What people are saying about The Adventures of Fletcher MacDonald:
Fletcher MacDonald solves mysteries around the world
The Inverness ORAN, September 4, 2008. Weekly newspaper of Inverness, Cape Breton.
The US publication of a collection of mystery stories by Vaud E. Massarsky features a hero of interest to Cape Breton, and especially Inverness. The title character in The Adventures of Fletcher MacDonald is, of course, Fletcher MacDonald, whose gifts of observation, encyclopaedic knowledge and mystical affinities has earned him an international reputation as "the Scottish problem solver."
At the core of Massarsky’s decision to develop the character of Fletcher MacDonald is a set of coincidences that has made him a regular visitor to Cape Breton. His first journey through the island was while on his way to Newfoundland, and during his stay over here a dozen years ago he stayed at the Normaway Inn, where he heard the Cape Breton fiddle for the first time.
"I felt as though I had returned home, and took several more trips and became more and more affected by the culture, surroundings and history."
A very different journey took him to the Caribbean on one occasion, and while there "I discovered a moving and amazing historical coincidence. Two hundred and fifty years ago more than 200 indentured Scots from Cape Breton were lured to Barbados." Brought there as shipbuilders, the Scots became entangled in the "company store" exploitation so familiar to many coal mining and fishing communities in Cape Breton. No matter how hard they worked, they could never get out from under their debt to the company store, or in this case, plantation store.
"They rebelled against thieving plantation owners, bravely making a moonlit night get-away, and became the best wooden fast boat builders to this day in Carriacou, a little Grenadian island revered by yachters for these boats around the world. And, with their ancient fiddles, they play authentic Celtic music to this very day. This incredible connection, across cultures, across great miles, illuminates the extraordinary and enduring qualities of the Cape Breton people."
This juxtaposition of Cape Breton culture across centuries, distance and skin tone, ignited Massarsky’s desire to write fiction. In his first story, Carriacou Reeling, circumstances send Fletcher MacDonald to Carriacou, where the traditional Cape Breton experiences of second sight, forerunners and hauntings take the shape of zombies, and where MacDonald’s mastery of logic and the supernatural finds a solution for a 200-year-old graveyard filled with restless souls.
Fletcher MacDonald’s assistant and narrator throughout the stories is his friend and Inverness travel agent, Max Bateman, as well as Bateman’s wife, Fiona.
Throughout the 14 tales, in which not every mystery is a murder, and where not every murder is a mystery, Fletcher MacDonald exploits carry him into obscure corners of the world from the Galapagos (The Other Enigma) to Nida in Lithuania (Queen of Nida), delves into the world of art, challenges men who would be kings of the whole world, and throughout the adventures, Massarsky, through Fletcher, shares large chunks of the unfamiliar, whether scientific theory, cultural information, geography and art.
While the Adventures of Fletcher MacDonald has been receiving favourable reviews from readers (""I highly recommend Vaud Massarsky’s The Adventures of Fletcher MacDonald to anyone who enjoys a modern tale with a Sherlock Holmes flavor, albeit with more than a few welcome twists," - -Kathy Campbell, The Book Bin bookstore), Massarsky is already working on a companion piece, a novel featuring the Inverness sleuth.
"A major film and TV producer has seriously discussed adapting the work for both mediums. As a theatre producer myself, I hold this possibility dear to my heart and I know that a series set in Inverness would be blessed with fantastic scenery, people, and music. The novel will be an important step in that direction."
The New Jersey born Massarsky himself has commercially produced over 70 plays and musicals in the United States. The Adventures of Fletcher MacDonald is his first venture into writing fiction.
The Adventures of Fletcher MacDonald is available in its only Canadian outlet, The Bear Paw Craft and Gift Shop in Inverness, or learn more by visiting: www.fletchermacdonald.com