 278
• Paperback ISBN: TBA

A Change in Plans is available at Amazon.

╰┈➤Here’s What Readers Have To Say!

“When a Mountie is kidnapped, it further complicates matters. As the tension keeps increasing, the action reaches a fever pitch. This author knows how to keep the plot moving swiftly to keep readers hooked. You will enjoy spending time with Windflower, a hero who’s clever, brave, and endlessly resourceful.” – Steven Finkelstein

“Readers cannot help but enjoy this series. Even though there are some nail biting, adrenaline pumping things going on, it is balanced out by the personal parts of the story. Yes, Windflower could be chasing down a killer or a drug dealer, but he is always grounded with his wife and two daughters, his friends and his community. I personally enjoy when he does his smudging and reconnects with his deceased Auntie and Uncle and gives back to the earth.” – Cozy Mystery Book Reviews

╰┈➤Read if you love…

 Mystery 

̷̊̊̊̊̊ International Drug-Smuggling Ring

Kidnapping 

Dead Bodies

Canadian Mounties to the Rescue

Edge of Your Seat Excitement

Excerpt:

Summer was nearing its end in the small town of Grand Bank on the eastern shore of Canada. Winston Windflower, husband, father and RCMP officer, was enjoying some quiet time while his wife, Sheila Hillier, and their two girls, Amelia Louise and Stella, were in St. John’s for their annual back-to-school shopping spree. He was alone except for his four-legged friends. Lady, an eight-year-old collie, was still frisky and ready to go for a walk as always. Molly, the cat, was ageless and just about lifeless as she sat in her bed waiting for the next treat to fall in front of her.

It was a fine, sunny day as Windflower looked out of their home onto the Atlantic Ocean. Because it was so nice, he had taken the afternoon off for picking berries. The summer had been unusually hot and sticky, and that meant the berries were out a little earlier than usual. His fervent hope was that his special picking spot had not been disturbed by early pickers trampling down bushes and limiting the harvest.

If things went well, he could pick a gallon of berries in a couple of hours, and if he was super lucky, Sheila would make something fabulous with the blueberries when she got back. Maybe a pie or even one of her blueberry specialties. Windflower salivated when he imagined all of that deliciousness. He grabbed a couple of Tupperware containers and a bottle of water and then headed for his favourite spot.

There was a congregation of berry pickers at the closest picking location, just past the clinic. Bent over, they paid him little attention. He didn’t mind being ignored. The area was too busy and crowded for him. He took the trail down by the brook and then up the hill to the lookout. He paused for a moment to take in the majestic view of Grand Bank. Windflower glanced over the brook to the town and the wharf, all the way to the craggy outcrop that the locals called the Cape. Then he continued on up over the hill and towards the other side.

He veered off the path about halfway down and was very pleased to find his desired location calm and untouched. He said a silent prayer of thanks to Creator and began his task. Some people would have thought of this as work, but Windflower found berry picking both meditative and spiritual. It reconnected him to the land and made him think of his early days growing up on the reserve in Pink Lake, Alberta. His Cree family would all go berry picking for the day, bringing a lunch and a kettle to make tea.

He soon had one container filled and was working on the second when his pocket buzzed. He checked the number on his phone. It was Corporal Samira Gupta, his right-hand assistant, calling from the bigger community of Marystown. He had made arrangements with his boss, Superintendent Ron Quigley, that he would take the job as acting inspector for the region as long as he could stay in Grand Bank and have an assistant in Marystown. Gupta filled her role perfectly.

“What’s up, Corporal?” asked Windflower.

“Sorry to bother you,” said Gupta. “Betsy said you were off. But I thought you should know. We had a hit and run in Marystown. Over near Walmart. A woman in her forties is in hospital. Sergeant Tizzard is on the scene.” Eddie Tizzard was one of Windflower’s long-time friends and co-workers. They’d been working together for the last 10 years in one way or another.

“That’s a dangerous area,” said Windflower. “How is the woman?”

“She was unconscious when they brought her to the hospital in Burin,” said Gupta. “But no other information so far.”

“And the driver?”

“We’re working on it. Tizzard has a team doing interviews from the scene.”

“It’s busy around there. Somebody would have seen something.”

“That was our thinking, too,” Gupta agreed. “If we don’t get anything back soon from the canvass, we’ll do a media hit.”

“Perfect. Keep me posted.”

Now that his reverie had been disrupted, Windflower packed up his stuff and headed back down to his car. He was driving towards home when he noticed the driver of a passing car flashing their headlights at him. He slowed down and pulled over and then went to see if they were okay. As he got closer, he squinted to see Moira Stoodley, co-owner of the Mug-Up Café, the best and only diner in Grand Bank, in the driver’s seat. She was also the wife of his best friend, Herb Stoodley, who was tutoring him in two very diverse subjects—classical music, about which Windflower knew next to nothing before he met Herb, and trout and salmon fishing, which he thought he had mastered but now realized he was only a beginner.

