Title: Christmas in Newfoundland – Memories and Mysteries
Series: A Sgt. Windflower Mystery
By: Mike Martin
ISBN: 1988437253 (ISBN13: 9781988437255)
Author’s Website: https://sgtwindflowermysteries.com/
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra
Summary:
Christmas in Newfoundland is a special time. In the depths of long winter nights memories are made and stories are told. Of Christmas by candlelight and horse and buggy rides to church. Of shopping on Water Street in St. John’s before malls and the Internet. In simpler times an orange and a few Christmas chocolates along with one special toy made every child’s eyes widen in delight.
In later years Sgt. Windflower came to work and then to stay in the quiet town of Grand Bank by the Atlantic Ocean where the salt air froze in the wind and the Mounties were welcomed to warm themselves by every fire. As everyone else slept through the night they kept the community safe and unraveled the mysteries that could only come from a special Christmas in Newfoundland.
Come and warm yourself by the fire and hear their stories. Some memories and some mysteries. Enjoy some holiday time with Sgt. Windflower and all the familiar characters that you’ve come to know and love. Good food, good friends and always another chair at the table. (Goodreads)
Review:
Christmas in Newfoundland is the first book by Mike Martin that I have read. Now that I have finished this novella – I ask myself why? I try and support local authors and I have heard of Mike Martin previously but had never picked up a book of his. Well I am glad that I did.
Christmas in Newfoundland reads as a series of one chapter short stories. Stories of long ago Christmas time in Newfoundland. Both from the perspective of the adult penning the stories and his recollections of when he was a young boy.
I was won over by the chapter where the family travelled around town by bus to see the Christmas lights. I really enjoyed the graphics speckled throughout the book. Very quaint. They were provided by students in the visual arts program from Canterbury High School in Ottawa.
A bit more editing (or review by the publisher) might have added to the professional vibe of the storytelling as sloppy grammar and editing is a pet peeve of mine. While I usually find novella’s unsatisfying I must say that this is not the case this time. I fully enjoyed the story and it has given me an appetite to go and read more books in the Sgt. Wildflower Mystery series.
