Charley's Field Notes #6
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Thanks so much for reading Murder in Schooled in Murder.
As I prepare this issue of Charley’s Field Notes, we are in the middle of a blizzard with 40-50 cm / 15-20 inches of snow predicted to fall today. And that is after a weekend of -35C / -31F temperatures. I am keeping my fingers crossed we don’t lose power.
The weather seems appropriate, though, considering the ice storm that plays a central role in Schooled in Murder. Ihope you enjoy this issue of Charley’s Field Notes.
Lake Scugog
No, I didn’t make it up. There is really a Lake Scugog. As a child, we used to visit family friends on our way home to Ottawa from seeing my grandmother in Toronto.
The name “Scugog” may ben an Ojibwe word meaning “marshy waters.” However, according to Place Names of Ontario by Alan Rayburn, Scugog is a Mississauga word meaning “waves leap over a canoe” in reference, perhaps, to the flooding of the river valley, or more likely, the quickness that waves can be whipped up in winds owing to its shallowness.
Today, the lake is a tourist area, forming the southern boundary to “Cottage Country.” The towns of Port Perry and Lindsay benefit from the recreational boating through the Trent-Seven Waterway by vacationers in the summer. Fishing is also a major attraction of the lake, as its shallow week-filled bed is host to an abundance of species.
My vision of Bennett’s Family Resort
This beautiful resort is actually on Pyramid Lake, in Alberta, but when I went looking for a prototype for Bennett’s Family Resort, this seemed perfect.
Vehicles
“What’s a Woody?” you ask. It’s the car Dan often drives. (Remember Rigged for Murder, book 2, when everyone thought gone missing and then returned home as if nothing was wrong?) Well, the vehicle to the left is a Woody.
Originally, wood framework augmented the car’s structure. Over time manufacturers supplanted the wood with a variety of materials and methods evoking original concept.
On the right is Hal’s Tucker Torpedo. Conceived by Preston Tucker and briefly produced in Chicago, Illinois in 1948, where Hal was living at the time. The original proposed price was said to be $1,000, but the actual selling price was closer to $4,000. Only 51 cars were made including their prototype before the company was forced to declare bankruptcy.
The 1988 movie Tucker: The Man and His Dreams is based on the saga surrounding the car’s production.
A snowplough, the type that would have had to “rescue” Charley and the guests after the storm.
Camp X
Click here to get a large version of the map.
Photos of Camp X can be found on the official Camp X gallery website.
Thanks again for reading Murder in Abstract.
And for more of Charley’s adventures, be sure to pick up Schooled in Murder (A Charley Hall Mystery, Book 6).
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