Murder At The Courthouse

After a few years as a police officer in Chicago, Michael Keane has no trouble relaxing into the far less stressful job of deputy sheriff in his small hometown. After all, nothing ever happens in Hidden Springs, Kentucky. Nothing, that is, until a dead body is discovered on the courthouse steps.

Everyone in town is a little uneasy. Still, no one is terribly worried--after all the man was a stranger--until one of their own is murdered right on Main Street. As Michael works to solve the case it seems that every nosy resident in town has a theory. When the sheriff insists Michael check out one of these harebrained theories, his surprising discovery sends him on a bewildering search for a mysterious killer that has him questioning everything he has ever believed about life in Hidden Springs.

Bringing with her a knack for creating settings you want to visit and an uncanny ability to bring characters to life, A. H. Gabhart pens a whodunit that will keep readers guessing.


 Cafe Lily's Review:

I'm not much of a mystery reader, but I have enjoyed many of Ann's books and decided to give this book a try. This is the first book in her Hidden Springs Mystery series.

As with all of her books that I've read, Ann created realistic characters that were easy to relate to. Her style of writing is enjoyable, and I love how she transports readers into small, "Mayberry" type towns.  The characters and setting remain charming, even though this genre is completely different from what this author typically writes.

While I still prefer historical fiction and other genres over mystery, I highly recommend this author.
 

 

The Memory Weaver

Eliza Spalding Warren was just a child when she was taken hostage by the Cayuse Indians during a massacre in 1847.

Now the young mother of two children, Eliza faces a different kind of dislocation; her impulsive husband wants them to make a new start in another territory, which will mean leaving her beloved home and her departed mother's grave--and returning to the land of her captivity. Eliza longs to know how her mother, an early missionary to the Nez Perce Indians, dealt with the challenges of life with a sometimes difficult husband and with her daughter's captivity. When Eliza is finally given her mother's diary, she is stunned to find that her own memories are not necessarily the whole story of what happened. Can she lay the dark past to rest and move on? Or will her childhood memories always hold her hostage?

Based on true events, The Memory Weaver is New York Times bestselling author Jane Kirkpatrick's latest literary journey into the past, where threads of western landscapes, family, and faith weave a tapestry of hope inside every pioneering woman's heart. Readers will find themselves swept up in this emotional story of the memories that entangle us and the healing that awaits us when we bravely unravel the threads of the past.


Cafe Lily's Review:

This book is based on the true account of Eliza Spaulding, daughter of pioneer missionaries Henry and Eliza Spaulding, who ministered to the Nez Perce Indians. Her strength and determination become evident, as readers discover all that Eliza has gone through.

When Eliza grows into adulthood, eventually marries and starts her own family, it becomes clear to her, that her experiences may not be exactly as she remembers them. As the author takes readers back and forth from the past to the present, Eliza's struggles tug at your heart.

This wasn't my favorite book by this author. I love historical fiction and this fits the bill, but it had more of a biographical tone to it than I expected. The back and forth from present day to the diary, was a bit distracting for me. Overall, a good read for history buffs, it just wasn't my favorite book to read.