Better Safe Than Sorry is a light, cozy-like mystery that deals with serious issues facing a small community but also finds ways to celebrate family, food and good friends…
Title: Better Safe Than Sorry
Author: Mike Martin
Publication Date: May 10, 2024
Pages: 251
Genre: Mystery
Winston Windflower is (sort of) enjoying his retirement from the RCMP in Grand Bank, Newfoundland, happily spending time with his young family, but feeling a little restless. Corporal Eddie Tizzard is running the Marystown detachment and struggling with the demands of the role while his own family grows. When a new kind of drug threatens the community, a body (the wrong body) is found dead in a hearse, and then another drug-connected mysterious death occurs, Tizzard knows he’s dealing with a deadly menace in their quiet, close-knit community.
Windflower finds himself inexorably (and not unhappily) drawn back into the action, first in an unofficial role to help snare the dealers and then back to active duty in a community that desperately needs his steady hand and good judgement.
Our favorite Mountie, Sgt. Windflower and his fellow courageous cops in small-town Grand Bank, Newfoundland are back to fight a new threat in this compelling page-turner. Award-winning author, Mike Martin once again brings us a stirring story, blending down-home Newfoundland charm with the warmth of family life.
You can pick up your copy at Amazon.
Book Excerpt:
Some say that April is the cruelest month, but Winston Windflower was pretty convinced that it was March. At least in Grand Bank, Newfoundland. They’d had a relatively mild winter up to this point but now they were getting slammed. Not once but twice. By winter storms that started the day before St. Patrick’s Day and were just ending now on March 19. The locals called the second storm “Sheila’s Brush” as a nickname given to a storm that seemed to occur right after Paddy’s Day. It came from an old Irish legend that claimed Sheila was the wife or sister or mother of St. Patrick and that this dumping of snow is a result of her sweeping away the old season of winter.
Supposedly, that was to prepare everyone for Spring, which the calendar said was about to begin in a week or so. But judging by the current weather and Windflower’s years of experience in Grand Bank, that new season was quite a way off. As he surveyed the banks of snow and checked the weather on his phone, there was more of the white stuff coming. He didn’t mind really. He actually liked the snow and living in this small town on the easternmost tip of Canada.
Until recently Windflower had been an RCMP Officer, a Mountie, but now was the Community Safety Officer for Grand Bank and a number of other surrounding communities. When the local RCMP detachment closed because of budgetary concerns, they needed someone to look after their local policing. The Mounties would look after the big stuff from nearby Marystown, about 40 minutes away, while they hoped Windflower would serve as a deterrent to local criminals who wanted to take advantage of the situation.
So far, so good on the crime front, thought Windflower who had actually spent most of his time doing outreach and crime prevention. In Marystown, however, things were not going so well.
There are many books out there….what makes yours different?
The Sgt. Windflower Mysteries are different because they are more about the people and relationships and food and family than crime and mystery. I think they’re more fun!
Where is your book set and have you ever been there?
Grand Bank, Newfoundland on the easternmost tip of Canada. And yes, many times, including the month of August every year.
Do you have another profession besides writing?
Communications consultant.
How long have you been writing?
All my life. As a fiction writer about 14 years
What is your next project?
Book 15 in the Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series
How are you similar to or different from your lead character?
Sgt. Windflower is who I would like to be when I grow up. Kinder and more gentle.
In one sentence, what was the road to publishing like?
Long.
What is something you had to cut from your book that you wish you could have kept?
Death of a character. Too hard on me and the readers
On rituals:
Do you snack while writing? Favorite snack?
Just coffee. Lots of coffee.
Where do you write?
At my desk every morning.
Do you write every day?
1,000 words a day when I am writing a book.
In today’s tech savvy world, most writers use a computer or laptop. Have you ever written parts of your book on paper?
I wrote my first book longhand. Will never do that again. I still had to type cause no one will do it.
Fun stuff:
Favorite travel spot?
Cuba
Favorite dessert?
Chocolate peanut butter cheesecake. What else?
Any hobbies?
Walking and hiking and sports
What song is currently playing on a loop in your head?
Mull of Kintyre. Wings
What is something that made you laugh recently?
Too many things… Internet memes
What is your go-to breakfast item?
Toast with peanut butter
What is the oldest item of clothing you own?
Sports jacket from 30 years ago
Tell us about your longest friendship.
My longest friendship is with my partner, Joan. She is my lifemate and soulmate.
What advice would you give to a first time writer?
Write, share, read. Repeat.
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 author of the best-selling Sgt. Windflower Mystery series, set in beautiful Grand Bank. There are now 14 books in this light mystery series with the publication of Better Safe Than Sorry.
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.
His latest book is the mystery, Better Late Than Never.
Author Links
Website | Facebook | X (Twitter)
