Gobble Up a Good Book

Annie Wilder is a travel writer; her husband, Mickey plays a popular TV detective. They have two grown children and a big house in a desirable part of town. Until this Thanksgiving their relationship, which began when they were six years old, was considered true-blue and infallible and their life ideal.

Now Annie suspects that Mickey is having an affair so she decides she is free to do the same; their investment counselor runs off with all their money; family relationships are changing.

Annie wants control of her life back and sets out to get it.

Thanksgiving Visitor, by Truman Capote

Odd Henderson is a bully and he makes young Buddy’s life a misery so Buddy is incredulous and angry when his elderly cousin and friend Miss Sook insists on inviting the Hendersons to Thanksgiving dinner.

This short book (63 pages) is a gem of compassion and charity. After all as Miss Sook says, "there’s only one unpardonable sin – deliberate cruelty."

Cloud Nine : A Novel, by Luanne Rice

Sarah Talbot has successfully fought off cancer, reopened her bedding shop, Cloud Nine and is reclaiming her life.

Now she is on her way to her father’s home for Thanksgiving where she will be reunited with her son who could not handle her illness.

On the way she meets charter pilot Will who has his own troubled child and his own emotional scars.

Snipe Hunt, by Sarah Shaber

A couple of young professors are relaxing on a quiet Outer Banks beach when an old-fashioned diver’s suit is dredged up along with some Confederate gold coins.

Speculation is that the inhabitant – well the former inhabitant – of the suit was a World War II deserter. But who’s really in that suit and are there any more sunken Confederate treasures in the area?

A Trap for Fools, by Amanda Cross

During Thanksgiving weekend, Professor Canfield Adams’ body is found several stories below his open office window. While there are many, many people who are rejoicing at his demise, the police investigation homes in on a politically sensitive suspect. The professor’s widow is threatening to sue the college administration and English professor Kate Fansler is called in to investigate. Things take a turn for the worse when a young student is pushed from her 10^th story apartment window.

House of the Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The sins of the father are visited unto the children. Colonel Pyncheon falsely accuses his neighbor, Matthew Maule of witchcraft in order to get him hung and seize his valuable property. At his execution Maule curses the Pyncheons root and branch. The story then jumps forward 200 years to the now degenerate Pyncheon family still living in the Colonel’s house. Hawthorne gives us a fascinating (for those so inclined) look at the Puritans from the 19^th century viewpoint. Wordy and tangential by modern standards, it remains one of the first psychological novels.

Hard Christmas : a Cat Marsala Mystery, by Barbara D'Amato

Working on an article about Christmas tree farms, Cat Marsala is invited to spend Thanksgiving at the DeGraaf’s tree farm in Holland, Michigan. Amidst the holiday spirit and camaraderie, the hearty Dutch cookery and immigrant history, and fascinating information on how to grow and harvest Christmas trees, we learn that even the most benevolent of families may have dark secrets.

Turkey Day Murder : a Lucy Stone Mystery, by Leslie Meier

Amidst Thanksgiving week celebrations, highly vocal Native American activist Curt Nolan is found dead with an ancient war club beside him.