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Windy Mountain Tasmanian Tiger #4
Whitey and the Six Dwarfs
Not yet published
Expected 1 Apr 19When a garden ornament goes missing, the new once-shady owners of the Tasmanian Tiger Museum get sucked into a funny whodunnit.
The clues include a skeleton, a chess set, and a concrete marsupial with a secret pouch.
Farce meets crime in a small town.
Who better than two ex-cons to catch a criminal? It would be easier though if they knew who the bad guy really was!
Whitey and the Six Dwarfs is book 3 of the Windy Mountain series but it has a story of its own.
If you like it, Blokes in Donegal (book 4) awaits with the same quirky, but endearing characters.
The clues include a skeleton, a chess set, and a concrete marsupial with a secret pouch.
Farce meets crime in a small town.
Who better than two ex-cons to catch a criminal? It would be easier though if they knew who the bad guy really was!
Whitey and the Six Dwarfs is book 3 of the Windy Mountain series but it has a story of its own.
If you like it, Blokes in Donegal (book 4) awaits with the same quirky, but endearing characters.
238 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication April 1, 2919
5 people want to read
About the author
John Martin
25 books187 followersI'm an Australian who writes funny novels with a dash of mystery and sometimes with a dollop of whodunnit. Heck, 2020 even brought out some black comedy from me.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 24, 2019
This book was another fun read in the Windy Mountain series. Even though Oodles and Wish-Wash are absent (currently enjoying the delights of Donegal), Moose and Joffa keep up the bickering and farce. They are ably helped out by Katy in their attempts to keep the Tasmanian Devils museum a going concern, as she cuts the beards of visitors (one ‘lucky’ hirsute male chosen from each group – whether they want to be shaved or not!), to supply Gus with Bushranger Whiskers. Awesome Sauce is still working at the museum, for no pay and a lot of abuse, his efforts not always appreciated.
This time there is a crime (a kidnapped garden gnome) and some very suspicious shenanigans to investigate, as the aptly named Mr Sin turns up in town and attempts to buy everything – with money and menace – and threatens to move in on the Bush Whiskers business. Another newby – Mr Wong – also rings alarm bells with most of the locals – except the policeman, Stretch.
The farce revolves around people known by Moose and Joffa from their time in jails, a chessboard and a life-sized statue of a Tasmanian Tiger. To give the blokes a bit more security, Joffa tries to get hold of his ex-con mate, Big Jake. But, when Big Jake does finally turn up, it is not in the manner that Joffa had expected. Whitey is never seen – as he is spending a very long time in jail – and you need to get to the end of the book to find out what he has to do with the six dwarfs.
As a side story (but eventually linked to the central farce), Awesome Sauce discovers what he believes to be an ancient Aborigine midden full of shells, and wants to display them in the museum. I love the character of Awesome Sauce – he is so willing to help, despite the abuse heaped on him by Moose and Joffa. He is definitely naïve, probably a bit on the Autistic Spectrum, and not quite as simple as he appears. Katy is another great character – how she puts up with Joffa (and Moose) is beyond me.
This is the best of the Windy Mountain books so far, and I am looking forward to the next book for more adventures of Oodles and Wish-Wash.
I received a copy of this book at no cost from the author in exchange for an honest review
This time there is a crime (a kidnapped garden gnome) and some very suspicious shenanigans to investigate, as the aptly named Mr Sin turns up in town and attempts to buy everything – with money and menace – and threatens to move in on the Bush Whiskers business. Another newby – Mr Wong – also rings alarm bells with most of the locals – except the policeman, Stretch.
The farce revolves around people known by Moose and Joffa from their time in jails, a chessboard and a life-sized statue of a Tasmanian Tiger. To give the blokes a bit more security, Joffa tries to get hold of his ex-con mate, Big Jake. But, when Big Jake does finally turn up, it is not in the manner that Joffa had expected. Whitey is never seen – as he is spending a very long time in jail – and you need to get to the end of the book to find out what he has to do with the six dwarfs.
As a side story (but eventually linked to the central farce), Awesome Sauce discovers what he believes to be an ancient Aborigine midden full of shells, and wants to display them in the museum. I love the character of Awesome Sauce – he is so willing to help, despite the abuse heaped on him by Moose and Joffa. He is definitely naïve, probably a bit on the Autistic Spectrum, and not quite as simple as he appears. Katy is another great character – how she puts up with Joffa (and Moose) is beyond me.
This is the best of the Windy Mountain books so far, and I am looking forward to the next book for more adventures of Oodles and Wish-Wash.
I received a copy of this book at no cost from the author in exchange for an honest review
April 25, 2019
‘Sergeant Stretch? What’s he doing here at this time of day?’
