As often happens to managers he is spending most of his time on administrative matters. Staffing is a perpetual issue. Additional time is spent dealing with residents of Grand Bank who are struggling with life. Mike Winger, partially paralyzed and volatile, needs his attention frequently.
Windflower reminds me of several RCMP sergeants we have had in Melfort over the years. They were easy going men outside the office and drama inside the detachment seemed minimal. All were married and had children. They participated in community activities. They were fully part of Melfort. More recent sergeants have been less involved. I believe a partial reason is that they have often been moved before they had much time in our city. Still I think they have chosen to be less involved with Melfort than earlier sergeants. I think their lives and our community would be better if they were more involved.
Drug trafficking is a plague everywhere. Traffickers are clever using expectations that a major drug operation would not involve rural Canada.
Winger’s arrest, questioning and bail hearing are breathtakingly informal to a lawyer. I have never known an RCMP sergeant nor any other rank to ignore a court order for release for any reason.
Life is going well at home for Windflower with his wife (Sheila), daughters (Stella and Amelia Louise) and dog (Lady). There is the relaxed comfortableness of a happy home.
As always, while Windflower reflects on the obsession of others with food, he is deeply focused on eating well.
I enjoy Martin describing dishes that, if not unique to Newfoundland, are certainly staples on the island. My favourite in A Change of Plans was blueberry buckle:
A blueberry buckle was an old-fashioned single-layer blueberry cake. It has a dense batter but a tender crumb and a kind of streusel topping …. The buckle name came from how the cake bakes. As it rises, the blueberries and streusel weigh it down. That causes the top layer to buckle and gives it an indented look.
Windflower is often the cook for his family. I am going to have to get some smoked paprika. It seems to go with every meat.
The drug case gets more complicated when a chronic local offender, Greg Morrissey, has the back of his head bashed in.
As with Too Close for Comfort, outlaw bikers are involved.
Criminal connections reach out from Newfoundland across Canada and extend outside our nation.
The drug dealers, while growing more sophisticated in their drug dealing operations, fail to recognize that disciplining straying low level members needs a measured touch. A beating can provide a message, a murder will draw close police attention that can damage, if not destroy, all levels of the network.
Unlike much crime fiction the RCMP officers of Newfoundland work well together under Windflower’s directions.
As the pace picks up there is a kidnapping. I struggled with its credibility. I will not discuss the reasons as I think they would be spoilers.
Windflower’s indigenous heritage values animal allies. Moose are important to Windflower providing “a symbol of endurance, survival and strength”.
My next post will explore another aspect of his heritage.
Windflower encounters a mama moose who “ambled” onto the highway followed shortly after by a moose calf. Fortunately, he has time to stop. Moose are a major road hazard in central and northern Saskatchewan. 500 - 600 are hit by vehicles every year. I have hit a deer and last week collided with a moose at night on a highway.
To the quotes from Shakespeare Windflower exchanges with his superior are added quotes from the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. Praying for a fellow officer Windflower is reminded of Tagore’s beautiful aphorism:
‘Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark.’
I loved Windflower’s interactions with family, friends, neighbours and colleagues. I was less excited about the mystery. Placing a significant part of the book outside Newfoundland did not work well for me. I would like to read what happens next in Sgt. Windflower’s life, personally and professionally.
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