Crazy as a Jay bird.

Joe Simpson, a twenty six years old reporter on the Applewood Gazette, saw his first read body when Norma washed up. She'd fallen off of a motor boat driven by her boyfriend, Blake, who waited six hours before reporting her missing. Then Ellis Boston was found balanced on a pole, being a parrot, and the pig of a farming couple gave birth to twelve piglets. Another young woman went missing and
Lizzy Boston was found with hoe marks in her back. It was 1966; some odd things were happening in this rural Canadian town which lagged about two years behind the rest of the world. Joe had lived there for three and the town's first authenticated hippie, Wishbone, arrived two years or so later. Some investors were to be trying to make it more touristy.

Told by Joe Simpson in the first person, the young reporter notes unusual happenings including death and murder, trying to discover what exactly was going on as well as facing the possible closure of his paper. The pace is slow, deliberate, often amusing as he speculates and ponders on things that he sees, feels and is surprised by, plus the often strange actions of the people he meets, and his future in the newspaper business. Narration is by the muti-voiced Doug Briggs who performs well in the person of Joe, reading text with considered feeling and a plethora of accents. Very good.

My thanks to the rights holder of Dead Fish Jumping On The Pavement, who, at my request freely gifted me with a complimentary copy via Audiobook Boom. Whilst I can't say that this book evoked personal .memories of the period, it was good fun, very inclusive with a feeling, at times, of authenticity. A gentle mystery, but more - the picture of a small town at a turning point in it's life.
Recommended.

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