reviews

Dust Farming... Author:  Jonathan Raban American history is replete with stories of unbridled – some would say delusional – optimism, but there may never have been Americans who more fully epitomized the power of positive thinking than the homesteaders of eastern Montana.   Starting at the beginning of the 20th century, they followed the railroads by the thousands to try their luck at farming in Big Sky Country, a land of little rain, brutal winters and disturbingly wide open spaces.  The odds were heavily stacked against them and in hindsight it’s hard not to simply pity them, but however one looks [...]

Searching for Redemption Author: Mark Willen Jonas Hawke is a retired lawyer, a recovering alcoholic, and a mourner for his ex-partner who has recently died from medical complications. Reclusive, Jonas is attempting to learn from his past and begin comforting and helping people again, but when a stranger arrives in town and revives the conspiracy around an old murder trial, the errors of Jonas’ past return with a vengeance, and he is once again reminded of the ethical lapse that effectively ended his career. Meanwhile, Mary Louise, the cook at the inn Jonas’ daughter runs, and the place where Jonas [...]

Horticulture and Homicide Author: Ann Ripley Recovering from her near-death experience at the hands of a murderer who felt she knew too much, Louise Eldridge is trying to get back in the swing of family life. As her husband struggles to find a new job away from the CIA and settle down, Louise is looking for things to take her mind off the scars of her encounter. Her fame for inadvertently catching the Mulch Murderer has spread, as has her gardening skills, and she is asked to host a show called Gardening with Nature. Her environmentalist, all natural methodologies, however, [...]