Old pain returns to haunt in 'Courage Resurrected' by R. Scott Mackey

In a richly layered mystery novel, author R. Scott Mackey takes readers on a compelling adventure in northern California with Courage Resurrected. Private investigator Ray Courage receives an email message, purportedly from his dead wife. Old emotions surface as he faces the possibility of her having survived a fiery car crash thirteen years ago.

Mackey’s story leans toward gritty and hard-boiled, even as he describes a world of good people caught in rough circumstances. Rate it R for language and violence, but the story is excellent.

Read more of my review here.

Journey in Heaven by Bob Northey shares beautiful vision

When 27-year-old Jamie finds himself walking alone and barefooted through the fog, he wonders where he is and how he got there. The discoveries he makes along the way reveal him to be en route to heaven, approaching city walls of jasper.

So begins Bob Northey’s novel Journey in Heaven, which recounts Jamie’s early days in the Celestial City. Part Bible study and part travelogue, Northey combines scripture references with fictional dialogue to deliver an inspirational story of what awaits us on the other side of death. As Jamie comes to understand and appreciate more about his new home, he travels from location to location: the Throne Room, the Praise Pavilion, the Library and the Observatory are only a few of the buildings he explores. He meets the people who lived the stories of the Bible as well as other new arrivals.

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Mary Ellen Hughes does it again! Delicious mystery with a touch of spice

License to Dill, the second book in Mary Ellen Hughes’ Pickled and Preserved Mystery series, takes readers on a thrill ride spiced with good friends and good food. Anyone interested in home food preservation will enjoy the references to spices and preserving techniques. Sports aficionados can thrill to the soccer competition underlying the story. There’s romance and family and lots of intrigue taking place in License to Dill. Classic cars and motorcycles come into the mix as well.

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Picayune, MS memories from Jim Luke make moving memoir

If you have fond memories of Andy Griffith and Mayberry, you’re going to love The Good Years on Goodyear Blvd by Jim Luke. With the same gentle, small town approach Sheriff Taylor used in Mayberry, Luke shares his perspectives on a small town in south Mississippi and the people who make it special in his memoir.

Luke spent a lot of his youth in Picayune, Miss. and went on to serve the town in many capacities, including Chief of Police and City Manager.

Read more here.