Mike Martin
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Mike Martin was born in Newfoundland on the East Coast of Canada and now lives and works in Ottawa, Ontario. He is a longtime 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 author of Change the Things You Can: Dealing with Difficult People and has written a number of short stories that have been published in various publications including Canadian Stories and Downhome magazine.
The Walker on the Cape was his first full fiction book and the premiere of the Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series, followed by The Body on the T, Beneath the Surface, A Twist of Fortune, A Long Ways from Home, A Tangled Web, and Darkest Before Dawn, the latest book in the series. |
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The Walker on the Cape (Book 1 of the Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series)
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Mystery
A dead man's body is discovered along a well known but seldom used pathway in the hills above Grand Bank, Newfoundland. At first a heart attack or stroke is suspected but soon it is discovered that a main cause of this man's death was arsenic poisoning. The case of discovering how this could happen in such a quiet small community is assigned to Sergeant Winston Windflower of the RCMP along with his trusted side-kick Eddie Tizzard. Together they try to discover who might have been responsible for such a deed and along the way are stymied by the many small secrets of a close-knit community and the opposition of the powerful forces that seem to operate under the surface. Through solid detective work and more than a little luck they not only find their man but a thriving criminal empire at work throughout the Southeast Coast of Newfoundland. Their challenge is being able to prove who murdered the Walker on the Cape and to successfully bring them to justice, sometimes with the opposition of their own superiors. Along the way Windflower also discovers two more things; a love of living in a small Newfoundland community that is completely different from his up-bringing in a Northern Alberta reserve and maybe the love of his life. He gets a taste of Newfoundland food and hospitality as well as a sense of how crime and corruption can linger beneath the surface or hide in the thick blanket of fog that sometimes creeps in from the nearby Atlantic Ocean. The Walker on the Cape Blog
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The Walker on the Cape (Audiobook)
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Audiobook
The Audiobook version of The Walker on the Cape is here!! The first book in the Sgt. Windflower Mysteries is now available in an audiobook version. Narrated by Frank Kearney it is a completely different experience. One you won’t want to miss. Some early listeners have said: “To hear the book read in a Newfoundland accent is a game changer. As a reader, I create visual images of what I read, as I read; a dream-like visual. Hearing it read this way connects it to place more firmly. For the dream-like visual, it is as if the B&W dream is now presented in colour.” “I absolutely LOVE this treatment of the work. Easy to follow, clear and easily understood but authentic with its local narrator who clearly did his reading and preparation beforehand to get the phrasing as natural as possible.”
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The Body on the T (A Sgt. Windflower Mystery)
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Mystery
The Body on the T is the second book in the Windflower mystery series and it follows up on the highly acclaimed premiere, The Walker on the Cape. The story begins when a body washes up on a beach near Grand Bank, Newfoundland. There is no identification on the body and few clues to identify who the person was or where they came from. The case becomes the responsibility of Sgt. Winston Windflower of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and his trusted side-kick, Corporal Eddie Tizzard. But this is just the beginning. There is also a devastating accident on the highway and another suspicious death to deal with. Throw in a rogue police officer and an international drug ring operating in the waters off the coast and Windflower’s peaceful world is turned upside down. This time Windflower’s adventures take him to the scenic town of Burin where Captain Cook once patrolled the waters looking for French mercenaries. And to historic St. John’s where he faces down an armed suspect on a parking garage rooftop in the midst of a busy downtown evening. Along the way Windflower also continues to enjoy the food and home-style hospitality of this part of the world. Cod tongues, pan seared scallops and even figgy duff become part of his diet, and his long list of favourite foods. Windflower may be a long way from his Cree home in Northern Alberta but he has found a new place to love in the fog and mist of Newfoundland. The Body on the T Blog
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Beneath the Surface (A Sgt. Windflower Mystery)
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Mystery
Sgt. Windflower is a long way from his home in Northern Alberta but he has been adopted by the locals as almost one of their own. He has a good life, good work with the RCMP, and a good woman that he has grown closer too in his years on the southeast coast of Newfoundland. But trouble is brewing just beneath the surface. It begins with the discovery of a dead girl’s body. As Sgt. Windflower and his associate Corporal Eddie Tizzard are pulled further and further into the case the situation also grows to include a whole array of criminal activities from human trafficking and even the Russian Mafia. Along the way Windflower not only has to deal with this crime wave operating all around the region, but with some challenges in his own life. He has to go back to his Aboriginal roots to find the answers to some very deep and disturbing questions. His faith in the police force that has become his life is also threatened by a series of events and he is forced to face not only his own personal demons but those in real life that are lurking all around us.
