The Walker on the Cape

Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series, Book 1

By: Mike Martin

Narrated by: Francis G. Kearney

Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

A man's body is found on the Cape in a small fishing community on the East Coast. At first, everyone thinks it's a heart attack or stroke. But then it is discovered that he was poisoned. Who would do this and why?

Finding that out falls to Sergeant Winston Windflower of the RCMP along with his trusted sidekick, Eddie Tizzard. Along the way, they discover that there are many more secrets hidden in this small community and powerful people who want to keep it that way.

Windflower also discovers two more things: a love of living in a small community that is completely different from his upbringing in a remote Indian reserve and maybe the love of his life. He gets a taste of East Coast food and hospitality as well as a sense of how crime and corruption can linger beneath the surface or hide in the thick blanket of fog that sometimes creeps in from the nearby Atlantic Ocean.

©2012 Mike Martin (P)2019 Mike Martin

He said he said he said

Good characters, good plot. Horrible dialogue. He said he said he said. I can’t believe the editor did not help this author out with OTHER VERBS. Or suggested constructing dialogue, he looked into her green eyes, what do you think? As he reached for his cup of coffee. NO “HE SAID” NECESSARY. The narrator was very pleasant to listen too.

Delightful mystery novel - with great characters

This is a delightful audiobook version which I enjoyed so much that I decided to download the ebook too.
The combination of Frank Kearney's excellent narration with Mike Martin's great dialog really won me over within the first 5 minutes.

I’m one of those readers who are drawn more into an author’s writing style than the actual story line, and with this book I was delighted with both. Martin’s writing has a natural flow to it, and touch of light humor I found quite charming.
Set in Newfoundland (which coincidentally I visited quite recently) it starts with a deft touch, introducing us to Elias Martin who looks like he will feature as a main character in the story, only to discover that his body is promptly found along a path near the Cape.

Sergeant Winston Windflower is called to investigate the case, and I found him to be wonderful character. The author Martin provides glimpses into Windflower’s native past and customs (which I hope will be explored further in the series), but it is his calm and collective nature and succinct dialog I enjoyed so much. Like many detective novels, its great to have an dynamic duo, and in the young and energetic Constable Tizzard who partners with Windflower we have exactly that. Another great combination is Windflower with Shiela, the owner of the local cafe, whose dialog discussions together work so well, and where a warm relationship develops.

I don’t consider it fair to give a summary of the plot because that is not the core strength of this novel.
It’s enough to say that Windflower and Tizzard have to work their way through a number of suspects, as they slowly begin to fit all the pieces together in this murder case. Inspector MacIntosh, Harvey Brenton, Marge Brenton, Roger Buffet and Ginger Grandy’s parents are all potential suspects, and each is portrayed by Martin perfectly well through the well crafted dialog they share with Windflower.

In summary, I enjoyed this read very much, having downloaded the audio version first and then the ebook. In fact, I strongly recommend the audio version, with excellent narration from Frank Kearney which gives it an added element.
For those who like quality mysteries with great dialog and good characters, this is a must. I can well envision this becoming a TV series and look forward to listening and reading others in the series.

Touche, Mr. Martin - this one is a piece of magic. You have won yourself a new fan.

Well Read

The Walker on the Cape: Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series, Book 1 by Mike Martin is a murder mystery set in Newfoundland. The reader sounds like he is from that area and it makes the book even that much better. Elias Martin dies as he takes a walk along the cape, a walk he took daily. During the autopsy it is found that he died of poisoning. Sergeant Winston Windflower of the RCMP is the lead investigator, with his sidekick Tizzard. I enjoyed the story and really liked that the story was of Canadian Mounties. Definitely worth the purchase to listen to.

Good Job!

The Walker on the Cape Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series, Book 1 written by Mike Martin and Narrated by Francis G. Kearney, it is a simple story about a murdered man and the way they do the investigation in a little town on the eastern coast of Canada. The story starts with comments about the man that is found dead in the Cape, Elias, he was a widow that misses his dead wife and how he talks to her every morning while he walks to the Cape. When they find him, they think it was a heart attack, but then the coroner find some poison in the body, so it turns to be a murder and the Sergeant Windflower starts his investigation, I love this character, because unlike many other “principals” he is a simple man with a simple life, and he does his best to do a great job. He also has his heart on Shiela, the owner of the local coffee shop. The narrator is very good, he pronounces the words completely and articulated so is very easy to understand what he says, capital in an audiobook, also he gives the right inflection all the time and even he changes his voice to do the women voices different a little more acute.
I love the story because of its simplicity but at the same time the mystery enough to make you continue hearing the book.

