Book ~ "O is for Outlaw" (1999) Sue Grafton

From Goodreads ~ The call comes on a Monday morning from a guy who scavenges defaulted storage units at auction. Last week he bought a stack. They had stuff in them - Kinsey stuff. For thirty bucks, he'll sell her the lot. Kinsey's never been one for personal possessions but curiosity wins out and she hands over a twenty (she may be curious but she loves a bargain). What she finds amid childhood memorabilia is an old undelivered letter. 

It will force her to reexamine her beliefs about the breakup of that first marriage, about the honor of that first husband, about an old unsolved murder. It will put her life in the gravest peril.

It's 1986 and Kinsey Millhone is a 36-year-old private detective in Santa Teresa, CA.  She gets a call from a man who has bought some of her possessions at an auction of defaulted storage locker items.  She recognizes the box as stuff she left with her first husband, Mickey, when she left him 14 years ago.  She walked out after eight months of marriage because she had thought Mickey had done something and he had asked her to lie about it.  In the box, she finds a letter written to her back then which she never got.  Kinsey realises she may have let Mickey down and should have given him the benefit of the doubt so starts to look for him.  When she discovers he has recently been shot and is in a coma, she decides to try and clear his name.

I thought this story was okay.  It was interesting to find out something more about Kinsey personally.  I found it a bit unbelievable, though, that she would get so involved in preserving Mickey's name now since she hasn't talked to him in fourteen years and he was a cheating dog while they were together.  Considering how he treated their marriage, he didn't deserve it. 

It's written in first person perspective in Kinsey's voice.  I found there were a lot of characters, which I found confusing at times.  There is a secondary story in addition to Kinsey trying to find out what happened to Mickey that added more characters to keep track of.  As a head's up, there is swearing.

This is the fifteenth in the "alphabet series" featuring Kinsey Millhone.  Though it is part of a series, it works as a stand alone.  I discovered this series in the mid-1990s and have read them all.  I started rereading them last year.  With the author's recent death, Y is for Yesterday will be the end of the series.

Chop Steakhouse & Bar, London, ON

I had supper this evening at the Chop Steakhouse & Bar.

Jenny was my server and she started me off with warm bread.  I ate it all ... yum!

Roundhouse Winter Craft Beer Festival, Toronto, ON

Steam Whistle Brewing held their fifth annual Roundhouse Winter Craft Beer Festival next to their brewery today ... I've been to four over the years.

It was held outside, which is very Canadian!  The sky was grey, the temperature was just a bit chilly and it was snowing.

The gate was supposed to open at 11am and the first 500 in got a festive toque.  Darlene, Christine and I got in line about 11:30am ... it was a huge line and it took us about a half hour to get in.

I bought 20 drink tokens.

There were a lot of people already in when we got in.

I ran into my pal, Denyse. and her friend, Martin, right away.  They had gotten in line at 10:15am and had been one of the 500 to get a toque.

They recommended the cranberry cider from Ironwood Cider so that's what I started with.  It was delicious!

Book ~ "The Toronto Book of the Dead" (2017) Adam Bunch

From Goodreads ~ Exploring Toronto’s history through the stories of its most fascinating and shadowy deaths.

If these streets could talk ...

With morbid tales of war and plague, duels and executions, suicides and séances, Toronto’s past is filled with stories whose endings were anything but peaceful. "The Toronto Book of the Dead" delves into these: from ancient First Nations burial mounds to the grisly murder of Toronto’s first lighthouse keeper; from the rise and fall of the city’s greatest Victorian baseball star to the final days of the world’s most notorious anarchist.

Toronto has witnessed countless lives lived and lost as it grew from a muddy little frontier town into a booming metropolis of concrete and glass. "The Toronto Book of the Dead" tells the tale of the ever-changing city through the lives and deaths of those who made it their final resting place. 

I live in Toronto and I'm always looking for books about the history of Toronto so that's why this one caught my eye.

The stories are all focused on death with a Toronto connection.  The first story is about the discovery of a 700-year-old mass grave while they were building a subdivision in Scarborough in the 1950s.  The last story is about the death of Garry Hoy, a 38-year-old lawyer who in 1993 tested the window on the 24th floor in his downtown office building by hurling his body at it only to have the window pop out. 

Other stories include the War of 1812 when the Americans attacked Fort York, the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse ghost, cholera in the early 1800s, a connection of Toronto's first black licensed doctor to Abraham Lincoln's death, passenger pigeons (which are now extinct), Sir Henry Pellatt of Casa Loma fame, Ruth Lowe who wrote the song that launched Frank Sinatra's career, Lucy Maud Montgomery's suicide, Hurricane Hazel, the fire that destroyed the ship the Noronic, Jim Black who was first Canadian AIDS patient to go public, and more.  At the back of the book, there is an extensive bibliography and suggestions for further reading.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book but I found it interesting.  I liked the writing style.  It was written in a straight-forward manner with not a lot of details but just enough.  When I came across something especially interesting I wanted to know more about, I would stop and Google the subject for more information.  I think anyone living in Toronto (and elsewhere) would find this book worth reading.

