Golf and Writing by Joan Havelange

 

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Golf and writing by Joan Havelange        

 

My first whodunit/cozy mystery, ‘Wayward Shot,’ took place in the fictional little town of Glenhaven, Saskatchewan, Canada. The mystery begins on a golf course. I love the game. I’m not a great golfer, but I’m an avid one. And weather permitting, I go out every day.

Before I get into the inspiration for ‘Wayward Shot,’ I’ll share a small anecdote. My town has a personal care home for the elderly who can’t look after themselves. Once a month, each church group in town takes a turn to provide a treat and entertainment. Our group provides angel food cake, strawberries and ice cream. And for entertainment, we hire a country western band.

Anyway, it was May, and our church group had served the cake and ice cream, and as my friend Lorna and I stood watching the old people enjoy their treats and the music. We decided we didn’t want to end our days in the home. (It might have been me, or it might have been Lorna.) But one of us said, “I would rather be hit by a golf ball on the golf course and die than end up here.”

The next day, Lorna and I were out on the golf course. We’d teed off of the number 5 tee box and were walking down the fairway. We looked back, and a young man was standing at the tee-off, waiting for us to get far enough away for him to hit his golf ball. (Number 5 is a dogleg left.) So, we stood back beside a bush on the right side of the fairway and waved him to hit. And he did. But he sliced. And his golf ball whizzed by just inches from me. I looked up at the sky and said, “We were just joking, God.” I guess the moral might be to watch what you wish for.

I don’t think there are a lot of murder mysteries set on a golf course, but ‘Wayward Shot’ is. It is always fun to try different golf courses. On a golf course in a neighbouring town, the inspiration for ‘Wayward Shot’ came to me. At the end of a long fairway was the town cemetery.

My thought was, what if a golf ball hit a mourner? This, my friends, is the teaser for ‘Wayward Shot.’ You will have to read my mystery ‘Wayward Shot’ to find out who the victim is and how and why they died.

Happy reading, and have a great summer.

 

Wayward Shot

When Mabel slices her golf ball into the town cemetery. She and her best friend Violet think the worst that could happen would be a lost ball. That is until they discover a dead body, and it isn’t six feet under. Mabel’s golf ball lays in the middle of his forehead. It’s murder. The ladies take it upon themselves to solve the mystery of the dead body in the graveyard. Using the information gleaned from Coffee Row, a collection of eccentric townspeople. This leads them to investigate golfers and relatives of the deceased. Their investigation frustrates a newly appointed RCMP officer, who does his best to put a stop to their interference. But nothing stops the intrepid detectives. Not the RCMP, a stampede of cattle or even shots fired at them in the dark. They have an uncanny ability to find trouble and dead bodies. Almost getting themselves killed before solving the murders