Monthly Archives: October 2008

Ellen Elizabeth Hunter. The Murder in Wilmington Series.

It should come as no surprise that old houses hold secrets, but readers need to be prepared for a mix of old crimes and new ones in this series featuring historic preservationist and old house restorer Ashley Wilkes.  Ashley and her sister Melanie are part of Wilmington’s social elite.  As such they attend seasonal events around town, from the Azalea Festival to the Cape Fear Crime Festival to the Olde Wilmington Candlelight Tour, and also many posh parties related to these events.  No matter how nice the event, murders have a way of happening when Ashley is present.  Each novel is a happy mix of fun and danger, featuring Ashley and the interesting characters in her family and circle of friends.   The books also contain a good dose of Wilmington history and lore, and many readers will recognize places and businesses mentioned in the novels.

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Filed under 2000-2009, Coast, Hunter, Ellen Elizabeth, Mystery, New Hanover, Novels in Series, Series

Henry Clark. Trophy Boy. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2007.

This is a coming-of-age novel centering on Victor Carter, a high school boy who lives in the fictitious Piedmont town of Hopkinsville.  Victor is a very good golfer and a serious, reliable young man.  He hopes to be a Methodist minister and is studying theology with his pastor.  Taking a summer office job at his grandfather’s lumber company exposes Victor to attitudes and situations he has not previously encountered.  He feels pulled by the varied expectations that the adults in his life have for him, and he struggles to find his own sense of justice in a small town that harbors racism, economic blackmail, and a social structure that doesn’t welcome change. The book is set in the late 1940s.

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

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2007, Clark, Henry, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Piedmont

Edward P. Norvell. Portsmouth: Spies, U-boats, and Romance on the Outer Banks. Winston-Salem: Distributed by John F. Blair, 2008.

The waters off the Outer Banks were crowded during World War II, with American and British submarines trying to keep German U-boats from getting close to American shores. In 1942 two U-boats and one British submarine were sunk. One U-boat contained a Enigma code machine that the Germans wanted to recover. A German officer was sent ashore, in disguise, to Portsmouth Island. A widow there believed him to be the British officer he claimed to be, and they fell in love. This novel nicely weaves together her story and his, following them through the war years and beyond. The novel also gives a good sense of life on the Outer Banks during the 1940s.

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

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Coast, Dare, Norvell, Edward P., Romance/Relationship

Mary Alice Monroe. Time Is a River. New York: Pocket Books, 2008.

If your friend was recovering from breast cancer and sexual betrayal, would you offer her quiet time in a cabin where a murder might have taken place? What was Belle Carson thinking?!? She clearly wasn’t expecting her friend Mia to get interested in that old murder, the one that had caused so much pain to Belle’s family. But once Mia finds the diary of Belle’s grandmother, the accused murderer, she begins to ask questions and poke around in the library and in town, trying to uncover the truth about the accusations against Kate Watkins. Kate was not a murderer, but a proud, confident journalist and fly-fisher. Drawing strength from Kate’s life, Mia puts hers back together.

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

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Buncombe, Coast, Monroe, Mary Alice, Mountains, Novels in Series, Romance/Relationship

Celia Myrover Robinson. Rowena’s Happy Summer. Chicago: Rand, McNally & Co., 1912.

This young adult novel is set in Wake County in the 1880s. The Beauchamp family lives in reduced circumstances as the widowed Mr. Beauchamp tries to raise his three daughters, with help from his sisters and the family’s servants. Rowena, the eldest daughter, is bored and chafes at the family’s relative poverty. Rowena longs for excitement and a chance to study music. She finds both when a cousin from the black sheep side of the family arrives. Through her boldness and open-heartedness, Rowena makes new friends and heals a family rift.

Check this title’s availability and access an online copy through the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 1910-1919, 1912, Children & Young Adults, Novels to Read Online, Piedmont, Robinson, Celia Myrover, Wake

Frank R. Stockton. Kate Bonnet: The Romance of a Pirate’s Daughter. New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1914.

A sanitized and cheerful pirate tale, with just a few scenes set at Topsail Inlet and Cape Fear. Kate tries to steer her father, Stede Bonnet, away from piracy, in part for his safety, and in part to speed her marriage plans. Blackbeard, a rival and sometime collaborator with Bonnet, complicates matters.

Check this title’s availability and access an online copy through the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 1910-1919, 1914, Coast, Novels to Read Online, Stockton, Frank R.

E.A.B.S. (E. A. B. Shackelford). Virginia Dare: A Romance of the Sixteenth Century. New York: Thomas Whittaker, 1892.

In this version of the Lost Colony story, most of the English settlers are killed, but Virginia Dare survives. In 1607, she goes north to Powhatan’s country, but the Jamestown settlers never learn of her existence. The remnants of Manteo’s tribe become Christians, and Virgina marries Manteo’s son Iosco.

Check this title’s availability and access an online copy through the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 1890-1899, 1892, Coast, Novels to Read Online, Religious/Inspirational, Shackelford, E. A. B.

Payne Erskine. When the Gates Lift Up Their Heads: A Story of the Seventies. Boston: Little, Brown, 1901.

Although this novel is set in the mountains of western North Carolina, plantation slavery is presented is part of the local heritage and figures in the plot. The shoe is on the other foot when John Marshall returns to his hometown near Asheville in the 1870s. Northerners have come to this part of the South and they are making their presence felt through land purchases and business deals. His family home has been sold and is now a boarding house run by the optimistic and energetic Portia Van Ostade. Old racial and social attitudes are still alive, but the younger characters find romance across the sectional divide. The happiness of one young couple is threatened by a secret from the past.

Check this title’s availability and access an online copy through the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 1900-1909, 1901, Buncombe, Erskine, Payne, Mountains, Novels to Read Online

Judy Nichols. Tree Huggers. Austin, TX: Zumaya Enigma, 2008.

When a local environmentalist and a real estate agent die in a blaze at a new shorefront McMansion, everyone suspects that a militant environmental group has committed the arson. Kate Dennison is new to Wilmington and as she covers the story for the Winslow Beach Beacon she begins to attract unwanted attention.  Threatening messages and a dead rat left on her desk are preludes to more dangerous actions.  Kate has to balance her work with her responsibilities as a single mom.  A rekindled romance also complicates matters. Can Kate keep herself and her daughter safe while probing into an shadowy environmental group and a developer who may not be all that he seems?

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

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Coast, Mystery, New Hanover, Nichols, Judy

Richard H. Triebe. On a Rising Tide. Bloomington, IN: Authorhouse, 2006.

By June 1864, Wilmington was the only open Confederate port on the eastern seaboard.  Cargo brought into the port allowed the Confederacy to fight on.  Blockade running and Sherman’s March to the Sea changed Wilmington, bringing to the city thousands of desperate refugees, wheeler-dealers, and dangerous men.  This novel contains good scenes of the blockade runner Atlantis negotiating the waters at Cape Fear, eluding Union ships, and loading up in Nassau, but the heart of the story is what happens in Wilmington.  It is a book of adventure, war, and romance, with scenes of betrayal and violence.

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

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2006, Brunswick, Coast, Historical, New Hanover, Triebe, Richard H.