There should have been thunder. There should have been lightning tearing the skies and the very heavens weeping. There should have been portents and comets and demons of fire riding skeletal horses of ice-white bone—but if there had been, this would have been a movie. Probably with very artistic lens flare. So there wasn’t. There was a cottage. And a future I was going to make damn sure never happened. Once upon a time...
Val Heartley is half of a company called We Research. She and her partner have been expanding the business but recently, her partner has been slacking off. Val is frustrated, not only with her partner but with finding a three-bedroom house so her son and mother can move to Rockleigh. While making appointments to speak to realtors, she sees an article. A group of writers are giving a series of lectures about writing a book. Val laughs. With a name like hers Valentina Hartley she should write a romance. After a call and chat with her son and mother, she decides to go to the meeting.
At the meeting, she meets Dana, a woman her age. They chat and Dana knows of a possible place she can rent. There are three bedrooms though one is in the attic. Val agrees to meet Dana for lunch and visit this house. Their talk is halted by the lecture on ideas and how to view them.
Val leaves the meeting to catch up on work she is sure her partner hasn’t done. The hall, porch and parking lot lights are off. She calls a warning but remembers how she counted steps from the ground to the porch and across the porch to the door, she leaves. Just as the lights come on blinding her, she trips and falls over a body whose neck has been slashed. This event changes her life as she is questioned by Kyle, an attractive detective. Though drawn to him, she’s sure he’s taken.
A break-in at the Two Harbors Public Library leads to the discovery of a tape recording of a song made famous by a local rock band, but with different lyrics. The Whistling Pines residents recall events from the time, reigniting questions about the song and a long-forgotten band member’s death. Revelations about unknown cousins in a family tree, an outbreak of “apiary flu”, a library séance, and a visiting baby’s disappearance from the senior residence all intersect with a 1970s fatal car accident.
S. Peters-Davis Editorial Review for: Whistling Librarian
The prologue begins with a question of ‘what happened next?’ Then it moves on to the characters (workers and residents - each one with their own quirks) at Whistling Pines Senior Resident Home. Peter Rogers runs the place and makes the perfect main character. There’s always something going on that consistently captivates me throughout the mystery. This is book 10 of the Whistling Pines Mysteries series, so most of the characters have grown on me, making me smile, laugh, or wonder what the heck they are thinking, doing, or creating for Peter. I adore all of Mr. Hovey’s books and the additions to this book from Ms. Flagge. I’m never disappointed and am always ready for the next one:)
S. Peters-Davis Editorial Review for: Whistling Librarian
The prologue begins with a question of ‘what happened next?’ Then it moves on to the characters (workers and residents - each one with their own quirks) at Whistling Pines Senior Resident Home. Peter Rogers runs the place and makes the perfect main character. There’s always something going on that consistently captivates me throughout the mystery. This is book 10 of the Whistling Pines Mysteries series, so most of the characters have grown on me, making me smile, laugh, or wonder what the heck they are thinking, doing, or creating for Peter. I adore all of Mr. Hovey’s books and the additions to this book from Ms. Flagge. I’m never disappointed and am always ready for the next one:)
Rosemary Turner longs to leave the confines of her small Norfolk Village to engage in war work. But since the death of her mother, she has felt duty bound to stay at home to care for her father and help him with his parish duties.
She meets Army Lieutenant Simon Spencer who is on convalescent leave after being wounded in the Dunkirk evacuation. He has come to the village with news of Rosemary’s brother who he met at Dunkirk. She is immediately attracted to him but realizes she is unlikely to meet him again. She doesn’t even know where he has been posted to.
She tries to find contentment in looking after the London evacuee in her care, helping her father with his church duties and packing Red Cross parcels for prisoners of war.
Things change for the villagers when the nearby air base is taken over by an American bomber group. Some call it a ‘friendly invasion’ but others are not so sure. Rosemary’s friend Jenny is becoming more than friendly with a US pilot and flirtatious barmaid Peggy seems to be heading for trouble. And when Rosemary meets Master Sergeant Floyd Bowman, he makes it clear he would like to be more than friends. But she cannot forget Simon.
A trio of Great new books--looking forward to more good reading. :)
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