Title: Christmas in Newfoundland 3: Sgt.
Windflower Holiday Tales
Author: Mike Martin
Publisher: Ottawa Press and Publishing
Publication Date: October 27, 2025
Pages: 160
Genre: Mystery/Holiday
Fiction
Formats: Paperback, Kindle & FREE at Kindle Unlimited
Sgt. Windflower loves Christmas and we’re
happy to share what he and his family and friends do at Christmastime in Grand
Bank or Marystown or Ramea, Newfoundland. Some of the stories feature
Windflower and Sheila’s adorable daughters and of course Eddie Tizzard and his
family make several spotlight appearances. Other stories take you back to
Christmas seasons of many years long past and there’s even a return of a
fabulous Newfoundland tradition, the Mummers.
Christmas is a time to celebrate but it is
also a time to reminisce and remember. We hope that it will bring back pleasant
memories for you and your family to share at Christmas and throughout the year.
Come celebrate Christmas in Newfoundland with Sgt. Windflower Mysteries.
Read an excerpt...
A
Christmas Wish
Richard Tizzard gazed out at the ocean from
his small home in Grand Bank, Newfoundland. The wind was high, and the waves
were crashing against the shore, sending spray up into the air. Already, his
house had a thick coating of the stuff on the side facing the water and he
could hear it creaking and groaning against this relentless onslaught.
But inside, with the wood stove piled high,
Richard and his old dog, Rusty, were perfectly comfortable and content. Both of
them were coming to the end of their lives and Richard had accepted that almost
completely. His children were trying to keep him hanging on as long as
possible, but he was fine with what he knew was an inevitable outcome.
He loved the quote by the great Bengali
poet, Rabindranath Tagore that his friend, Doctor Vijay Sanjay had shared with
him. He smiled to himself as he repeated it to Rusty. “’Death is not
extinguishing the light; it is putting out the lamp as dawn has come’.” Rusty
seemed to smile, too, at this saying.
It wasn’t that he wanted to go, but Richard
Tizzard was getting himself ready. In the meantime, he planned to enjoy his
family to the upmost. His two daughters, Margaret and Brenda lived in Grand
Bank with their almost grown-up families. His son, Eddie, lived in Marystown
now with his wife Carrie and their two children. Little Hughie was almost two
and the joy of Richard’s life while the baby, Sophie, was quickly overtaking
her brother as his favourite.
He smiled again when he thought about Eddie
and his young family. It reminded him of when he had a young family of his own
back in the tiny community of Ramea. Ramea is and was a small village off the
southwest coast of Newfoundland that was only accessible by ferry. It did,
however, have a rich fishing ground nearby and for many years provided a good
livelihood for Richard and his four brothers, all of whom fished the abundant
waters for many years.
But in the early 1990’s the inshore cod
fishery collapsed and by 1992, when the cod moratorium was declared, all of
them were out of work. The older brothers retired their boats and licenses and
took the government support that was offered. Richard was too young for that,
so he used the payout to move to Grand Bank. First, he worked in the fishing
industry on a crew of a longliner operating out of Marystown. But when that
work diminished, he went back to his true love, carpentry and woodworking.
He still did a little personal work on the
side but his days of working for a living were over. He enjoyed all his family
and the grandchildren tremendously, but the truth was that all he had left
today were memories. Like many older people he spent a lot of time reminiscing
and remembering these days. And as it was getting near Christmas, he thought a
lot about Christmas from his past.
Growing up in his mom and dad’s saltbox
house in Ramea. Christmas was a very quiet and peaceful affair. But he still
remembered it fondly as one of the nicest times of the year. His father and
older brothers were fishermen, so the winter was a slow season. They fixed
their nets and did a few odd jobs around the house, but most of their time was
spent cutting and splitting wood for the cast iron woodstove that heated their
home and was action central for all cooking and baking.
About two weeks before Christmas his mother
would start her Christmas baking. Shortbread cookies, mince pies and next
year’s Christmas cakes. This year’s cakes were all ready to be unwrapped in a
week or so and that would begin the ‘season of eating’ his dad called it.
Richard loved the smell of the cookies and cakes as the days went by and to
hear his mother singing, usually some old hymn or Christmas song like Angels
We Have Heard on High or Away in a Manger.
The men would continue their work as usual
until a few days before Christmas Day. Then, his father would announce that it
was time to get their tree and the whole family, except his mother, who was
almost literally chained to the stove in the kitchen, would head out with their
horse and sleigh to find a Christmas tree. They didn’t have to go far.
The houses in Ramea were built mostly
around the harbour in sheltered nooks and crannies out of the constant wind.
That meant almost all the land above them was still heavily forested with an
abundance of Balsam firs that made the perfect Christmas trees. His father
would lead the procession into the forest, but the tradition in the Tizzard
family was that all the children would draw straws to see would pick their
tree. The year Richard drew the shortest straw he was so excited he almost peed
his pants.
As the others urged him on, making
suggestions, Richard took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened
them and turned around, he saw it. A six-foot Balsam fir with many branches
that spread out from top to bottom. “That’s it,” he cried, and everyone
cheered. They cut it down and put it on the back of the sleigh to go home. When
they arrived, their mom had made a pot of hot cocoa and while the tree was
drying out in a corner they sat around and enjoyed their sweet, hot treat with
some home-made cookies.
When Richard closed his eyes today, he
could still smell that Christmas tree in their kitchen and taste that delicious
hot cocoa. He remembered his mom sitting by herself next to the stove smiling.
That was one of her last Christmas holidays with them, he recalled. She died
like so many others at that time from complications in the birth of his
youngest sister. Christmas was never quite the same in their household after
that.
–
Excerpted from Christmas in Newfoundland 3 by Mike Martin, Ottawa Press and
Publishing, 2025. Reprinted with permission.
Purchase here!
Mike Martin was born in St. John’s, NL
on the east coast of Canada and now lives and works in Ottawa, Ontario. He is a
long-time freelance writer and his articles and essays have appeared in
newspapers, magazines and online across Canada as well as in the United States
and New Zealand.
He is the
award-winning author of the best-selling Sgt. Windflower Mystery series, set in
beautiful Grand Bank. There are now 16 books in this light mystery series with
the publication of Friends are Forever.
A Tangled Web was shortlisted in 2017
for the best light mystery of the year, and Darkest Before the Dawn won the 2019
Bony Blithe Light Mystery Award. All That Glitters was shortlisted for the LOLA
2024 Must Read Book of the year award.
Some Sgt.
Windflower Mysteries are now available as audiobooks and the latest Darkest Before the Dawn was released as an audiobook
in 2024. All audiobooks are available from Audible in Canada and around the
world.
Mike is Past
Chair of the Board of Crime Writers of Canada, a national organization
promoting Canadian crime and mystery writers and a member of the Newfoundland
Writers’ Guild and Capital Crime Writers.
His latest book
is Christmas in Newfoundland 3: Sgt. Windflower Holiday Tales.
Visit Mike’s
website at www.sgtwindflowermysteries.com. Connect with
him at X and Facebook.
