The Turquoise Lament (A Travis McGee novel) by John D. Macdonald
“The place Pidge had borrowed was a studio apartment on the 11th floor of the Kaiulani Towers on Hobron Lane, about a hundred yards to the left off Ala Moana Boulevard on the way toward downtown Honolulu.”
This one is another entry in the Travis McGee series of swashbuckling adventure novels from the prolific John D. MacDonald, one of the most notable fiction writers of the 20th century. The Turquoise Lament is one of the 21 colourfully titled McGee books, beginning with The Deep Blue Goodbye in 1964 and winding up with The Lonely Silver Rain in 1985.
McGee is a giant of a man who is a self-described salvage consultant who recovers the property of others (usually stuff like stamps or gold coins or the like) that has been appropriated in nasty ways by nefarious no-good-niks. He collects a fee of 50 percent of the value of the goods he recovers, which keeps his beach bum Florida marina life on the (mostly) up and up.
As always in these McGee titles, a damsel in distress is usually at the centre of the plot. In this one, Pidge says to McGee that her husband is trying to kill her, which is why McGee left his houseboat home in Florida to fly to her rescue in Hawaii. Lots of other stuff is involved as well, but you'll have to find your own copy of The Turquoise Lament to learn more. Check used book stories or libraries for this one and other McGee novels. I highly recommend such a search.
John Dann MacDonald was born in 1916 and lived until December of 1986. During his lifetime he published more than 450 short stories and his books (of which there are at least 50) have sold at least 70 million copies.
Ocean Drive by Sam Wiebe
“He walked out of Kent on statutory release, with three years of parole to look forward to. Reading over the regulations, the timetable of visits with his PO, he thought about staying inside. Serve the full ten and come out clean. Clear, beholden to no one.”
Cameron Shaw is a convicted killer, that's for sure, but he is now on parole and determined, somehow, to stick to the straight and narrow. Then, in the beach side community of White Rock, B.C., hard by the Canada/USA border, he somehow finds himself in cahoots with a local RCMP officer.
More fun stuff happens. Shaw and Sergeant Quick find themselves wrapped up in the arson murder of a university student, and a looming gang war, and a bunch of long-buried secrets. Oh, and lots of easy money is to be had, if you don't mind bending the rules a bit. Especially if you end up, as did Shaw, working on the docks of the Metro Vancouver / Lower Mainland area.
Sam Wiebe is an award winning and best selling author of Vancouver area crime fiction. Also, he had published other titles under the pen name of Nolan Chase. Best thing to do to learn more is to visit his website (of course he has one) at www.samwiebe.com .
Ocean Drive and other titles by the same author are published by Harbour Publishing at www.harbourpublishing.com. And, our podcast chats (episodes 222 and 268) can be caught at the LDRIMMER channel on You Tube.
The Legacy by Gail Bowen
“In spring, summer, and early autumn, when we're at our cottage at Lawyers Bay, my husband Zack, and I usually sleep with the windows open. Except for the occasional tang of skunk, the air we breathe in is a gift, and on the Saturday morning of August 27, our bedroom was fragrant with the scent of stargazer lilies and summer's last roses.”
Sounds idyllic, yes? But just wait. The excrement is about to smash into the proverbial circulating devise. And there ain't nothing coming up roses.
From the Arthur Ellis award-winning grand master of crime fiction (who else but the renowned Gail Bowen) comes The Legacy, another entry into the on-going Joanne Kilbourn (now Shreve) series.
You see, Joanne Shreve has a former student named Val Masluk, who has written a biography of acclaimed novelist Stephen Brooks. Trouble is, the book is raising troubling questions about Brooks' past history, and the wedding of the daughter of Steven Brooks and the son of Joanne Shreve is set to be released the day before the couple are married.
If you are keeping score at home, there are 23 Joanne Kilbourn novels in print. As well, six of these mysteries have been adapted for television, with Wendy Crewson appearing in the title role.
What more is there to say about Gail Bowen? She is an author, play wright, and teacher. Reader's Digest has called her, and rightly so, “Canada's best mystery novelist.” She and her husband Ted (and cat Ollie) live in Regina, Saskatchewan.
The Legacy by Gail Bowen was published in 2023 by ECW Press, which can be reached by clicking over to [email protected] . As well, we have two podcast chats with Gail Bowen for your listening pleasure : episodes 4 and 129, which can be heard by visiting the LDRIMMER You Tube channel.
www.thegreatcanadiannotebook.com
