Skimming Over the Lake
By P.D. Workman
()
About this ebook
From Award-winning and Bestselling Author, P.D. Workman!
Death by Misadventure?
It’s Parade Day, and Margie would have thought that any trouble would have centered around drinking and motor vehicles. Or being trampled by horses. Or clowns. But the latest homicide investigation is nowhere near the parade route, but on the outskirts of town. And the culprit appears to be a tiny boat.
Why do so many deaths in parks have to be by drowning?
Margie Patenaude is once again looking at death in the water. The boats may be small, but the suspect list is growing.
***** P. D. Workman never fails to draw me into a story in the first few lines, no matter which of her many different series I am reading. She can usher you from one genre to another seemingly with the ease of changing socks
***** Another brilliant standalone story in an excellent series from a master storyteller
Looking for a police procedural set in picturesque Canada? Let Award-winning and Bestselling Author P.D. Workman take you her favourite Calgary parks, as Métis detective Margie Patenaude investigates a murder in this fast-paced new series.
These short mysteries are just right for those days when you could use a break from your busy life. Take a walk in a Calgary park with Parks Pat.
Splash down into this new mystery today!
P.D. Workman
P.D. Workman is a USA Today Bestselling author, winner of several awards from Library Services for Youth in Custody and the InD’tale Magazine’s Crowned Heart award. With over 100 published books, Workman is one of Canada’s most prolific authors. Her mystery/suspense/thriller and young adult books, include stand alones and these series: Auntie Clem's Bakery cozy mysteries, Reg Rawlins Psychic Investigator paranormal mysteries, Zachary Goldman Mysteries (PI), Kenzie Kirsch Medical Thrillers, Parks Pat Mysteries (police procedural), and YA series: Medical Kidnap Files, Tamara's Teardrops, Between the Cracks, and Breaking the Pattern.Workman has been praised for her realistic details, deep characterization, and sensitive handling of the serious social issues that appear in all of her stories, from light cozy mysteries through to darker, grittier young adult and mystery/suspense books.
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Skimming Over the Lake - P.D. Workman
SKIMMING OVER THE LAKE
A PARKS PAT MYSTERY #5
P.D. WORKMAN
ABOUT SKIMMING OVER THE LAKE
P. D. Workman never fails to draw me into a story in the first few lines, no matter which of her many different series I am reading. She can usher you from one genre to another seemingly with the ease of changing socks and each story is a well-crafted tale featuring delightful characters that are easy to become attached to and care about.
KIM, GOODREADS READER
Another brilliant standalone story in an excellent series from a master storyteller
ANN, GOODREADS READER
Death by Misadventure?
It’s Parade Day, and Margie would have thought that any trouble would have centered around drinking and motor vehicles. Or being trampled by horses. Or clowns. But the latest homicide investigation is nowhere near the parade route, but on the outskirts of town. And the culprit appears to be a tiny boat.
Why do so many deaths in parks have to be by drowning?
Margie Patenaude is once again looking at death in the water. The boats may be small, but the suspect list is growing.
Looking for a police procedural set in picturesque Canada? Let Award-winning and Bestselling Author P.D. Workman take you to her favourite Calgary parks, as Métis detective Margie Patenaude investigates a murder in this fast-paced new series.
These short mysteries are just right for those days when you could use a break from your busy life. Take a walk in a Calgary park with Parks Pat.
Splash down into this new mystery today!
Copyright © 2022 by P.D. Workman
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
ISBN: 9781774681824 (Lulu Direct)
ISBN: 9781774681794 (KDP Paperback)
ISBN: 9781774681831 (KDP Hardcover)
ISBN: 9781774681848 (Large Print)
ISBN: 9781774681800 (Kindle)
ISBN: 9781774681817 (ePub)
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For those who feel differently
CONTENTS
Style Note
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Elliston Park
Indigenous Peoples in and around Calgary
Preview of Hazard of the Hills
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Also by P.D. Workman
About the Author
STYLE NOTE
Since my largest readership is in the USA, I have chosen to use US spellings throughout this series. That includes the Americanization of centre to center, even where it is an actual place name, just for consistency’s sake. I apologize to my Canadian readers for this.
I have chosen, however, to use Canadian grammar, particularly for Canadian voices. If you see what you think is a grammar error, it may just be Canadian, eh?
CHAPTER ONE
Margie was settled in front of the TV with her teenage daughter Christina as the Calgary Stampede parade began. The Stampede had been canceled the previous year due to COVID so everyone was eager to see its return. The much-shorter parade could only be watched on TV and not attended in person. At least it was still going ahead.
It had been a long time since Margie had seen the rodeo/fair, dubbed The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth,
while visiting cousins in Calgary over the summer.
Do you think we can go to the Stampede?
Christina asked. There will be lots of stuff to see. Including the Bow River Camp.
The Bow River Camp?
