Christmas is for kids. Making lists of their heart’s desires and dreaming of all the presents under the tree consumes them in the month of December. For adults, I believe it’s all about the food. Great meals and sweet treats; that’s what the month of December is about for adults, and it turns out that for once, I am right! Check out these dates: December 1, Eat a Red Apple Day; December 8, National Brownie Day; December 9, National Pastry Day, December 14, Roast Chestnuts Day, December 18, Bake Cookies Day…the list goes on and on! It really IS about the food! December 31, however, as we think about ringing in the New Year, we must Make Up Our Minds, because it is National Make Up Your Mind Day. I have made up my mind and resolve to read, read, read in the year 2018, and my friends at JCPL have stocked up on great, new fiction to get me started. Read on!
Retired and set in their ways, Gerry and Stella Gilmore take a holiday, flying from their home in Scotland to Amsterdam. Taking in the sights, the pair of them relax into their familiar relationship; safe and easy going. Just beneath the surface, however, this long-married couple knows their relationship is far from flawless, and as their long weekend ensues, cracks begin to form and long-buried resentments begin to slowly rise, making them realize that the struggle to stay together after all they have been through together only brings more uncertainty in ‘Midwinter Break’ by Bernard MacLaverty.
A summer at Camp Horseshoe turns into a nightmare when two young girls disappear without a trace. Twenty years later, human remains are uncovered at the camp, and Detective Lucas Dalton takes the case personally. After all, he was there during that ill-fated summer, and remembers the incident as though it were yesterday. Bringing back seven of the camp’s female counselors in hopes of unraveling the mystery of what went wrong in the small Oregon town twenty years before, Lucas is horrified to discover that the greed and betrayal are still present at Camp Horseshoe, and must solve not only an age-old mystery, but stop a killer who is out for revenge now in ‘You Will Pay’ by Lisa Jackson.
Retirement does not suit J.P. Beaumont. The thrill of law enforcement is still in his blood, and long boring days to himself don’t fill in the gaps for a man used to dealing with danger at every turn. When an accidental fire takes the life of his long-time nemesis, Maxwell Cole, Beau is called in to investigate the circumstances of Max’s death. Uncovering truths that may lead to justice for his old friend brings to light some hard truths, and leads Beau straight into the path of an old enemy who has been right there all along in ‘Proof of Life,’ book number 23 in the J.P. Beaumont series by J.A. Jance.
Lore is in labor and all alone. Taking herself to the hospital to have her baby, she is cared for by another young woman due to have a baby at any time; a young woman who knows all too well what can go wrong and who must come to terms with her own past in order to gently push Lore into her new future in ‘Eleven Hours’ by Pamela Erens.
Missing for three days now, Jude Brighton’s friends and family are beginning to lose hope. As law enforcement in the small town of Deer Valley, Oregon find their hopes fading as well, young Stevie Clark, Jude’s best friend and cousin, is more determined than ever to find Jude. Time is ticking away and over the past few years, such cases have not ended well for the town of Deer Valley. Years before, young Max Larsen also disappeared and was later found dead; and then there were also animals that went missing without a trace, beloved pets never to be seen again. Now, stricken with a new fear, the residents of Deer Valley feel helpless, knowing there may very well be a murderer lurking around, ready to strike at any time in their small, quiet town in ‘The Devil Crept In’ by Ania Ahlborn.
The food fest continues in the month of December with National Chocolate Day and National Eggnog Day on the 24th, National Pumpkin Pie Day on the 25th, National Fruitcake Day on the 27th, National Bacon Day on the 30th, and, thankfully, comes to a close with National Bicarbonate of Soda Day on the 30th, which I am sure will be the most popular of drinks by the end of the month, right along with these new fiction titles from the Jasper County Public Library, as we say a fond farewell to the year 2017 and look forward to the New Year of 2018!