Reading beyond recipe books

Lawyer Jim and Bob Burgess went back to Maine to help defend their nephew, Zach, who was accused of a hate crime to a Muslim mosque frequented by Somali migrants. Zach was not particularly bright and could not grasp situations very well. Zach’s father had made unhappy remarks about the Somali migrants in the community and in order to show solidarity with his father, Zach did the deed. He did not grasp the enormity of the problem caused by throwing a pig’s head in the front of the mosque on Ramadan. Susan Burgess’s marriage had broken down and could not handle the situation. She looked up to Jim, her celebrity lawyer brother who seemingly had everything working out for him and hopes that Jim can get her out of all her mess. Bob was the neglected child and felt left out by his mother. Years ago, their father was killed when one of the Burgess siblings caused their car to roll down the hill where their father was. Bob grew up feeling that he must have done the deed. Jim’s...

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Kreuger Frank Drum, a Scottish descendent and son of a Methodist paster lives in New Bremen. One summer, a series of seemingly unrelated accidental deaths took place near the village’s railroad.   Frank and his side-sick stammering younger brother,   Jake, had their share of tragedy soon after these. Their sister, bound for Julliard, was found dead after a night of revelry celebrating a successful operatic performance by the river bed. Her devoted boyfriend was the main suspect when they found out that the dead sister was pregnant but while protesting his innocence, he confessed he was guy. This fact was picked up by Jake ,who accidentally told it to a rogue policeman. The boyfriend committed suicide after the town got wind of it. A few bystanders fell victims to the witch hunting , including an Indian who had a political history . In the end, they discovered the father of the unborn baby was an older trusted family friend who...