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 installment 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.
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 author of the award-winning Sgt. Windflower Mystery series set in beautiful Grand Bank. There are now 12 books in this light mystery series with the publication of Dangerous Waters. 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. Mike has also published Christmas in Newfoundland: Memories and Mysteries, a Sgt. Windflower Book of Christmas past and present.
Some Sgt. Windflower Mysteries are now available as audiobooks and the latest A Long Ways from Home was released as an audiobook in 2022. 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 Ottawa Independent Writers and Capital Crime Writers.
Q&A with Protagonist Sgt. Windflower
- How old are you and what do you do for a living?
- I am an RCMP officer, a Canadian Mountie. I’m a Cree from Northern Alberta who is stationed in a small fishing community on the east coast of Canada, called Grand Bank.
- What would I love the most about you?
- I think you would love my honesty and basic decency. I try and treat everyone and everything with respect. Somebody once called me the ‘nicest Mountie’ in Canada.
- What makes you laugh out loud?
- Eddie Tizzard, my long-time friend and side-kick always makes me laugh. He has these funny sayings that all Newfoundlanders use that make no sense at all, and he is a true innocent in the world. That makes him a joy to be around. I smile every time I see him, and as soon as he opens his mouth, I almost always start laughing.
- What is your most treasured possession?
- My most treasured possession is an eagle feather than once belonged to my grandfather who was the chief of my nation. I use it to smudge in the morning. Smudging is part of my spiritual traditions. You light a bowl of sacred herbs and medicines and then use the feather to pass the smoke over your heart, your head and your body.
- Do you think the author portrayed you accurately?
- I think so. Sometimes he screws up and gets things a bit wrong, but then I give him a gentle nudge to help him get back on track. I wish he wouldn’t always be pointing out my faults, especially to the love of my life, my wife, Sheila Hillier. She loves that.
- What is your idea of a perfect day?
- A perfect day for me would be a run with Lady, my dog, in the morning. Then breakfast with my daughter, Amelia Louise and my wife, Sheila, followed by an afternoon spent picking blueberries. I love the quiet, meditative act of picking berries. Plus, Sheila might make a blueberry buckle for dessert later. The perfect ending would be an evening in with Sheila and some special time together, if you know what I mean.
- What are three must haves when shopping at the grocery store?
- Bread, home-made or a fresh baquette. Cheese, several varieties including hard and soft and if they have it, a Stilton with mango pieces. I could eat the whole thing in one sitting. And some fresh fruit, whatever is in season is the best.
- Who is your best friend?
- I have three best friends. Eddie Tizzard who I describe above. My wife and confidant, Sheila Hillier who I trust with my life. And Lady, my collie who truly is this Mountie’s best friend.
- Do you like to cook? If so, what is your favorite thing to cook?
- I love to eat. But I also love to cook. My specialty since I came to Grand Bank is pan-fried cod with something called scrunchions. They are small pieces of fat-back pork that are fried to a crisp and sprinkled over the top of the perfectly browned cod fish. I’m hungry just thinking about it. Aren’t you?
- Will you ever leave Grand Bank?
- You’ll have to keep reading the books in the Sgt. Windflower Mystery series to find out. I love it here, but Mounties often get transferred and I’m not sure Sheila like the idea of being married to a policeman forever. So, changes will come, but for now I love the salt breeze in my hair and the sun rising and setting over the ocean.
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