Cumberland, near the east coast of central Vancouver Island, British Columbia, reminds me of Canmore, Alberta about 30 years ago.
A mountain biker’s mecca full of funky coffee shops, bike shops, and restaurants.
Plenty of live music.
Average age-38.
Average in nearby Parksville is about age-70. A retirement town.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The 2nd book in the Virgil Flowers series ➙ Heat Lightning.
Virgil wasn’t nearly as compelling a character in the beginning as in the later books.
Still, I find these books fascinating. I’m totally hooked.
Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator Virgil Flowers …
It’s a hot, humid summer night in Minnesota, and Flowers is in bed with one of his ex-wives (the second one, if you’re keeping count), when the phone rings. It’s Lucas Davenport. There’s a body in Stillwater — two shots to the head, found near a veteran’s memorial. And the victim has a lemon in his mouth.
Exactly like the body they found last week.
The more Flowers works the murders, the more convinced he is that someone’s keeping a list, and that the list could have a lot more names on it. If he could only find out what connects them all . . . and then he does, and he’s almost sorry he did.
Because if it’s true, then this whole thing leads down a lot more trails than he thought — and every one of them is booby-trapped.
23rd Midnight is one of the Women’s Murder Club (novel series).
Quite good.
Set in San Francisco, the novels follow a group of women from different professions relating to investigating crime as they work together to solve murders.
Detective Lindsay Boxer put serial killer Evan Burke in jail.
Reporter Cindy Thomas wrote a book that put him on the bestseller list.
An obsessed maniac has turned Burke’s true-crime story into a playbook. And is embellishing it with gruesome touches all his own.
Now Lindsay’s tracking an elusive suspect, and the entire Murder Club is facing destruction.
Sherlock Holmes gets married!
To a much younger woman. Mary turns 21 on January 2, 1921, and Holmes’s age is 58.
Quite a good book.
Both characters mock Arthur Conan Doyle as he increasingly writes about spiritualism.
A Monstrous Regiment of Women (1995) is the second book in the Mary Russell series of mystery novels by Laurie R. King. …
In the winter of 1920, Mary Russell is on the cusp of turning 21 and lives a double life of Oxford University theological scholar as well as a consulting detective and partner of Sherlock Holmes.
After events in The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, both Holmes and Russell are aware that their relationship and partnership has changed, perhaps romantically, but neither is eager to broach the subject. …
The plot revolves around the well-financed New Temple in God and its leader, the enigmatic, charismatic Margery Childe, who preaches empowerment of women.
The role of women post WWI in Britain is discussed in detail.
Another theme is PTSD in returning soldiers.
And addiction.
Harlan Coben’s Shelter is an American mystery drama television series. I got through it — but wouldn’t recommend.
It is based on the 2011 young adult novel Shelter by Harlan Coben. The series was released on Amazon Prime Video on August 18, 2023 … canceled after one season.
I kinda enjoyed the show in a way. It is cheesy. Too much unnecessary profanity. But I was cheering for these kids, against the cliche bullies and bad guys.
Jaden Michael is the good looking, believable lead Mickey Bolitar.
Myron Bolitar is his much more famous (literary) uncle.
Abby Corrigan compelling as an Emo teenager.
Best — really — is Adrian Greensmith as Spoon, the geek.
The 5th book (2011) in the Virgil Flowers series ➙ Shock Wave.
Quite good. I do like Virgil, a cop who hates guns, and struggles with his religious faith.
The superstore chain PyeMart has its sights set on a Minnesota river town, but two very angry groups want to stop it: local merchants fearing for their businesses, and environmentalists, predicting ecological disaster.
The protests don’t seem to be slowing the project, though, until someone decides to take matters into his own hands.
The first bomb goes off on the top floor of PyeMart’s headquarters. The second one explodes at the construction site itself. The blasts are meant to inflict maximum damage — and they do. Who’s behind the bombs, and how far will they go? It’s Virgil Flowers’s job to find out… before more people get killed.