In the fourth instalment of John Martin’s Windy Mountain series, Oodles and Wish-Wash and The Mayor (a previous Mayor Northan) have left Tasmania for Donegal in Ireland. They are exploring their heritage, leaving the Windy Mountain Tasmanian Tiger Museum in the more or less capable hands of Katy, Moose and Joffa. But nothing is ever straightforward in Windy Mountain.
A garden gnome is gnome-napped, which brings Sergeant Stretch to the Museum. Mr Sin arrives in town and tries to buy everything in sight, and then Mr Wong arrives. And down at The Wind Tunnel Café, Wendy is experimenting with the menu.
‘You have precisely one week to hand over the money, or else Drongo gets it. We will be in touch.’
Katy, Moose, Joffa and Tim (aka Awesome Sauce) have their hands full. First, they want to track down a living Tasmanian Tiger (surely there’s one out there!) while Katy has news to share with Joffa when the time is right. In the meantime, it’s just possible that a statue of a Tasmanian Tiger could make its way to the Museum. But attendance at the Museum has fallen off, and while the team have a money-making scheme or two in mind, real life (!) keeps intervening. And over in Ireland, well that’s another story.
After a slow start (which you’ll need, believe me) the pace of the story picks up. Conversations are bugged, ‘authentic’ bushranger whiskers need to be sourced, the dastardly plotting of Messrs Sin and Wong needs to be thwarted, and Elvis impersonators need to be managed. And who is the gnome-napper and where is the gnome?
I am sure that you could read this hilarious story as a standalone, but I wouldn’t recommend it. There’s backstory in the three earlier novels and backstory might avoid some confusion. Or not.
Note: My thanks the author for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
In the fourth instalment of John Martin’s Windy Mountain series, Oodles and Wish-Wash and The Mayor (a previous Mayor Northan) have left Tasmania for Donegal in Ireland. They are exploring their heritage, leaving the Windy Mountain Tasmanian Tiger Museum in the more or less capable hands of Katy, Moose and Joffa. But nothing is ever straightforward in Windy Mountain.
A garden gnome is gnome-napped, which brings Sergeant Stretch to the Museum. Mr Sin arrives in town and tries to buy everything in sight, and then Mr Wong arrives. And down at The Wind Tunnel Café, Wendy is experimenting with the menu.
‘You have precisely one week to hand over the money, or else Drongo gets it. We will be in touch.’
Katy, Moose, Joffa and Tim (aka Awesome Sauce) have their hands full. First, they want to track down a living Tasmanian Tiger (surely there’s one out there!) while Katy has news to share with Joffa when the time is right. In the meantime, it’s just possible that a statue of a Tasmanian Tiger could make its way to the Museum. But attendance at the Museum has fallen off, and while the team have a money-making scheme or two in mind, real life (!) keeps intervening. And over in Ireland, well that’s another story.
After a slow start (which you’ll need, believe me) the pace of the story picks up. Conversations are bugged, ‘authentic’ bushranger whiskers need to be sourced, the dastardly plotting of Messrs Sin and Wong needs to be thwarted, and Elvis impersonators need to be managed. And who is the gnome-napper and where is the gnome?
I am sure that you could read this hilarious story as a standalone, but I wouldn’t recommend it. There’s backstory in the three earlier novels and backstory might avoid some confusion. Or not.
Note: My thanks the author for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
April 1, 2019
Oodles and Wish-Wash have taken the Mayor to Ireland leaving the Tasmanian Tiger Museum in the “capable” hands of the younger Katy and her husband Jaffa and Moose. In town some one has absconded with one of six garden gnomes, er, dwarfs, and is demanding that the owner pay a ransom to get it back. Sergeant Stretch, the local constables, is less than interested or useful. Teaming up with Tim, a temporary(?) visitor from the USA and worker at the museum, the trio set out to solve the crime, just as their elders had done previously. A series of humorous mishaps lead the not-quite-so-adept group through adventures in hair-cutting schemes, museum improvements, and scam avoidance. The story starts off a bit slowly but the humor increases as the intrepid group use their shortcomings and money-making schemes to bring the mystery to a conclusion. Can the group overcome industrial plots and gangsters? Can a long-missing cellmate come to the rescue? Can the dwarf be found? This tale resolves these questions and more as it traverses ups and downs of living in remote Australia and completes in a madcap romp. Note: I received this as an ARC and am freely providing this review.
January 14, 2020
Very nice book with some dashes of humor! Particularly enjoyed the scaffold and ladder scenes. Will be interesting to read the other books in the series and find out more about the characters.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews