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Three for Pumpkin Pie?
Owning and operating a cottage resort in a peaceful northern Ontario setting should be a piece of cake for a former police detective. Families should be happy to be on a vacation in rustic log cabins set among acres of old-growth pines along a vast shoreline of a clean lake ideal for swimming, boating and fishing.
It should and they should, is what goes through the mind of this former detective turned resort owner every time a guest shows up and havoc reigns.
Not only are the trees too sappy, too messy, too numerous, the mosquitoes and black flies are too many and too pesky, the cabins are too rustic with too few luxuries, with too few televisions (as in none) and too expensive, the other guests are too loud, too drunk, too close, too present, the air temperature is too hot or too cold or too windy or not windy enough, the lake is too cold or too rough, with too few pikerel and bass, the wolf howls are too scary and too close, the black bears are too smelly and too scary and too close, the water snakes too skittish and scary and too close, the garter snakes too, too, too close, the red squirrels and blue jays too chattery and bossy and too close, and the guests own families are too obnoxious, too stressful, too close.
It's enough to make the former detective turned resort owner want to head south back to a dark alley in the north end Hamilton to chase a criminal in a hoodie (always a hoodie), with a gun, who is too scary, too mean, too drunk, too stoned, too hilarious, too stupid, and too close.
But instead, the former detective turned resort owner stays put and cleans toilets, cuts wood, sells gas, worms and ice, rents fishing boats and canoes and cottages, smiles at guests, and helps the local O.P.P. solve murder in the north on the resort, because every time guests show up, someone gets killed.
It was the last busy week-end of the season and Charlene had lots of work to do to cook the dinner, cater to her guests and close up the cottages for the winter. The trouble was, her best friend Sarah decided to stay at Charlene's and avoid her relationship woes. The trouble was, one of the guests was murdered.
What a mess. Sarah invited Charlene's former lover to Thanksgiving dinner without asking her first. Sarah was known to stick her nose into business that wasn't hers but she was a detective after all and that's what detectives did best. So instead of just her and Sarah at the table, Joe would be the third. The trouble was, Charlene was thinking a lot about Jim.
It should and they should, is what goes through the mind of this former detective turned resort owner every time a guest shows up and havoc reigns.
Not only are the trees too sappy, too messy, too numerous, the mosquitoes and black flies are too many and too pesky, the cabins are too rustic with too few luxuries, with too few televisions (as in none) and too expensive, the other guests are too loud, too drunk, too close, too present, the air temperature is too hot or too cold or too windy or not windy enough, the lake is too cold or too rough, with too few pikerel and bass, the wolf howls are too scary and too close, the black bears are too smelly and too scary and too close, the water snakes too skittish and scary and too close, the garter snakes too, too, too close, the red squirrels and blue jays too chattery and bossy and too close, and the guests own families are too obnoxious, too stressful, too close.
It's enough to make the former detective turned resort owner want to head south back to a dark alley in the north end Hamilton to chase a criminal in a hoodie (always a hoodie), with a gun, who is too scary, too mean, too drunk, too stoned, too hilarious, too stupid, and too close.
But instead, the former detective turned resort owner stays put and cleans toilets, cuts wood, sells gas, worms and ice, rents fishing boats and canoes and cottages, smiles at guests, and helps the local O.P.P. solve murder in the north on the resort, because every time guests show up, someone gets killed.
It was the last busy week-end of the season and Charlene had lots of work to do to cook the dinner, cater to her guests and close up the cottages for the winter. The trouble was, her best friend Sarah decided to stay at Charlene's and avoid her relationship woes. The trouble was, one of the guests was murdered.
What a mess. Sarah invited Charlene's former lover to Thanksgiving dinner without asking her first. Sarah was known to stick her nose into business that wasn't hers but she was a detective after all and that's what detectives did best. So instead of just her and Sarah at the table, Joe would be the third. The trouble was, Charlene was thinking a lot about Jim.
301 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 15, 2018
2 people want to read
About the author
K.L. McCluskey
17 books2 followersMs. McCluskey has first hand experience similar to that of the main character of the Kirk Lake Camp and Back Road to Shore series of murder mysteries.
She joined the Hamilton Regional Police Service in Hamilton, Ontario and was a police officer for 14 years. She started as a beat officer in Stoney Creek, then became a Detective Constable in the Criminal Investigative Division, partnered with a Sergeant, investigating crimes such as serious assaults, robberies, sudden deaths, sexual assaults and break and enters. She was promoted to Sergeant and worked in the Special Investigative Unit as a detective in the Sexual Assault Unit. She was also specially trained in Child Abuse investigations and Domestic Violence.
She passed her Staff Sergeant exams and attained the rank of Acting Staff Sergeant before she left policing and moved on to another career in which she owned a water access resort in northern Ontario that included 12 rental cottages, fishing boat and canoe rentals, and a small general store.
After seven years she sold the resort and taught Police Foundations at a small college in Sudbury, Ontario, before she moved to Victoria, B.C.
She moved back to northern Ontario and concentrated on her work as a freelance writer going back to what she missed most, writing.
A cartoon of the author at work.
Well before her policing career, she graduated from Print Journalism. She has been writing for over 40 years including her time as a police officer and resort owner. Her articles included a weekly fitness column, feature stories, and a short stint as a beat reporter for criminal court and town council.
Back in her early days, as an offshoot from her fitness column and training as a fitness instructor, she started her own business, Basic Fitness. It was a bi-weekly exercise class for local women in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. Her business was in operation for eight years until she was asked to be the Director of Fitness at the downtown Kitchener YWCA.
She now lives with her partner in an old farmhouse in a small community along the eastern shore of Nova Scotia, not far from Cape Breton Island.
She joined the Hamilton Regional Police Service in Hamilton, Ontario and was a police officer for 14 years. She started as a beat officer in Stoney Creek, then became a Detective Constable in the Criminal Investigative Division, partnered with a Sergeant, investigating crimes such as serious assaults, robberies, sudden deaths, sexual assaults and break and enters. She was promoted to Sergeant and worked in the Special Investigative Unit as a detective in the Sexual Assault Unit. She was also specially trained in Child Abuse investigations and Domestic Violence.
She passed her Staff Sergeant exams and attained the rank of Acting Staff Sergeant before she left policing and moved on to another career in which she owned a water access resort in northern Ontario that included 12 rental cottages, fishing boat and canoe rentals, and a small general store.
After seven years she sold the resort and taught Police Foundations at a small college in Sudbury, Ontario, before she moved to Victoria, B.C.
She moved back to northern Ontario and concentrated on her work as a freelance writer going back to what she missed most, writing.
A cartoon of the author at work.
Well before her policing career, she graduated from Print Journalism. She has been writing for over 40 years including her time as a police officer and resort owner. Her articles included a weekly fitness column, feature stories, and a short stint as a beat reporter for criminal court and town council.
Back in her early days, as an offshoot from her fitness column and training as a fitness instructor, she started her own business, Basic Fitness. It was a bi-weekly exercise class for local women in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. Her business was in operation for eight years until she was asked to be the Director of Fitness at the downtown Kitchener YWCA.
She now lives with her partner in an old farmhouse in a small community along the eastern shore of Nova Scotia, not far from Cape Breton Island.
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