Hampton Inn by Hilton London, London, ON

I have a seminar and one-on-ones to conduct today in London and I spent last night at the Hampton Inn by Hilton, which is just off the 401.

There are fresh cookies on the counter!

This is where breakfast is served

There is a fitness center and pool.  I spent some time on the treadmill last night but didn't check out the pool.

Here was my room ... it was big!

Book ~ "N is for Noose" (1998) Sue Grafton

From Goodreads ~ Kinsey Millhone should have done something else - she should have turned the car in the direction of home. Instead, she was about to put herself in the gravest jeopardy of her career. 

Tom Newquist had been a detective in the Nota Lake sheriff's office - a tough, honest cop respected by everyone. When he died suddenly, the townsfolk were saddened but not surprised.  Just shy of sixty-five, Newquist worked too hard, smoked too much and exercised too little. That plus an appetite for junk food made him a poster boy for an American Heart Association campaign. 

Newquist's widow didn't doubt the coroner's report. But what Selma couldn't accept was not knowing what had so bothered Tom in the last six weeks of his life. What was it that had made him prowl restlessly at night, that had him brooding constantly? Selma Newquist wanted closure and the only way she'd get it was if she found out what it was that had so bedeviled her husband. 

Kinsey should have dumped the case. It was vague and hopeless, like looking for a needle in a haystack. Instead, she set up shop in Nota Lake, where she found that looking for a needle in a haystack can draw blood. Very likely, her own..

It's the late 1980s and Kinsey Millhone is a private detective in Santa Teresa, CA, in her mid-thirties.  She has been taking care of her boyfriend, Dietz, who just had knee surgery.  On her way home, she takes on one of his cases.  Selma's husband, Tom, was a sheriff's officer who had died of a heart attack a few weeks before.  There was something that was bothering him at the time of his death and Selma wants Kinsey to find out what it was.

As she investigates, Kinsey follows up on the last case that Tom was working on ... the case of a petty criminal, Alfie Toth, whom he had traced to a hotel in Santa Teresa before Toth died in what might have been a murder or a bizarre suicide.  Five years ago, a prison associate of Toth's had passed away in the same way.  There's no way this could be a coincidence.

I found this story boring and dull and I was happy when it was over.  The "whodunnit" and the why come out of the blue at the end.  It's written in first person perspective in Kinsey's voice.  As a head's up, there is swearing.

This is the fourteenth in the "alphabet series" featuring Kinsey Millhone.  Though it is part of a series, it works as a stand alone.  I discovered this series in the mid-1990s and have read them all.  I started rereading them last year.  With the author's recent death, Y is for Yesterday will be the end of the series.

Veloce Italian Kitchen, London, ON

I had supper this evening at Veloce Italian Kitchen.

When I walked in, I didn't know how it worked ... do I order at the counter, pay and then sit down or do I sit at a table and someone takes my order?  I discovered you order and pay for what you want.  The woman at the counter was a bit too abrasive in explaining it ... she could have been a bit more friendly.

After you order, you are given a number and told to grab a table.

When your meal is ready, it is brought to your table.  I love love love pizza and ordered one with pepperoni, bacon and cherry tomatoes.  When it was delivered to my table, it was cold and black on the bottom.  When I took it to the counter and said it was burnt, the guy asked me if I wanted to have another one made.  Um ... yes, please.

The second one they brought was cooked properly and hot.  I found it was bland, though.  I peeked under the cheese to make sure there was sauce on it since I couldn't taste any.  I'm assuming the shredded meat was pepperoni ... I've never seen pepperoni on a pizza like that.  The only thing I could taste was the cherry tomatoes.  So not a stellar pizza and I wouldn't go back.

Kallisto Greek Restaurant, Ottawa, ON

I had lunch today at Kallisto Greek Restaurant.

I love chicken souvlaki and that's what I ordered without the salad).  I've had it many times over the years and this was just okay.  The rice and potatoes are usually lemony and these seemed like diner rice and potatoes rather than Greek rice and potatoes.  The chicken was good but there wasn't a lot of it for $14.  The tzatziki didn't have a lot of kick and was rather bland.  I couldn't taste any cucumber and detected maybe a bit of mint?

Vera was the server and she was friendly.

The Westin Ottawa, Ottawa, ON

I have a couple days of client meetings in Ottawa and my home away from Monday and last night was the Westin Ottawa.  I've stayed here a couple times in the past.

To get to your floor, you pressed your floor # and an
elevator was assigned to you  ... with the "L0L",
I'm assuming the elevators had a sense of humour?

Here was my room ...

Fatboys Southern Smokehouse, Ottawa, ON

I had supper this evening at Fatboys Southern Smokehouse in ByWard Market.

The restaurant. which opened about six years ago, combines owner Shawn Dawson's love of southern hospitality, biker ambiance and "good old-fashioned slow and low BBQ".

