This is book 15 in Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series. One I have not read before but it is really nice to see Canada featured in mystery novels, especially outside of the major cities. I don’t find Windflower as compelling as Louise Penny’s Armand Gamache but maybe that is because I have read more of the Gamache books too. I do however appreciate the respectful addition of Indigenous culture in the books. So many authors including indigenous characters tend to do so from the victim side and focus on the issues within native populations rather than the cultural side.

The story starts with a fire – and not the first suspicious one this year – as residents worry about a serial arsonist. The mystery deepens as a body is found in the fire and that body is linked to biker gangs as well as major crime. For small town Grand Bank with just a single RCMP Inspector and a new officer joining him, Windflower needs all the help he can get from his team in the nearest city/town.

I really enjoyed the story itself but the book is written almost like a diary or a documentary following Windflower’s every move. It feels like some of the day to day stuff could have been left behind and more of the first person stuff from the the more action scenes included, like the boat scene. We follow him from waking to when he goes to bed, choosing whether to drive or walk, all his meals etc. It feels like a lot making you understand the character more but also distracts from the story a bit.

Windflower also seems like a great dad so it annoyed me to see him escort a prisoner (as the second car in fairness) with his children in the car. There was a chance of payback from the other criminals involved but it didn’t seem to come up. Then he just drops his kids off at dance classes and goes to do police stuff not knowing how long it will take? It just felt a bit detached from the character that takes a break from solving crime to meet his girls from the school bus. Maybe it is the city life in me but it seems like something that would be a major issue for the RCMP.

Overall, an easy read with a good mystery story behind it.

Thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the Advance Reader Copy to review.

Opening up a new Sgt. Windflower book is like settling in with an old friend, and with Too Close for Comfort, author Mike Martin once again delivers an engaging mystery infused with equal measures of warmth and suspense.
This time around the good Sargeant is in charge of not one, not two, but three mysteries that shake him to his core. Windflower finds himself investigating an arson case turned murder, and a gold heist that is taken straight from Canadian news reels. As he narrows down suspects, the different crimes intertwine with disturbing overtones. The finale is wrought with tension and suspense, taking the reader right to the very end of the book.
Throughout it all, Windflower’s core beliefs help him to deal with the emotions brought forth by the cases, providing a profound contrast to the chaos in which he finds himself. Once again, the look into native Canadian culture is sensitively handled and an important part of the book.
Thank you to the author and #NetGalley for the ARC of #TooCloseForComfort!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read and review "Too Close For Comfort" by Mike Martin.

My triumvirate of much loved characters: Bruno Courrege (Martin Walker), Armand Gamache (Louise Penny) and Sgt. Winston Windflower (Mike Martin). Those are, to quote, “Sum Good, B’y”. This review is for the newest book in the Winston Windflower series, “Too Close For Comfort”. And it’s sum good, b’y.

Once again we’re back in Grand Bank, Newfoundland and Labrador with Sgt. (currently acting Inspector) Winston Windflower, now into his one-year assignment, covering not only Grand Bank but the whole region, including Marystown where the RCMP is headquartered in the area.

Someone is setting vacant houses on fire in the community and the residents are not happy, but happily laying blame on their much disliked neighbours from nearby St. Pierre. Needless to say, Windflower’s main task is to find and arrest the perpetrator(s).

But when a body is found in the latest burned out husk of a house, everything changes. And when that body is of someone involved in organized crime and a recent, much-publicized gold heist, the stakes are incrementally higher.

Through dint of his dogged investigation, with the able assistance of Eddie Tizzard (a proud new father), the assistance of a new Constable, Samir ‘Sam’ Gupta - on secondment due to the maternity leave of Eddie’s partner Carrie, also an RCMP officer - as well as the back up from headquarters in the person of Superintendent Ron Quigley and the input of the Fire Chief, they come to the conclusion the the perpetrator is a member of their community. But, as with every other investigation that Windflower undertakes, this one is handled with the utmost care for his community and the family involved.

With the solution of the arsons in hand, the team now turn their investigation to the dead body and the man’s possible ties to the huge gold heist. It seems that the dead man had accomplices, one of whom is a desperately wanted man who will stop at nothing - including the attempted murder of an officer and the kidnapping of another.

In true Sgt. Windflower fashion, he brings all facets of the investigation together - at one point even liaising with forces outside the province and the country - with the view to a positive outcome with minimum danger.

I have been reading this series for a number of years now, and I always relish the opportunity to go back to Grand Bank for another adventure. Mike Martin always anchors his stories in the bedrock of Winston’s society: family, friends, community, spirituality, and love. (He never forgets to say, I love you, to his wife, his daughters, his family…) In fact, I see many parallels between Winston and Louise Penny’s Armand Gamache. Both are fiercely protective of their family, their neighbours, their homes and the people with whom they work to protect them. At one point, Winston’s wife, Sheila, is reading “A World Of Curiosities”, which he attempts to swipe.

And of course, all of the quotes: from Mark Twain (and Richard Tizzard) to Tagore and Shakespeare. Sometimes I think he could write an entire adventure in quotes alone. It seems that every character has a favourite to quote from, depending on the situation.

For anyone who wants to read a good mystery, set in a real place and featuring realistic characters, this series is for you. I hesitate to call this a ‘cozy’ mystery, but it does leave the reader with a sense of contentment.