Great New Series!

New to me, anyway. I love the narrator's voice, and learning about a new place is always a bonus! Please add the rest of the titles in the series...

A slow moving mystery

“The Walker On The Cape” is the first book of the Windflower series. The story is about a man whom, after he lost his wife, takes a long walk around the coast every day at the same time each day. One day, this man’s body was found and everyone thinks the death is a result of stroke or heart attack. Sergeant Winston Windflower takes on the case as it is later discovered that the man had been poisoned. The secrets of this small community are then slowly uncovered in the process of Windflower’s investigation.

The story plot is rather interesting but I find that the pace is too slow. I find myself speeding up the audio to get the story moving faster. I think the suspense of the story took too long to build up and I lost interest somewhere in the middle. I also have to admit that I didn’t enjoy the narration all that much.

Good read

The Walker on the Cape is a well-crafted story of a man who ends up dead on his walk, with the world calling it suicide but one man believing his instincts that it was in fact, murder. The story moves at a sound pace, but there are times when it does get a little slow. I'd have loved to have some more thrill or action within the plotline, but it still flows well. Also, it would have been more fun to listen had there been some more twists or an additional mystery to keep things alive. Don't get me wrong; this is a great audio book and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes mysteries. There was an element of surprise in the book, and the author has done a great job of sticking to the storyline throughout; never once does the story dawdle. Finished this book within 2 days and already bought the next!

My first Newfie mystery novel/audiobook

The Walker on the Cape (Sgt. Windfower Mystery #1)
by Mike Martin

*This first portion is specific to GoodReads, not Audible.com or Amazon.com/Kindle*

I'm sorry but I have to call out Goodreads or whoever entered this audiobook there because as you can see above, the title character is spelled W-i-n-d-f-o-w-e-r not WindfLower (or it was as on the date of this review). I noticed that it was an odd but perhaps clever opportunity for the author to go a bit off the reservation with something as simple as a character's name to set his aside from hundreds of other detective series. So... when I began listening and heard the Sgt.'s name pronounced WindfLower, I was thinking, shame on the narrator, that's a big mistake. But it is NOT the fault of the narrator and before you know it, I, as a reader, am thinking more about that discrepancy than what is happening in the story I'm listening to. That is something I think, I, as an author, might be fairly perturbed about.

Beyond that, I thought this story was.. cute. I know that's probably not what the author wants it described as but that's where I am. The townsfolk were quirky and fun, perfectly fleshed out for their role in the plot. Sgt. Windflower felt, to me, like your second choice for prom date but not your "ugh, if no one else asks me I'll go with...". I just didn't really care about him personally, beyond his role in the mystery. The mystery the plot is surrounded by was not necessarily tightly spun but it was enough where I wanted to know the ending. And speaking of the ending, I will admit I thought it was deeper than I expected. In fact, overall, the entire thing felt deeper than its individual parts - meaning that I found the characters to be so so, the mystery level to be so so, peripheral plots to be so so... And in the end, when I sit to think about The Walker on the Cape, I definitely cannot say I hated it. I have many friends I would recommend the book to.

*Something it did take me a while to get past - the Canadian accent of the narrator. I am quite sure it is perfect, but I'm a Southern American and I'm not sure two dialects could be more different than American South and Newfie.

Couldn’t Get Into This One

I found the dialogue stilted and the characters unsympathetic. Windflower is not a Brunetti or even a Montalbano.

Another well-written story from a very good author

The Walker on the Cape (Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series Book 1), my third enjoyable read from author Mike Martin. Well-written with intriguing primary characters and a captivating storyline. In particular Sgt. Windflower's character makes him the kind of person you'd love to associate with and that explains the budding relationship with Sheila I didn't do myself any favors by reading book 6, then book 3 first but that was what I owned. Now I have to price shop other books in the series to read next. “I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review." The gifting of this book did not affect my opinion of it. Francis G. Kearney's narration with his hint of an accent is perfect for this book. I'll definitely be reading more from this author. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).