Book Reviews by J. Patrick Boyer

Murder in Muskoka

Liam D. Dwyer

This page-turning whodunit has corpses and clues scattered in familiar places all around Muskoka. The venues are so clock perfect a reader may intermittently set down Liam Dwyer's Murder in Muskoka, just to check over the shoulder for approaching danger or scan the lake for floating cadavers, before resuming the thrilling pace with police detective Ian Murdock as he races fate along Muskoka roadways, through towns, morgue, and airport, then across scenic waterways.

Muskoka by Canoe

The Father Pat Stories –Patrick Gossage
Beyond Mainland –Nathan Tidridge
Trails and Tribulations –Hap Wilson, Ingrid Zschogner

There is only one Muskoka, but there are many ways to experience it and doing so by canoe connects a person to nature in a unique fashion. Three books by canoeists also show how truly varied that experience can be.

Muskoka in Winter

Escape –Roy MacGregor
The Last Season –Roy MacGregor

Muskoka in winter, though not as popular a subject for books as the district's summer season, are the months that really makes us who we are – a time of testing, a time of unique beauty.

Roy MacGregor writes about winter in a number of his national best-selling books, continually drawing on his coming-of-age experiences in Huntsville as he does so.

In Escape , MacGregor searches for "the national soul of Canada" in terms of how we strive to "get away from it all" – a major component of our local economy thanks to those craving to escape for a vacation in Muskoka.

Muskoka Resorts

Muskoka’s Grand Hotels –Barbaranne Boyer
Explore Muskoka Lakes –Susan Pryke
Muskoka Resorts: Then and Now –Andrew Hind, Maria Da Silva

Muskoka resorts anchor the district's economy, shape our unique culture, and illustrate the evolution of North American vacationing practices over fourteen decades.

Muskoka Scenery, Artifacts & Writing

Muskoka Traditions –Andrew Wagner-Chazalon, Bev McMullen
Spirit of Place: Muskoka Then & Now –John McQuarrie
Summertimes –Muskoka Lakes Association

Muskoka's diverse story is robustly captured by stunning scenery, historic artifacts, and informed writing in three similar books: Summertimes, Muskoka Traditions, and Spirit of Place.

Muskoka Schooling & Education

Treasure Chest of Muskoka Memories –Lloyd Dennis
Going to School in Macaulay –Gary Denniss
The Educational Heritage of Muskoka –Gary Denniss

Despite their many differences, Muskokans share in common experience of the classroom, but even this shared phenomenon, as several books illustrate, covers a dazzling range of encounters depending on locale and era.