He assumed Moira had stopped him to say hello or to pass along a message from her husband. But it was much more serious.

“I saw Mike Winger, that crazy-looking guy, back on the road,” said Moira. “It looked like his wheelchair had tipped over. A few young fellers were helping him get back up. But he looked in bad shape. Had a cut over his forehead. I asked him if he was okay. He told me to mind my business and went on home. You might want to check in on him.”

It wasn’t exactly his job to look after wandering locals, but it had become expected of the lone police officer in the community. He may have the high and mighty title of acting inspector, but his day job consisted of part-time social worker, youth counsellor and senior companion when he wasn’t solving crimes or directing the limited amount of traffic that Grand Bank produced.

Helping citizens in distress certainly fell into his ‘other related duties’, and Mike Winger seemed to be in constant need of assistance of one kind or another. Mostly of his own doing.

Windflower knew a little about the man from his many interactions with him. Winger was an American and a veteran of the Gulf Wars. After he left the military, he got certified as a refrigeration mechanic and started wandering around, first in the United States and then into Canada. He ended up in the Grand Bank area working for fish plants and discovered a place where nobody really knew him but welcomed him anyway.

Mike Winger finally felt at home. He bought a house and found a girl who eventually moved in.

His life seemed perfect until… the crash that changed his life. His girlfriend was killed instantly as his car slid off the highway to avoid a moose one late spring morning. He was left with one leg paralyzed and the other badly damaged. Stuck with his feeling of loss and grief, he turned to alcohol and then drugs. Then he became mean and isolated. His scooter was his only escape, but even that turned out to be another source of problems.

Windflower had rescued him and the scooter more times than he could remember. From ditches by the side of the road. From a farmer’s field. From the pub, more than once, when he had been asked to leave, none too politely. One time from the cemetery, although Windflower wasn’t exactly sure how that happened. Mike Winger was certainly one of Windflower’s pet irritants in Grand Bank. But since neither of them were going anywhere soon, they had figured out how to survive, if not get along, together.

– Excerpted from A Change in Plans by Mike Martin, Ottawa Press and Publishing, 2026. Reprinted with permission.

5 Things about A Change in Plans

1.    The main character is Sgt. Winston Windflower. Windflower is a Cree from the fictional community of Pink Lake Alberta. People ask why did I make him Indigenous? I didn’t make him anything. That’s the way he came. Windflower came out of the fog one night in Grand Bank, Newfoundland and started talking to me. I just wrote down his story.

2.    A Change in Plans is the 17^th book in the Sgt. Windflower Mystery series. It is a light mystery series.

3.     A Change in Plans is set in Grand Bank, Newfoundland, on the easternmost tip of Canada. It is small, fairly isolated with a history of rum running during prohibition and the love of smuggling runs deep. It is the perfect location for a series of mysterious crimes and adventures.

4. What’s A Change in Plans about? RCMP officer Winston Windflower’s rare afternoon off gets interrupted when a hit and run turns into murder and he must pull together a team of Mounties from Newfoundland to resolve the crime. Following the money and fentanyl— and bodies—Windflower and his team join forces with police officers in southern Ontario to take down an international drug-smuggling ring. Windflower must face personal doubts and fears when fellow Mountie Fil Romano is kidnapped. While the higher-ups at HQ make plans to give safe passage to the drug lords in return for Romano’s life, Windflower worries Romano will get caught in the crossfire. Windflower again looks to his friends and allies for help in the difficult hours and days ahead. 

5. A Change in Plans is available from Amazon, all over the world.

About the Author

Mike Martin was born in St. John’s, NL on the east coast of Canada and now lives and works in Ottawa, Ontario. He is a long-time freelance writer and his articles and essays have appeared in newspapers, magazines and online across Canada as well as in the United States and New Zealand.

He is the award-winning author of the best-selling Sgt. Windflower Mystery series, set in beautiful Grand Bank. There are now 17 books in this light mystery series with the publication of A Change in Plans. 

A Tangled Web was shortlisted in 2017 for the best light mystery of the year, and Darkest Before the Dawn won the 2019 Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award. All That Glitters was shortlisted for the LOLA 2024 Must Read Book of the year award.

Some Sgt. Windflower Mysteries are now available as audiobooks and the latest Darkest Before the Dawn was released as an audiobook in 2024. All audiobooks are available from Audible in Canada and around the world.

Mike is Past Chair of the Board of Crime Writers of Canada, a national organization promoting Canadian crime and mystery writers and a member of the Newfoundland Writers’ Guild and Capital Crime Writers.

Visit Mike’s website at https://sgtwindflowermysteries.com. 

Connect with him on social media at:

╰┈➤ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheWalkerOnTheCapeReviewsAndMore 

╰┈➤ Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mike54martin 

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