What used to be the Indian Village. Tipis and dances and other Indigenous culture. You want me to go to stuff like that, don’t you? To be educated about my background?
Margie pushed her own long, black hair back over her ears, smiling at Christina. You really don’t need to pull the ‘culture’ card to go to the Stampede.
Christina had a sip of her coffee. I didn’t think it could hurt.
Margie chuckled at this. Well, we’ll see. I don’t really have anything against it, other than crowds and noise and possible contaminants. And people drinking and getting out of control. The heat and the dust, or the rainstorms…
Christina shook her head. Maybe we could take Moushoom down if they have a seniors’ day. He remembers what it used to be like; he can tell us how it compares.
I don’t know that I want to be taking an old man down there.
Margie thought about the hazards that she had already mentioned. Her grandfather’s immune system wasn’t as strong as a young man’s. He could be a target for drunks—someone small and frail who couldn’t fight back. He would look strange to them in his brightly colored clothes and buckskins. And the heat was more likely to affect a senior. Maybe we could take him to one of the pancake breakfasts around here. Or find something that is closer to home. Taking him in his wheelchair on the bus and train…
Why can’t we drive?
Because there isn’t much parking, and it is expensive. The Stampede gate tickets are expensive enough without having to spend a hundred dollars on parking. Or on hiring a taxi or Uber.
Can’t you park for free with your police tag?
She had a point. But Margie would only use her police tag if she were actually on the job. She wouldn’t use it just to get more affordable or convenient parking. She was scrupulously careful in not taking advantage of anything because she was a police detective. Or playing the race or gender cards, for that matter. She was determined to only get what she had worked hard to earn.
No, I can’t,
she told Christina flatly. That’s not the way it works.
Christina huffed and rolled her eyes. Stella, lying at her feet, opened one eye to examine her to see why she was making such a noise, then decided it was not anything to be concerned about and closed it again. She made a little groan and rolled over so she was right on top of Christina’s foot. Christina wiggled her toes. Hey! It’s too hot to have a fur rug on my feet. Get off.
Stella didn’t, and Christina didn’t immediately pull her feet out, but instead reached down to scratch Stella’s ears and then her belly. Stella’s tail thumped loudly on the floor.
There are the Calgary Police!
Christina exclaimed, as a series of police cars and motorcycles led the parade. Do they have a float too, or is that it?
I think the mounted unit is in it later.
It’s a good thing that you’re a homicide detective, so you don’t have to be downtown blocking off streets and keeping drunks away from the parade.
You’re right.
Margie was very happy to be right where she was, watching the parade from the comfort of her own home. The convenience more than made up for any pang of regret that they could not see it in person.
They were watching the Native Princess who had been appointed parade marshal when Margie’s phone rang. She looked down at it, hoping that it would not be work. She’d even take a telemarketer. Which was easy, because she didn’t have to answer the phone for a telemarketer. She’d even take a call from Christina’s school saying that she hadn’t handed in some final assignment or they had lost her final exams.
It was work. The name and picture on the display were Detective Siever’s.
She didn’t know Siever well. He was pretty quiet. Good with technical stuff. If she had a computer problem or was trying to figure out how to process a large amount of data, he was the one she would go to. They hadn’t worked very closely on previous files. He seemed to prefer staying in the office over getting out and doing field work. More comfortable with a computer than real people.
Maybe it was just a call to let her know that she had a new login or hadn’t responded to an email he had sent previously.
Margie looked at Christina, who was watching her closely.
That had better not be work,
Christina warned.
Margie raised her brows in an expression of surrender and swiped the screen to answer the call.
Detective Patenaude.
It’s Siever. I’m heading in your direction. Looks like we might have another case for ‘Parks Pat.’
Margie thought immediately of Valleyview Park, her last case, just barely put to bed. It couldn’t be another death in Valleyview.
What’s going on? Where?
The other possibility that presented itself was Ralph Klein Provincial Park. It had almost been a year since that one, but Siever would still consider it to be in her direction.
It was only a fifteen-minute drive away. Margie hoped it wasn’t Ralph Klein. She did not like the murky black water in the reservoir beside the education center. The canals and other waterways caused her anxiety enough; that black pool was so ominous and foreboding.
Elliston Park. You know it?
Siever asked.
Uh… no, I don’t. I’ve heard of it. I think it is east down Seventeenth Avenue?
That’s right. Surprised you haven’t taken your dog there. It’s a nice area.
Margie had plenty of multi-use pathways close to the house and hadn’t ventured much farther than Valleyview Park. Or north to the winding pathways around Max Bell Center.
It’s on my list.
Well, today you get to see it in person.
Margie looked over at Christina, sighing. Do you really need me there?
I’d appreciate it. I know everyone is supposed to be off today, but homicides don’t wait for anyone. You’re the closest one, it would disrupt your schedule the least.
I’m watching the parade with my daughter.
"She’s a teenager, isn’t she? She can look after herself