mysteries | R.E. Donald

View from the front porch of our new home on moving-in day.

Let me first apologize if it’s been so long since I’ve posted that you’ve not only forgotten that you subscribed to my blog, but you may even have forgotten who I am!

Once again, life got in the way of my writing. I was soooo close to finishing the 6th novel in the Highway Mysteries series when we got an offer we couldn’t refuse and signed the papers to sell our ranch in Lone Butte. Suddenly we found ourselves under the gun to find a new home that could accommodate two more-or-less adult human beings, two relatively large farm dogs and a couple of geriatric horses. Then we had to pack up the contents of a big house, move it, and unpack it at a small house. So here we are, if not over the rainbow, at least in close proximity to it. (Notice how I manage to keep at least a little crime fiction in my post?)

The move has been rather traumatic. Imagine how the dogs and horses felt, finding themselves suddenly transported from the freedom and privacy of a 124-acre ranch to a scant 5-acre property with (gasp!) real life visible and audible neighbors that weren’t just squirrels, chickadees and foxes. At least the more-or-less adult humans in the family knew why it was happening and we approved of it. We still have a sea can full of mostly old stuff that we haven’t been able to find a spot in the house for, so we try to do at least a little bit of sorting and rearranging along with our regular chores every day.

So here we are with a view of British Columbia’s beautiful Shuswap Lake and surrounding mountains. Readers with good memories may recall that Shuswap Lake was a featured location in the very first Highway Mystery, Slow Curve on the Coquihalla. In fact, the final scene had Hunter sitting on a cinder block on the shore of Shuswap Lake, watching his daughters swim at his landlord’s cabin, which was just down the road from where I’m sitting now.

Now it’s back to work on my current manuscript, which is only one or two chapters from The End. I apologize for the delay, and I hope you’ll watch for the announcement of number six’s release in the coming months. I’ve abandoned ex-Twitter, but you can find R.E. Donald on Facebook, Linked In, Instagram and CounterSocial. Meanwhile, as Hunter Rayne would say, “Have a great day!”

A spectacular setting for murder, described today at Lois Winston’s Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers. It starts with:

Photo by Justa Jeskova

A Mountain of Mystery

My hero is always on the move. That’s because the sleuth in the Highway Mysteries series drives an eighteen-wheeler up and down the west coast of North America. Even truck drivers need a little R&R now and then, and that’s what brings former RCMP homicide investigator Hunter Rayne to the resort community of Whistler, British Columbia in the third Highway Mystery, Sea to Sky. While Hunter enjoys a few days of downhill skiing, he plans to become better acquainted with an attractive female lawyer he met in L.A. He doesn’t, however, plan to become the prime suspect in a murder on the mountain.

The town of Whistler became familiar to many winter sports fans around the world when it was the site of Alpine events at the 2010 Winter Olympics. It’s a magnificent setting, with the snow covered peaks of Blackcomb and Whistler Mountains towering some 5000 feet above the attractive and upscale Village of Whistler, where you can walk to dozens of shops, restaurants and bars. Yet Whistler is only a two-hour drive from the port city of Vancouver, or four and a half hours from Seattle, the last hour of the drive on the spectacular Sea to Sky highway as it winds its way upward through the coastal rainforest and along the rugged shores of Howe Sound.

And check out the Anastasia Pollack mysteries while you’re there!