Book ~ "Rocks Beat Paper" (2017) Mike Knowles

From Goodreads ~ A phone call brought Wilson and nine other men to a job in New York. At first, he couldn’t see a way to make the heist work, but the score - millions of dollars in diamonds - kept him looking. Wilson came up with a plan he knew would work  ... until the inside man got killed and took the job with him.

With no way inside, the crew walks away without the diamonds. Alone, Wilson is free to execute the job his way. Wilson sets a con in motion that should run as predictably as a trail of dominoes -  except the con doesn’t rely on inanimate tiles, it relies on people.

Wilson pushes all of the pieces across the board only to find out that there are other players making their own moves against him. Everyone is playing to win and no one is willing to walk away because the job is about more than money, the job is about diamonds. And in this game, rocks beat paper every time.

Wilson works as a con man and has a "broker" who finds him jobs.  On his latest job, he is teamed up with eight others to rob a lot of diamonds from a jewelry store.  Saul, the owner of the store, is getting old and forgetful.  David is the "inside man" on the job.  He has been a loyal employee and is in line to manage the store.  But he is getting tired of waiting and wants to have the store robbed before Saul runs it to the ground.  Before the plan could be put in action, a couple deaths put an end to it.  Robbing the jewelry store is still on Wilson's mind and he puts together another plan to do it his way.

This is the six in the Wilson series.  Though it is part of series (I've read them all), it works as a stand alone.  I liked the writing style and there were lots of twists and turns.  It's written in first person perspective from Wilson's point of view.  As a head's up, there is swearing and violence.

I like Wilson ... he is straight to the point and no nonsense.  Miles, a con man, is back as part of the team ... he is amusing and added humor to the story.

I look forward to reading more books by this author and in this series

The Grand Pizzeria & Bar, Ottawa, ON

I had supper tonight at the Grand Pizzeria & Bar in ByWard Market.

Book ~ "Cut You Down" (2018) Sam Wiebe

From Goodreads ~ Tabitha Sorenson is missing. The bright but unstable student disappeared in the aftermath of a scandal involving millions of dollars in college funds. Professor Dana Essex doesn't think the missing money and the missing student are connected but she hires Vancouver PI David Wakeland to find Tabitha, with whom she is in obsessed.

When Wakeland discovers Tabitha has, in fact, stolen the money and is hiding out with her lover and reports back to his client, Essex is crushed to learn that Tabitha is in love with someone else. The next morning, Tabitha has been murdered and Essex has disappeared.

Meanwhile, Wakeland has his own problems. His former girlfriend, police officer Sonia Drego, believes her partner is corrupt. With her job - and possibly her life - on the line, Wakeland may be her best hope of uncovering the conspiracy in the department before it brings her down.

Hounded by Tabitha's friends, the police, the press and his own troubled conscience, Wakeland tries desperately to find Essex and make sense of what happened. Could it all have been a ruse from the start and is Wakeland just another in a long line of suckers?

While searching for Essex and investigating Sonia's partner, Wakeland encounters criminals, anarchist, and crooked authority figures - all of them desperate people who will stop at nothing to guard their secrets. 

Dave Wakeland is a former cop and now a private detective in Vancouver, BC.  He is in partnership with Jeff Chen, who is totally the opposite of him.  They are based in Jeff's more professional space but Dave hasn't let go of his rundown office space in a building that is going to be demolished for condos soon.  Dave isn't afraid to use violence to get the answers he needs, which isn't Jeff's style.

Dave has been hired by a meek professor named Dana to find a student named Tabitha.  Though not implicated, Tabitha was part of a scandal involving college funds and hasn't been seen since.  Tabitha has awaken feelings in Dana and she wants to know if Tabitha feels the same.  When Dave locates Tabitha, Dana is heartbroken to learn that Tabitha is happy in a relationship.  Then Tabitha is found murdered and Dana disappears.

In the meantime, Dave is asked by his ex-girlfriend, a police officer named Sonia, to follow her partner, Chris, but she doesn't tell him why.  Though they haven't spoken in a long time, he doesn't hesitate to help her out.  As he does, Dave discovers Chris is involved with a Chinese mobster who he has a history with.

This is the third book I've read by this author and I liked it.  It's the second in the Wakeland series (I read the first one too) ... you don't need to have read the first one as it works okay as a stand alone.  I liked the writing style ... it was humorous at times (Dave can be sarcastic).  It is written in first person perspective from Dave's point of view.  As a head's up, there is swearing, violence and adult activity.

I think the story lines were interesting but found there was a lot going on.  I think both stories could have been made into separate books as each was compelling enough on its own.

Toronto Rock 8, Calgary Roughnecks 16, Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON

Gord and I are season ticket holders for the Toronto Rock lacrosse team games ... the Rock is a professional lacrosse franchise in the National Lacrosse League (NLL).  This is our sixth year going to the games and our fifth year having seasons tickets.

I watched the Rock players warm up.

Tonight the Rock were hosting the Calgary Roughnecks.  Toronto was tied for first place in the East Division and Calgary was in third place in the West Division.

The Rock had three league scoring leaders and Nick Rose, the Rock goalie, is in second place for the goaltending standings.