Category Archives: Aiken, Ginny

by | March 22, 2010 · 11:47 am

Ginny Aiken. Suspicion. New York: Steeple Hill Books, 2008.

Stephanie Scott is proud of what she’s accomplished.  Now in her late twenties, she has overcome her attention deficit disorder to earn a pharmacist degree from UNC.   Stephanie has set up a pharmacy in her hometown of Loganton, North Carolina, where she provides special services like Wednesday senior citizen day and where she employs a local teenager and a friend who’s hit a bad patch.

Stephanie hits a bad patch herself when she is mugged as she is closing her store one night.  The mugging is just the beginning–later her tires are slashed, her car forced off the road, and the pharmacy looted.  This last act sets off an investigation by the state pharmacy board, and Steph’s license is suspending pending the conclusion of the investigation.  Things look bleak, especially since the Loganton police are entertaining the theory that Stephanie has arranged the looting to cover her own misappropriation of drugs.  Thank goodness for Stephanie that the county sheriff, Hal Benson, knows her from school days.  He believes Stephanie and risks his re-election to help clear her name.  Hal’s dogged investigation (and growing love), plus her own faith, save Stephanie from despair and disgrace.

This is the second novel in the author’s Carolina Justice series.

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

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Aiken, Ginny, Mountains, Novels in Series, Religious/Inspirational, Romance/Relationship

by | March 19, 2010 · 8:59 am

Ginny Aiken. Danger in a Small Town. New York: Steeple Hill Books, 2008.

Both Tess Graver and Ethan Rogers are trying to leave their pasts behind when they settle in Loganton.  Ethan was a Drug Enforcement Agency officer in Chicago, and he has had his fill of lowlifes and their crimes.  Tess has returned to her hometown to escape the suspicions of her co-workers after she was accused and then cleared of theft at work.  Plus, her elderly uncle needs someone to live with him now that his wife has died. Tess is happy to be back in familiar surroundings and upbeat about the business that she plans to start.

Unfortunately, trouble finds Tess.  While on a run, she comes upon a woman dieing of a drug overdose; someone breaks into Uncle Gordon’s house; Tess receives menacing phone calls, and a van tries to mow her down.  The caller thinks that Tess has something of value–could it be connected to the dead woman and the meth traffic in town?  Ethan Rogers wants to know–for professional reasons and to protect Tess.

This is the first book in the author’s Carolina Justice series.

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

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Aiken, Ginny, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Religious/Inspirational, Romance/Relationship, Suspense/Thriller

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by | March 15, 2010 · 10:59 am

Ginny Aiken. The Carolina Justice Series.

Loganton, North Carolina seems like a quiet mountain town.  Folks here have known each other for generations, the downtown is still recognizable to people who return after twenty years away, and the police force consists of just three officers.  There are plenty of good people in the town, including the fire chief, the pharmacist, the county sheriff, and Granny Annie, who owns the local dinner.  All these people–and more–are touched by growing drug use in the town. The meth trade is a particular scourge, causing teenagers to steal from their employers, friends to betray friends, and the loss of the beloved downtown theater in a meth lab explosion.

In the books in this series, a woman is endangered when she comes in contact with the drug trade in the town.  Each woman is young (in her late twenties), a woman of accomplishment and faith, but also a person who is vulnerable to gossip and suspicion because of something in her past.  Faith, and the assistance of a good man, help the heroine to survive a difficult time and move into a better future.  Some characters from earlier books in the series appear in later books, and readers of the series come to feel that they know this little town and its inhabitants.

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Filed under 2000-2009, Aiken, Ginny, Mountains, Novels in Series, Religious/Inspirational, Romance/Relationship, Series

by | February 12, 2010 · 10:33 am

Ginny Aiken. Someone to Trust. New York: Steeple Hill Books, 2009.

The otherwise peaceful (fictional) town of Loganton, North Carolina, has been turned upside down with a recent rash of crimes. First, the beloved historic theater goes up in flames, hurting not only the owner but the fire chief, Joe Caldwell. An investigation finds that the blaze was caused by an explosion in the basement, which was the site of a hidden crystal meth lab. As Cate Caldwell, heartbroken over her father’s serious injuries and this new side of Loganton, attempts an inspection of her own, she puts herself in danger. The perpetrator is angered by Cate’s meddling, and he attacks her multiple times to try to get his point across to her. When otherwise good high school students begin overdosing on ecstasy-like drugs, resulting in the death of one student, Cate refuses to sit by and watch. Mixed in with Cate’s concern for her safety and the good of the community is the romantic tension she shares with Rand Mason, the fire investigator. Rand has suspicions of his own when it comes to Cate, who was a wild child in high school. The two make an odd couple as they investigate the underground drug scene in Loganton, but they find the person behind the terror and see that he meets justice. Cate and Rand discover that they work well together in other ways, too.

Someone to Trust is the third book in Ginny Aiken’s Carolina Justice series.

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

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2009, Aiken, Ginny, Mountains, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Religious/Inspirational, Romance/Relationship, Suspense/Thriller

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