Murder Mystery …
My first novel was a semi-historical romance, the second a life story written in first person point of view. Now, for my third, I’m trying my hand at a murder mystery set on my favorite little island. Guess that makes it a Cozy Mystery genre. It throws together a laid back island policeman and an aggressive big city detective. Mattie and Cal are amiable one moment, at loggerheads the next. Mattie aggressively hunts for a killer, Cal prefers to let events unfold. Which approach will prevail? Or can they find a middle ground? And, by the way, there’s a murder to solve. In view of the victim’s trail of wrecked marriages and lives, is it a murder…or perhaps retribution?
Salt Spring Island …
is a 17 mile long island lying off the south east coast of Vancouver Island (OK, in British Columbia, Canada). At the time of this story (1952) it was accessed by a ferry, the Cy Peck, strange name for a man but colourful for the boat named after him. Most conversations on this somewhat isolated community revolved around island happenings. Events on Vancouver Island were considered foreign affairs. Beyond that existed a dense fog containing a couple of hard spots like Vancouver and Ottawa. Vietnam would remain unknown for nearly twenty years until the island was invaded by free spirits exiting the U.S. draft scene.
The isolation also meant serious crime just didn’t exist. That’s why the question mark in the title. You can read the first two chapters and meet the main characters by visiting my website (Click on Sand Pen at right).
Characters Galore …
The island has always had an abundant supply of colorful characters. As a work of fiction, I can’t use them directly (although in one case I did). However, old timers may recognize similarities between people they knew and characters in the book. I will disavow any claims regarding them. Certainly, the villain is entirely a figment of my imagination.