I’ve been really enjoying flying drones.
Mine was the dumbest — and least expensive — in the DJI line-up, the original Mini S.E.
Getting ready for hiking / cycling 2024, I bought a DJI Mini 4 Pro drone. (My old drone broke in Idaho.)
Click PLAY or watch samples on YouTube.
Now have the DJI RC-N2 controller with the built-in screen. No longer need to hook up my phone.
I got the full Fly More Kit which includes 3 batteries, charging hub, carrying case, and extras.
Not inexpensive at CAD $1500 including tax.
Of course buying a warranty is essential. I paid CAD $170 (USD $125) / 2 years. I can replace the drone carcass up to 3 times. But IF I lose the drone, no warranty coverage.
I bought some accessories, as well:
I could have gone for the less expensive Mini 2, or Mini 3, but decided on the 4 for these features:
Most importantly, super powerful Activetrack options. The drone will follow-me wherever I go, avoiding obstacles so I need not manually watch it every second.
Due to obstacle avoidance, I’ve not crashed the Mini 4 even once … aside from day 1 when I tried to catch it by hand incorrectly. Oops.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I’ll shoot video in 2024 with drone, iPhone, and Ace Pro Action Camera:
Add-on
My guru is DC Rainmaker.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
NOTES:
I didn’t go for the Plus battery because the added weight takes it over the sub-250g weight
I was convinced to buy the more expensive Mini 4 by DC Rainmaker’s 2022 review.
If you are keeping track — I bought the DJI Spark at the beginning. Couldn’t get it off the ground. Traded to Kraig for a fantastic jacket.
During the pandemic, I bought 2 DJI Mini SE drones. Now discontinued. Less than CAD $1000 total for both including the Fly More kit.
Surprisingly durable. I crashed them dozens of times.
I’ve been recommending this series of whodunnits by Anthony Horowitz.
Really fun. Very original.
Something of another British cozy mystery.
Close to Death (2024) is just as good as the rest.
Detective Hawthorne is once again called upon to solve an unsolvable case—a gruesome murder in an idyllic gated community in which suspects abound.
Riverside Close is a picture-perfect community. The six exclusive and attractive houses are tucked far away from the noise and grime of city life, allowing the residents to enjoy beautiful gardens, pleasant birdsong, and tranquility from behind the security of a locked gate.
It is the perfect idyll, until the Kentworthy family arrives, with their four giant, gas-guzzling cars, gaggle of shrieking children, and plans for a garish swimming pool in the backyard. Obvious outsiders, the Kentworthys do not belong in Riverside Close, and quickly offend every last one of the neighbors.
When Giles Kentworthy is found dead on his own doorstep, a crossbow bolt sticking out of his chest, Detective Hawthorne is the only investigator they can call to solve the case.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I mostly liked the sequel, My Spy The Eternal City — so went back to watch the original.
Another lightweight silly comedy.
My Spy is a 2020 American action comedy film …
It follows a CIA agent who finds himself at the mercy of a precocious nine-year-old girl in a family that he and his tech support are surveilling while undercover. …
Dave Bautista is great for comedy.
But the secret of this comedy is Chloe Coleman as Sophie, a nine-year-old elementary school girl who blackmails J.J. into training her to be a spy.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Shari Lapena is a good writer. I recommend this murder mystery.
Nothing ever happens in sleepy little Fairhill, Vermont.
The teenagers get their kicks telling ghost stories in the old graveyard. The parents trust their kids will arrive home safe from school. Everyone knows everyone. Curtains rarely twitch. Front doors are left unlocked.
But this morning, all of that will change.
Because Diana Brewer isn’t lying safely in her bed where she belongs. Instead she lies in a hayfield, circled by vultures, discovered by a local farmer.
How quickly a girl becomes a ghost. How quickly a town of friendly, familiar faces becomes a town of suspects, a place of fear and paranoia.
Someone in Fairhill did this. Everyone wants answers.
Rick McCharles 