Showing results by narrator "Nancy Bober" in All Categories

Courtney is caught up again, this time with a scaly trail of clues to follow. Despite a soggy challenge at the animal rescue center, and the imminent arrival of her parents for Thanksgiving celebrations, our amateur sleuth cannot escape her unquestionable gift of uncovering foul play in Curly Bay!

Building on and connecting histories of food and work, literary criticism of the pastoral and georgic, histories of elite and vernacular science, and histories of reading and writing practices, among other areas of inquiry, Digging the Past offers fine-grained case studies of projects heralded as innovations both in the 17th century and in our own time: composting and soil amendment, local food, natural wine, and hedgerows.

Sophia Keegan is 14 years old in 1930s Massachusetts. She likes the dark, and she craves adventure and freedom from social constraints. But when she meets a ghostly child on a beach and stumbles onto a dangerous bootlegging gang, it isn't long before she's fighting to save her family and her sanity. Now Sophia must protect her family from the deadly gang of rum runners who will stop at nothing to silence her. And she must uncover the riddle of the ghostly child who haunts her dreams and invades her thoughts before it is too late.

Losing Helen is a first-person narrative essay by Carol Becker of a daughter's profound journey through the many phases in the process of losing her 98-year-old mother. As an only child, she must assume complete responsibility for the often absurd but necessary planning that illness and death require. At the same time, she must struggle with her overwhelming grief and confusion, trying to make sense of her mother's life and her own. As she gradually comes to accept the inevitable loss, she focuses instead on finding ways to ensure a dignified and respectful passage.

It’s almost Christmas, and Courtney is trying to come up with great ways to promote the shelter. Through a lucky connection, she gets the chance to bring the adoptable pets to the local news station to be on TV!

Courtney is always happy to take on new volunteers, and she’s thrilled to take on a high school student named Mason. He’s not too thrilled about the idea at first, but things change for him once he realizes how important the shelter work is. Soon enough, he’s even getting the shelter involved at football games! Courtney is so happy, but an unexpected death puts a big damper on all the great PR that Mason has helped bring in. Courtney doesn’t know how, but she’ll have to find a way to prove that Mason and Rosie the shelter dog are innocent.

Courtney is delighted that the Curly Bay Pet Hotel and Rescue finally has a full-time volunteer in Ms. O’Donnell’s friend Linda. But Linda quickly proves to be more of a hindrance, and perhaps something even more heinous. Courtney is certain she witnesses Linda committing murder. The police insist she has a rock-solid alibi, but Courtney knows there must be more going on.

Courtney Cain is used to seeing dogs that are sad or upset when they first arrive at the shelter, but she’s never met one quite like Ruthie the Bloodhound! Ruthie does nothing but howl mournfully when she’s in her cage, and when she’s not crated, all she does is run away. Courtney is particularly concerned since the Curly Bay Lake has been drained for repairs, and there are some very dangerous areas at the park where the dog could get hurt. The lake seems to be the only thing the citizens of Curly Bay can talk about, especially the mysterious legend of the lake phantom.

Courtney Cain can’t believe that a former police dog has just been dropped off at the Curly Bay Pet Hotel and Rescue. Grieving Gunnar isn’t interested in working with anyone else following Officer Walter Cheatham's demise, and now it’s Courtney’s job to find him a new home.

Courtney thinks she might finally be able to give the Curly Bay Pet Hotel and Rescue the true makeover it deserves when she hears about a community development project that’s holding a contest, but when a body turns up, she can’t help but get to the bottom of it one more time! A community development project fills Courtney with visions of expansion. If she can just find the time to put together a good presentation, she’ll be able to help many more cats and dogs in Curly Bay. But she also has some stiff competition with the proposed new community center in town.

Fall is in full swing, and Courtney Cain is getting ready for the Apple Jubilee with the rest of Curly Bay. Until an unexplained robbery puts the festivities in jeopardy! The Jubilee festival will be a great opportunity to get publicity for the animal shelter, and she’s looking forward to participating. When the iconic Admiral Apple costume goes missing, the entire Jubilee is compromised.

The Curly Bay locals swear that winter’s going to be a cold one, but Courtney is warmed by the thought of a Books and Barks charity event at the local library. That is, until the donation money takes a walk, and the prime suspect ends up dead!

Courtney is excited for the upcoming Community Christmas event. All the charitable organizations in town are being invited to participate, and they’re guaranteed to get the extra funding they’re always needing. Of course, the work of the shelter never ends, and Courtney is inundated with a fresh flood of feisty canines that she’s trying to foster. But when a wealthy patron is found dead, festivities are thrown into a flurry! Who would commit such a yucky yuletide crime?

Forced to postpone the gathering, the Bay’s animal-loving amateur detective is thrown into an unexpected bout of summertime sleuthing. Can Courtney pull it together and make the Summer celebration happen? Or will the mystery assailant sabotage the months of meticulous work it took to arrange this Alumni Picnic event? Even worse, could they be planning more attacks on Courtney’s supporters?

Kami was strong, stronger than the others, but she couldn't outrun them. Taken and bled for one purpose, she holds on, following the spark and whispers of hope... Ruth's life is no longer her own, memories becoming as intangible as smoke, her fingers never able to grasp what had been. That is, until the elixir. The clock has turned back, but a flashing specter remains...

Courtney Cain is thrilled when interim mayor Bridget Powers asks for help with her campaign. Bridget wants to really make a difference for the people of Curly Bay, and Courtney is completely behind her. Delighted to take on another exciting challenge, alongside the ones she has at work, she jumps in with both boots. When Bridget’s campaign is tainted by her mayoral opponent's murder, however, Courtney knows she has to help find the real killer!

Helen has worked hard for her success. Now, after the prim-and-proper real estate agent’s husband ditches her for a younger model, she finds herself back in her small New England home town. Smarting over her husband’s betrayal, a messy night out brings further humiliation when Helen face-plants on the sidewalk…only to be rescued by her old nemesis, Alice.

The summer of 1889 was proving to be a strange one for Detective Inspector Rudyard Bloodstone and his partner. They had a sexual pervert loose. The man didn't actually harm women but threatened them at knife point, fondling them, and ultimately stealing their stockings. Far more serious were the murders of influential men, which appeared random other than they were all killed by arsenic poison. Never had he and his partner had cases with so little workable evidence.

A severe thunderstorm has hit Curly Bay, causing major damage to the Curly Bay Pet Hotel and Rescue. Fortunately, a wealthy patron is interested in hosting a fundraiser to help offset the costs. As Courtney and Mrs. Throgmorton organize the event, Courtney starts to feel she’s being sabotaged at every turn.

Courtney is up to the challenge when one of the most prominent clients of the Curly Bay Pet Hotel and Rescue wants her to throw a birthday party for her dog. Electrical problems both at the shelter and at home stall some of the party-making plans, and so does Patrick Murray, the only electrician in town.