I met Winona Kent at a Noir Mystery Event and reviewed my first Jason Davey meetup here.
So by now you know that Jason Davey is an excellent sleuth who leaves the murder business up to the police and concentrates on finding missing persons and researching family history and how that often plays a part in life's mysteries. Ultimately it is the methodical research of family history, travel and historical sites, music and who wrote the songs, and medical maladies and cures, that make Jason a great sleuth (with a sense of humor) and the Author, a writer of mysteries that move along logically and keep the pages turning.
I love that Jason plays multiple instruments, including bouzouki, although he prefers Jazz and has a full time gig at the Blue Devil, a Soho Jazz Club. In this novel, Ticket to Ride, Jason has taken a leave from the club to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of his parents' band, Figgis Green, a 60's-70's folk group. The Lost Time Tour involves a 34 day 18 stops tour of England. Jason is replacing his dad, who has passed, and playing alongside his mom, a feisty woman, still in the lead of a band with a large and loyal fan base. Jason has "...just tiptoed over 50.." so is well versed not only with his parents' music but also the music of the times, referenced throughout the book. An example of this is what Jason listens to, after a gig, after he has hot chocolate and replies to Instagram, he falls asleep watching a video of Cliff Richard and the Shadows. Ticket to Ride, is of course a song by the Beatles, and there are mentions of Dusty Springfield, Skeeter Davis, Manfred Mann and the Rolling Stones. And the Canadian, Ian Tyson and his rendition of 4 Strong Winds. So a recommendation might be to listen to some of these as you are reading.
Although there are links to the past, through music and history of the venues the band plays at, this time, there is so much connection to the now, in terms of more accessible family history research, the internet, and how crime can happen, especially attempted blackmail of Jason and his mom and the band. Also how technology can be used to determine location and how phones can save the day. Still, technology can and is assisted here, by intuition, spirits and ghosts. Very plausible because it takes a whole community and a lot of resources to solve who the guilty parties are in causing so many 'accidents' along the way. And as is often the case, a series of small incidents that cause so much inconvenience and disruption to some of the musical performances, eventually stop being inconveniences and become murder. And there is rage, a simmering family resentment, that has boiled from the early beginnings of the band until the present. Rage is the underlying poison and then there is insulin, a medicine, but also deadly if misused.
So much has been written about Winona Kent and her ten books! This is the 4th Jason Davey! I refer you to her website at www.winonakent.com and to the Figgis Green Website: www.figgisgreen.co.uk for the details that researchers and readers really want to know.
I met Winona at the New Westminster Quay, and greatly enjoyed our chat about her Brit connections and fascinating work history. She was working full time, while writing and is now retired and writing full time, although I think she is still working, promoting her own writing and the writing of others! I can see her contributing good humor, good food, good travel and a belief in endless possibilities as well as a bit of magic, to her stints at Grad School (MFA - UBC) and Film School, in Vancouver. When we went to take a photo, we were drawn to The Vancouver Circus School in New West and to the mural, "Aaron's Dream", by Mural Artist, Irvin Hernandez. Aaron was a National Trampoline Champion and one of the founders of the school. He had a dream as does Winona Kent.
Thank you to Lynda Rivers for the photo of us, in front of the mural. Should you fancy reading a mystery full of dreams, visions, ghosts, coincidences, things that drop, good music and delectable food, and should you like following the advice to look up and look forward, you should pick up a copy of Ticket to Ride.
Please visit: Blue Devil Books at www.bluedevilbooks.com
http://www.winonakent.com/tickettoride.html
