All That Glitters

The Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series Book 13

Fiction - Mystery - General
301 Pages
Reviewed on 05/25/2023
Buy on Amazon

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    Book Review

Reviewed by Saifunnissa Hassam for Readers' Favorite

Mike Martin's light mystery novel All That Glitters: The Sgt. Windflower Mystery Series Book 13 is a well-crafted suspenseful crime story set in Newfoundland. Sergeant Winston Windflower's long career as an RCMP officer ends when the Grand Bank RCMP station is closed down. He is now a Community Safety Officer for Grand Bank, Fortune, Garnish, and Frenchman’s Cove. He and his wife Sheila own and run a B&B in Grand Bank. A guest, Robert Smart, from Burlington, Ontario, is found dead in his room at the B&B. Doc Vijay Sanjay, Windflower's long-time close friend and a former coroner, performs an autopsy for the RCMP and finds diamonds in Robert Smart's digestive system. Then Doc Sanjay disappears! Windflower and Corporal Eddie Tizzard, the interim RCMP inspector in Marystown, work together to solve the puzzling mystery. The case grows in complexity and danger when the RCMP in St. John's informs them that an extremely dangerous diamond smuggler may have kidnapped Doc Sanjay!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading All That Glitters, particularly for its outstanding characters. I liked how the crime storyline brings out Windflower's courage, compassion, and deep concern for the safety of the Grand Bank community, and his determination to protect the lives of fellow RCMP officers. I also liked how Windflower's everyday life is interwoven into the plot, as a loving husband, father, and trusted and valued friend. And also a great cook! I liked the drama of family life, of love and sadness, picnics and hikes, together with worry, fear, and concern for family safety. I think these details of family, friendships, and community, bring the other characters vividly to life and heighten the suspense as Windflower and his fellow officers intensify the search for the diamond smuggler. I loved the evocative descriptions and history of coastal communities, past and present, making for realistic settings in the story. With unexpected and dramatic twists and turns, All That Glitters by Mike Martin is a page-turner, a gripping mystery and crime story!

JoanneHurley

Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but for Winston Windflower (they still call him Sergeant), and others they spell no end of trouble.

No longer an RCMP officer, Winston Windflower is now a Community Safety Officer, but that doesn't mean all is peace and quiet in Grand Bank.

What starts off as a sudden death of the occupant of one of the rooms in the Bed & Breakfast that Winston and his loving wife Sheila run, quickly becomes a Provincial, possibly National, possibly International mystery when first of all, diamonds are discovered in the dead man and then there’s a kidnapping - setting off a manhunt that will have repercussions through the entirety of this new book in the Sgt. Windflower Mysteries series - number 13!

Simultaneously, the new Inspector of the regional RCMP detachment is the victim of a horrendous accident, which sets off an interesting sub-plot of secrets and indiscretions.

Through subterfuge initially, and finally out of sheer desperation, the attempts to rescue the hostage lead to a number of interactions with possibly one of the most ruthless criminals that Winston has ever encountered. And it's a race to the finish that never lets up until the very last page.

What have always attracted me to this series, other than the finely crafted mysteries, are the character evolutions that Mike Martin has painstakingly crafted over these 13 novels. We learn more and more about Winston, Sheila and their daughters; Eddie Tizzard, Carrie Evanchuck and their baby; Dr. Sanjay and his wife, and all of the other characters as we go along, and he also weaves in - seamlessly - Winston's back story, family ties, spirituality and love of family. Even after receiving bad news, Winston prevails and grows.

I highly recommend this 13th book in the series, which could be read as a standalone, but you really should read the series.