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A Twist of Fortune (A Sgt. Windflower Mystery)
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Mystery
The small town of Grand Bank in southeast Newfoundland, at the very eastern tip of Canada is in crisis. Their largest employer and a link to the glorious past, the fish plant is closing. Sgt. Winston Windflower’s personal life is also in crisis since his longtime girlfriend, Sheila Hillier is leading a community protest to try and stop the closure. It may be too late for the fish plant, but is it too late for Windflower and Sheila? If that wasn’t enough, they are being buried in snow and an epidemic of prescription drug abuse that is creating major problems for people and the police who patrol the area. An accidental death on a snow-covered highway leads only to more questions and more problems for Sgt. Windflower and the RCMP to resolve. A Twist of Fortune is the fourth book in the Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series and it continues the adventures of Sgt. Windflower as he tries to solve crime and experience the joy and the sadness of life in a small Newfoundland community. Follow along as he feels the sometimes bitter taste of an east coast winter and the unique culinary delights of this part of the world. This story is like the weather in Newfoundland. It can twist and turn at any time.
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A Long Ways from Home (A Sgt. Windflower Mystery)
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Mystery
A weekend visit to picturesque Newfoundland by a large crew of outlaw bikers leaves behind another mess for Sgt. Windflower to clean up. This time he’s facing violence, murder, mystery and intrigue. This adventure has Windflower questioning everything he thought he knew. There are troubles on the home front, cutbacks in the policing budget, old friends leaving and new ones not quite here yet. Windflower is seeking to find answers in territory that is both dangerous and unfamiliar. This instalment in the Sgt. Windflower Mystery series has our hero dashing all over the beautiful little island of Newfoundland. Along the way he never wavers in his pursuit of justice. But he stills tries to find a way to enjoy the natural beauty that lays all around him, and to bring out the best from everybody he meets. A Long Ways from Home is about more than just homicides or the dirty dealings of outlaw bikers. It is also about helping people and communities face up to and overcome new and very difficult challenges. Windflower relies on his friends and allies, including some four-legged ones, to help him and them find the answers. He also discovers that we are never really alone, even when we are a long ways from home.
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A Tangled Web (A Sgt. Windflower Mystery)
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Mystery
Life is good for Sgt. Windflower in Grand Bank, Newfoundland. But something’s missing from the Mountie’s life. Actually, a lot of things go missing, including a little girl and supplies from the new factory. It’s Windflower’s job to unravel the tangled web of murder, deceit and an accidental kidnapping that threatens to engulf this sleepy little town and destroy those closest to him. But there’s always good food, good friends and the love of a great woman to make everything better in the end. From an early review "Settling down with a Sgt. Windflower mystery is like pulling on your favourite cosy pyjamas and fluffy slippers. The kind-hearted Mountie is always in the midst of the action but his stable homelife with wife and mum-to-be Sheila, his love of good food, fine scotch and quoting Shakespeare that he shares with his friends and the sedate pace of life in Newfoundland always keep him (and through him, his readers) in a bubble of serenity and well-being."
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Darkest Before the Dawn (A Sgt. Windflower Mystery)
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Mystery
Darkest Before the Dawn is the latest adventure of Sgt. Winston Windflower, a Mountie who finds himself surrounded by a new family and a new life in tiny Grand Bank, Newfoundland. There are signs of trouble that may disturb his pleasant life, including a series of unsolved break-ins and the lack of supports for young people in the most trying time of their lives. But there are always good friends, good food and the sense that if we all pull together, we can find a way to get through even the darkest days. Ghosts, mysterious deaths, and a new character enliven the pages as Windflower and Tizzard and the other police officers awaken the secrets that have been lying dormant in this sleepy little town. The deeper they dig the more they find as the criminals they seek dive deeper behind the curtains of anonymity and technology. But more than anything, this is a story of love and loss, of growing up and learning how to grow old gracefully. It is also about family and community and looking after each other. Of not giving up hope just before the dawn.
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