Title: All That Glitters
Author: Mike Martin
Publisher: Ottawa Press and Publishing
Pages: 282
Genre: Mystery
Sergeant Winston Windflower is moving on to a new chapter of his life, no longer an RCMP officer but now a Community Safety Officer in his home of Grand Bank, Newfoundland.
But when a body is found in the bed and breakfast he co-owns, diamonds are found in the body’s digestive system, and then Windflower’s friend Dr. Sanjay, who was given the diamonds for safekeeping, is kidnapped, it’s clear that crime has returned once more to Grand Bank.
Windflower finds himself back in the thick of it, helping his newly promoted friend, RCMP Corporal Eddie Tizzard, track down a ruthless diamond smuggler who will stop at nothing — kidnapping, even murder — to pull off his dirty business.
This is another finely spun Windflower mystery that contrasts suspense and tension with the joys of friendship, family, and gratitude.
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After hugs and kisses and pats on the head all around, Windflower managed to get out of the house and walked to the B&B. He had just opened the front door of the beautifully restored inn when Levi Parsons, the manager, came running towards him.
“We think he’s dead,” said Levi.
“Who’s dead?” asked Windflower.
“The man in Room 12,” said Levi. “Beulah tried to get in to make up his room, but the door is locked and bolted from the inside. And there’s not a sound.”
Beulah, the cleaner and part-time server, came around the corner from the kitchen when she heard Windflower arrive.
“I don’t know for sure, but there’s something funny going on,” she said. “We haven’t really seen him all week, and now there’s no answer when I knocks on his door.”
“Maybe he’s sleeping,” said Windflower.
“His breakfast tray is still outside his door. I knows we don’t see much of him, but he always takes his meals in and leaves the empty one outside. Then he often goes out in the morning, and that’s when I cleans up,” said Beulah.
“Sneaks out,” said Levi. “I only seen him once. When he checked in. I haven’t seen him since.”
“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” said Windflower. “What’s his name?”
“Robert Smart,” said Levi. “From Burlington, Ontario. That’s his Cadillac parked on the side. He wanted a safe and secure place for his car.”
Windflower climbed the stairs to the second floor and walked down the corridor to Room 12. He knocked on the door and called out the man’s name. No answer. He took the keys from Levi and tried the lock. But they were right. The deadbolt was locked from the inside.
He looked at Levi and then at Beulah. “Do you have a couple of hair pins I can borrow?” he asked Beulah.
The woman looked at him funny but reached into her hair and pulled out one bobby pin and then another. She handed them to him.
“Don’t look,” he said to Levi as he inserted the closed side of one bobby pin into the bottom portion of the lock. Then he broke the other pin in half and pushed it into the top of the lock and jiggled it back and forth. After a little while he could feel the deadbolt moving and finally unlocking. He swung the door open.
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 and best-selling author of the award-winning Sgt. Windflower Mystery series set in beautiful Grand Bank. There are now 13 books in this light mystery series with the publication of All That Glitters.
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.
Some Sgt. Windflower Mysteries are now available as audiobooks and the latest A Tangled Web was released as an audiobook in 2023. 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.
Website: https://sgtwindflowermysteries.com/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mike54martin
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