Monthly Archives: January 2009

Cheris F. Hodges. Cautious Heart. 2nd ed. Columbus, MS: Genesis Press, 2008.

Caprice Johnson, a second generation police officer, will tell you that it was the cold weather that drove her out of Chicago, but it really was a broken heart. Her man, Damien King, just wouldn’t be true, so Caprice left Chi-town for a job as a police officer in Charlotte. Her new work partner, Nathan Wallace, is smart, fit, friendly, and maybe the type of honest, faithful man that Caprice has despaired of ever finding. Tough cases and Caprice’s reluctance to begin a new relationship are obstacles enough on the road to romance, but there are additional challenges to face. Nathan’s brother, Cordell, is a petty criminal who has moved on to bigger things. Caprice’s old love, Damien, moves to Charlotte to start a new business and woo her back. When Damien is murdered, Caprice is the number one suspect. Suspended from the force, she tries to unravel the mystery of Damien’s death and her complicated feelings for Nathan.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Hodges, Cheris F., Mecklenburg, Piedmont, Romance/Relationship

Joyce and Jim Lavene. Fruit of the Poisoned Tree. New York: Berkley Prime Crime, 2006.

When lawyer Park Lamonte dies after his car plummets off an overpass, the police first suspect that he committed suicide. Then attention shifts to his wife Beth and the accusations against her grow louder after Park’s mother is also killed. Charlotte-based botanist and garden shop owner Peggy Lee doesn’t think Beth is guilty and uses her experience and expertise with plants to try to free the widow from police custody. The story includes winter gardening tips and discussions of environmental topics, and features characters from the previous Peggy Lee stories, including Peggy’s boyfriend Steve, her online chess partner Nightflyer, and her unruly dog Shakespeare.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library Catalog.

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Filed under 2006, Lavene, Jim and Joyce, Mecklenburg, Mystery, Novels in Series, Piedmont

Jan Karon. At Home in Mitford. New York: Penguin, 1994.

Mitford, N.C.–“a town delightfully out of step with contemporary America”–is the home of Father Tim Kavanagh. Episcopalian rector Father Tim gives of himself to the point of exhaustion, but even in the midst of a town that loves him he is lonely. In steps a stray dog that responds to scripture (Father Tim names him Barnabas), an orphan named Dooley, and a new neighbor that wants to “go steady.” This is the first in Jan Karon’s series of books about Father Tim and the fictional village of Mitford.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 1990-1999, 1994, Karon, Jan, Mountains, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Religious/Inspirational

Michael Phillips. The Soldier’s Lady. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2006.

The Soldier’s Lady is the second book in the Carolina Cousins series and, although it continues the stories of Katie and Mayme, it is focused upon Micah Duff. Micah had a hard childhood in Chicago, but grew up to become an educated, thoughtful, and spiritual man. After the end of the Civil War, the former Buffalo soldier finds his way to Rosewood Plantation where he reconnects with old friends, becomes a new and important part of the Rosewood family, and helps them face a threat from a cruel man from Emma’s past.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2006, Historical, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Phillips, Michael, Religious/Inspirational, Romance/Relationship

Sallie Bissell. In the Forest of Harm. New York: Bantam Books, 2001.

Prosecutor Mary Crow’s trip to the mountains with her two college friends was supposed to be a celebration; she has just won her sixth murder case in a row. The plan was to stop in her childhood hometown of Jump Off, NC and then hike and camp for two days in the Nantahala National Forest. Their plan quickly goes awry. The women face two very different men who are intent upon hurting or killing them; one is a seasoned serial killer who has stalked victims in the forest for years and one is a man with a personal grudge against Mary. This is the first book in the series of Mary Crow thrillers.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2001, Bissell, Sallie, Mountains, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Suspense/Thriller

Kathy Reichs. Deadly Decisions. New York: Scribner, 2000.

Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan is caught in the middle of an outlaw biker gang-war in Deadly Decisions, the fourth book in Reich’s series of mysteries. While investigating the deaths of both bikers and innocents caught in their crossfire, Tempe finds a connection to a North Carolina teenager’s death in 1984. In the midst of her investigation she also has to deal with three very different men: a sleazy TV reporter who keeps hanging around, her cop boyfriend who has been arrested for dealing in drugs and stolen property, and her 19-year-old nephew who is fascinated by all things motorcycle-related.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000, 2000-2009, Mystery, Novels in Series, Piedmont, Reichs, Kathy, Suspense/Thriller, Wake

Ann B. Ross. Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind. New York: William Morrow, 1999.

The very proper Julia Springer doesn’t believe in speaking ill of the dead, but her husband’s sudden demise leaves her in a difficult position. She finds out that her stingy husband of more than forty years was actually quite rich and, since there is no will, she inherits every penny of his money. However, her unexpected windfall brings out the worst in some of her small-town neighbors, including a pastor who tries to get the money by proving her legally incompetent. The widow also inherits something else unexpected: her husband’s illegitimate nine-year-old son. As if this weren’t enough to keep Julia busy, she also faces a strange televangelist, a robbery, and a kidnapping.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library Catalog.

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Filed under 1990-1999, 1999, Henderson, Humor, Mountains, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Ross, Ann B.

Michael Malone. Uncivil Seasons. New York: Delacorte Press, 1983.

Boozy Justin Savile is the black sheep of one of the founding families of Hillston, NC, a fictional college town in the Piedmont where people are polite, everyone knows each other, and family is of the utmost importance. He also happens to be one of only two homicide detectives in town. When his aunt–who is the wife of a state senator–is found murdered, Justin and his working-class partner Cuddy start investigating.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 1980-1989, 1983, Malone, Michael, Mystery, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Piedmont

Diana Gabaldon. Drums of Autumn. New York: Delacorte Press, 1997.

Although time-traveling Claire Fraser knows that the Revolution is coming, she and her husband Jamie decide to make a new life in the American colonies. They make their way from Charleston to Cumberland County, North Carolina, where Jamie’s wealthy aunt owns a plantation, and then eventually travel to the mountains where they begin setting up a community on the fictional Fraser’s Ridge. Their daughter, Brianna, is living in 1960s Boston, but she goes back in time to find her parents. Roger, her friend and would-be husband, follows her. This is the first book in the 2nd Outlander trilogy and the first of the series to take place in North Carolina.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

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Filed under 1990-1999, 1997, Coastal Plain, Cumberland, Gabaldon, Diana, Historical, Mountains, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Romance/Relationship, Science Fiction/Fantasy

Michael Phillips. A Perilous Proposal. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2005.

A Perilous Proposal follows the life of young Jake Patterson, a slave who flees for the north after fighting off his mother’s white attacker. After a stay with some Union army soldiers, he eventually finds his long-lost father in North Carolina and meets Katie and Mayme, the two young women who live at Rosewood plantation. Jake soon falls in love and wants to start a new life, but he is held back by anger and resentment from his past. In this, the first book in the Carolina Cousins series, the residents of Rosewood also face physical threats from intolerant men in the nearby (fictional) town of Greens Crossing.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2005, Historical, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Phillips, Michael, Religious/Inspirational, Romance/Relationship