Jim Lotz

This is a very comprehensive history of Canada's military action beginning with first conflicts between the Vikings, French, English and the Indigenous peoples those first Europeans met when they to colonize northern North America. Then it examines early colonial wars where the English and French carried on their European battles in their colonies then moving on to the conflicts with the USA. Add the Boer War, WWI, Spanish Civil War, WW II, Korean War and finally Peace Keeping to make coverage complete.

Loaded with paintings, photographs and very detail maps on some of the campaigns. Excellent introduction to Canada's military history.… (meer)

This book was published in 1980 so I suppose it is rather dated. There are references to the Mackenzie Valley pipeline possibly bringing prosperity to the region (which we now know was the subject of an inquiry and much heated debate but was eventually disallowed) and the Alaska Highwy being dirt (whereas most of it is asphalt now). However, that doesn't detract from what was a good read for me. The synopsis on the back cover gives away the motive for the murder that takes place. This somewhat gave away the solution but I was still surprised by the identity of the culprit so it was indeed a whodunit.

An Italian restaurant owner is shot inside Kluane National Park while on an illegal hunting trip to get a grizzly bear trophy. The Indian who had guided the owner and his employee there ran away, leaving the restaurant owner dead and the employee lost. Fortunately RCMP officer Dominic on a hike spotted the employee and saved him. When the employee told Dominic that someone was dead but then passed out. Dominic was given the task of finding the body and the guilty party. He asked his old sidekick Stampede to help him and Stampede even thinks he knows who did it. An old partner has been living in the park and scaring off hunters with a shotgun. Stampede figures he went to far this time. Dominic and Stampede go to bring in Wilderness Willie but Willie is buried in a rock slide before they can talk to him. Then they get information that shows that Willie could not have killed the man so Dominic has to start over. After getting lost on a glacier in a blizzard, almost drowning in the glacier's meltwater and a wild kayak trip Dominic and Stampede eventually catch up to the killer. Even then things are not quite straight forward but eventually the Mountie gets his man.

I really liked the details about the wildlife and natural surroundings. The author has spent a lot of time in the arctic and his writing seemed authentic to me. According to the Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia website, Jim Lotz is still alive and writing. He sounds like a fascinating person and I may have to see if I can find more of his books.… (meer)