Island vibes

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/09/2022 (1428 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

He’s back, and things are still not going smoothly for Tony Vicar.

In his first book The Liquor Vicar, Vince Ditrich, former drummer, vocalist and manager of Spirit of the West, introduced readers to a down-on-his-luck musician, DJ and Elvis impersonator who was suddenly endowed with mysterious powers.

Somehow able to alter the fates of those he encounters, hapless Tony Vicar only wants to live a quiet life in the formerly boring town of Tyee Lagoon on Vancouver Island, which now attracts all manner of odd visitors.

Alas, that is not to be his fate.

In The Vicar’s Knickers, the second of a planned trilogy, Ditrich takes us on a whirlwind tour of the peculiar village and its residents, from familiar sidekicks Ross Poutine, the liquor store owner, to Tony’s girlfriend and effective foil Jacquie O, as well as band members including the perpetually stoned Farley and the woke but unawake drummer Cosmic Ray.

There are new faces as well: Merri, whose deadly foodie emporium “Hot Thoth” tempts visitors, and Ann Tenna, a waitress whose “unfiltered speech” turns the air blue at every opportunity. (Really, how can these characters not be taken from Ditrich’s real life?)

Added into the mix is Richard (Dick) Dick, an egotistical, annoying tabloid reporter who rues the day he was assigned to cover Tony’s rise to fame as a superhero. And he’s going to go to any lengths to prove Tony is less than an upstanding citizen.

The Vicar’s Knickers of the title is the majestic, rough-hewn wooden saloon inside the Agincourt, the ancient, run-down hotel that Tony bought with the proceeds from his inheritance described in The Liquor Vicar.

Tony’s plans for the Agincourt include a restaurant that would serve decent food, unlike others on Vancouver Island, such as: “restaurants that incessantly changed hands, every one of them having begun with the highest hopes and then quickly dying from extreme lack of interest a few months into their overly optimistic leases. There had been one that specialized in things like kale salads, eggplant parmigiana, and some bitter grass clippings called arugula, a name better suited to a vegetarian vampire. Ostensibly, they served food, but it was made entirely of plants.”

Aspiring to greatness and to finally achieve some sense of normality, Tony has ideas to renovate the hotel and run it with his coterie of friends, really putting Tyee Lagoon on the map.

And he does, but not in the way he expected. Something happened in the hotel in 1970, and to someone named Larry Kaminski in particular. As a consequence, there’s a strange vibe in Room 222 (not the old TV show), and it seems only Tony can glimpse what’s really going on.

As if that weren’t enough, Tony’s archnemesis Serena has resurfaced undetected, with a little surprise for Tony and Jacquie to deal with. Is Tony prepared to prove his protective instincts?

When the myriad subplots meld together, things take on a decidedly serious and deadly turn when Dick Dick plays his trump card. Can Tony possibly save everyone — and himself — again?

It helps when you have superpowers — especially ones you don’t know you have.

Filled with biting satire and social commentary, The Vicar’s Knickers is a wordsmith’s delight, weaving a convoluted tale of mystery, the supernatural, love… and fried chicken.

If only someone could have figured out why the moose was driving the car.

Chris Rutkowski is a Winnipeg writer who has an affinity for the insanity of Vancouver Island.