Debut Plus a Short Prequel Starts Fantastic New Series from Sandra Carey Cody

Just seven pages which you could indeed overlook if you weren't planning to read the new series by Sandra Carey Cody but if you find the descriptions for the first two books interesting, I highly encourage you to add the short story, which, in a way, is the prequel to the first novel.

Establishing the setting immediately, we move into a small town where a annual festival is taking place...

And we meet the main character, Caroline, a Quaker who led a very active life in support of her faith and realized she needed a break...

She was enjoying listening to a dulcimer being played among the crowd when suddenly a dog started barking on and on...Of course, somebody said that somebody should do something... And, of course, active Caroline got up and went to find the dog... Right then, I began to feel this was meant to be...

But, I hadn't a clue what it was that would change her life! So much said in so few pages, and yet the perfect scene was set. And It only took a little over 20 years to discover the full story... I loved it! And, by the way, it does stand alone as a sweet short story about God's plans and how they might work... 

Author Cody Reading in Mercer Library

MAY 1987 He stood at the crest of the hill, already shamed by the act he was about to commit. Could he go through with it? No choice. He studied the workers scurrying around the base of the building. No one seemed to notice him–or the bundle he carried. He moved closer, seeking accessible shelter. Behind the castle-like structure, a three-walled shed hugged the side of the hill. A half dozen steps put him in position to see that the interior was filled with antique carriages and farm wagons. There was no security guard in sight. A sure sign of a safe town. The decision made, he walked away. He came back in the darkest part of the night, slipped through the opening in the fence, and moved, step by irrevocable step, toward the shed. A wooden sign suspended from a thick rope proclaimed the area off limits. He ducked under the barrier and squeezed past the conveyances. A twig snapped. He stooped low and squinted into the shadows. A dog. He tensed when the animal approached, nodded when it ignored him. Yes, safe. Stray dogs don’t fear strangers here. He set his burden in the corner and stepped back, but remained poised, ready to intercede. He watched the animal sniff, then curve itself harmlessly, even (he told himself) protectively, against the basket’s side. The deed done, he slipped back through the opening in the fence and paused only momentarily to stare into the dark void that was the shed’s opening before he walked away. He returned when the sun was high to observe from outside the fence. The festival was in full swing, with celebrants swooping over the lawn like flocks of earthbound swallows. Strains of a dulcimer floated in the intervals between blacksmith hammer blows. Voices rose and fell in an easy-going hum. The dog began to bark in the shed. And didn’t stop. Someone will check on that. Again, he walked away and, this time, did not allow himself a backward look.

~~~

Twenty-two years had passed and Peace was now living in Doylestown, PA, involved in actually working on the preparation of the annual Festival she and her adoptive mother had visited so often! She was so excited but it was for more than that... Peace thought she might have met her father... One of the parents who had abandoned her at birth...

Right here on the property where she was now working at the Mercer Museum. Fonthill Castle was also there located . But Peace had been left in a storage shed and may not have been found if the dog had not come in when she was placed back behind some equipment and stayed there, only to soon start barking, obviously seeking help, for someone
to come and find the child... 

Shed where Peace was found as a baby and where Jack was found murdered...
in the exact same place...

Now Peace would often visited the little building and discovered that a homeless man was sleeping there now--in the exact place where her basket had been found!  Could it be? Soon she realized as they had talked and become friends, that she looked very much like the man she knew only as Jack...

Strolling through the crowds at the festival brought personal memories back to Peace...of that time when, once, her mother had heard a dog bark and went to find it... But this time, the disruptive noise was not a bark, it was a scream! Someone was shouting, "Blood! All Over Him!" Jack had been murdered...

Just like the old story of Hansel and Gretel who had planned for trouble by taking little white pebbles to be dropped, Sandra Corey Cody has masterfully dropped little pebbles of her story, bit by bit, moving from character to character, without identification of all those who are adding their personal story... The mystery actually becomes quite complex as Peace plays our amateur investigator and works parallel to the police activities taking place. But Cody refuses to give too many hints in this particular book and so, happily, I read through to the end without even guessing who had killed Jack... Wonderful! I love not being able to solve a mystery... This one keeps you moving from one possible option to another one...but I didn't even come close...

But the solving of the murder was minor for Peace...she had lost her father, perhaps, but could not even be sure enough to grieve for him! Nevertheless, when the ambulance came, it was Peace who demanded she ride with Jack to the hospital...

I love the character Peace and hope this series continues on for quite some time. Her faith and teachings from her adoptive mother have very much made Peace the woman she became and, no matter what had or would be happening, she firmly believed that Truth will come out... And if she could help make that happen, she persuasively helped to have that happen. But it is in her openness and willingness to care for people that we are moved as she started to bring food for Jack, even before she had gotten to know him... And when Jack had become friends with a young man who seemed to be a loner, especially after Jack had died, Peace worked frantically to help him deal with the loss, pain, and fear she found he had...

This is a special story, one I will long remember. Along with the prequel short story, it is totally satisfying for readers of mysteries and those who want to become involved with character lives.  I'm now reading the latest in the series, so watch for my review soon... I already can say that all three are highly recommended!


GABixlerReviews

http://www.sandracareycody.com
http://www.birthofanovel.wordpress.com
http://www.avalonauthors.blogspot.com

Sandra Carey Cody was born and grew up in the Midwest (the St. Louis area). She attended Washington University, met the love of her life when she cut an algebra class to go ice skating, married him not too long after that, and has since lived in various cities in different parts of the country. Wherever she's gone, books have the bridge to her new community and new friends.

She is the author of the Jennie Connors mystery series. The most recent entry in the series is Left at Oz, a prequel to Put Out the Light, Consider the Lilly and By Whose Hand, all of which are currently available in book stores and libraries. The Jennie Connors books take place in a retirement community where the residents are mobile, alert, and just bored enough to welcome a little excitement in their lives. If this involves helping Activities Director Jennie solve the occasional murder ... well, that's a lot more fun than bingo. In addition, the books explore the challenges facing a young mother as she learns to balance independence with family and career responsibilities.

Love and Not Destroy is a traditional mystery set in a museum of tools and folk art in a small town near Philadelphia. Peace Morrow is a young woman trying to learn the identity of a homeless man murdered on museum grounds, a quest that quickly becomes entangled with her own search for family roots. It is available in print and as an ebook.

A Perfect Wedding and Beyond the Fairy Light are both trios of short stories about the bump and jostle of day-to-day life in a family. More Than Words Can Say is a short romance. All are available available for your Kindle.