Hope. Dreams. Life... Love: Unringing the Bell

Unringing the Bell

by Author

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GENRE: Mystery

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BLURB:

In the small town of Goose Bend, Pennsylvania, people don't forget. Especially something as sensational as 12-year-old Jacob Gillis burning down the town. Nineteen years later, Jacob returns, hoping for redemption. Instead, he finds himself entangled in a murder investigation. The prosecutor, taking advantage of Jacob's involvement with the victim's beautiful sister-in-law, threatens Jacob with loss of career and reputation if he doesn't play by his rules. Only by outwitting the prosecutor can Jacob save his future.

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Excerpt:

When Jacob Gillis was twelve years old, he burned down the town of Goose Bend, Pennsylvania. The fire didn’t actually consume the entire town – only two blocks of the four-block business section went up in flames – but when the folks in Goose Bend spoke of the incident, they persisted in saying that Jacob Gillis, abetted by his friend Charlie Garrett, burned down the town.

Jacob watched Laskey walk back to the Sequoia, his limp barely detectable, and for the thousandth time he wondered why his friend kept what had happened to his foot a secret. But there were some places Laskey didn’t go – formidable Laskey with his gruff manner and hard-muscled body. He was a private person and sometimes a grizzly bear, but he had a goose-down heart which he tried like heck to hide. But Jacob knew.

Laskey grasped the arms of his chair and pushed his feet hard against the floor to contain himself. For a brief moment, the thought had rushed through his head that a jail term for assaulting a DA would be worth enduring for the pleasure of smashing Inglehook’s head against his desk.

Laskey squared his shoulders, turned around, and looked Jacob in the eyes. “Don’t get yourself in a mess, Jake. Extrication isn’t always possible.” He started for the door.

“Give back the painting,” he called over his shoulder. “And Jake,” he paused and twisted around. “Don’t ever mistake pretty wrappings for the quality of the gift inside.”

Author Interview:

1. Can you describe your dream home?

English cottage style on the outside, but an open plan inside. A big, beautiful kitchen even though I don’t cook much. A luxury bath with a steam shower and a gigantic aquarium that I could view while I sit in a big tub. Lots of room for books. A big sunroom full of plants. A marvelous back yard with huge, old trees.

2. If we were to come to your house for a meal, what would you give us to eat?

You might not want to come to my house for a meal. I’m a terrible cook. Should you come in the winter, I’d sit you down in front of my fireplace and give you enough wine you wouldn’t care about the quality of the food when we got around to eating. I do make a great lemon ice-box pie, however. It’s an old family recipe. I also make a great peach cobbler and a great cherry cobbler. And that’s about it. If you came in the summer, I’d seat you on the patio and offer you Kentucky’s specialty, a mint julep, or else something with bourbon. Once again, once we got to the meal you’d be relaxed enough that you wouldn’t much mind my lack of expertise in the culinary department.

3. Tell us about the absolute BEST fan letter you have received.

I hadn’t paid much attention to the reviews of The Lady on Amazon, but one day I decided to take a look. First of all, I was blown away that there were so many, but then one of them caught my breath: “This isn’t a good book,” the reviewer said, “It’s a GREAT book.”

4. Say your publisher has offered to fly you anywhere in the world to do some research on an upcoming book, where would you most likely want to go?

If I were researching Call me Mara, I’d want to travel to a place where sheep are taken care of the way they were in Biblical times. I don’t think that’s quite possible, but there are places that still do things the same way they have for many, many years. I believe that Elimelech and Naomi chose to sojourn in Moab because of their flocks. The Judeans of this period were required by religious law to set aside a certain part of their crops in order to survive during droughts. They would have had enough food put by in order to survive, but for their flocks to survive when there was no forage was another story. I did once try to discover where people cared for their flocks in ways that might be similar to biblical times. In Crete, and a couple other islands nearby, might have been choices for me. I visited the area of Jordan that was once called Moab and saw no sheep there at all. So should a publisher offer to fly me somewhere, it would most likely be Crete.

5. Who designed the book cover for the book you are touring?

Nat Jones has designed all of my book covers. I think he’s amazing. He received a degree in graphic design from Colgate and worked many years as a graphic designer. When he agreed to do my covers, he delved into the books so that he knew exactly what he was doing as he incorporated various elements into the design. He also happened to design a cover for a friend of mine. That cover blew me away! Should anyone be interested his email is njgd@gmail.com.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Judy Higgins was born in South Georgia where she grew up playing baseball, reading, and taking piano lessons. To pay for her lessons, she raised chickens and sold eggs to neighbors. She attended Mercer University for two years, and then Baylor University from which she graduated with a BA in German. She received her MA in German literature from The University of Michigan. After teaching German for several years, Judy decided to become a librarian and earned an MA in Library Science at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania.

Judy’s life took an exciting turn when she left her teaching job in Pennsylvania to be Head of Library at the Learning Center School of Qatar Foundation. She lived in Qatar for eight years, enjoying the experience of living in a different culture and traveling to exotic places during every vacation. Recently, she returned to the United States and lives in Lexington, KY. Judy has two children, Julia and Stephen, two children-in-law, Jim and Erin, and four grandchildren: Kyle, Jon, Karina, and Addy.

Judy’s first book, The Lady, was a finalist in the 2012 Amazon Break-out Novel Award. The first two novels of her Bucks County Mysteries, Unringing the Bell and Bride of the Wind are available March 1, 2018. The series is set in an imaginary small town in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Call me Mara, the story of Ruth and Naomi, is scheduled for publication in March, 2019.

In addition to writing, Judy’s passions include travel, tennis, elephants, and playing the piano.

http://www.Judyhigginsbooks.com

http://www.Buckscountymysteries.com

http://www.Callmemara.com

http://www.Judyhigginslady.com

https://www.facebook.com/judyhigginsauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JudyHBooks

https://www.amazon.com/Unringing-Bell-Bucks-County-Mysteries/dp/0692998853/

Amazon author page URL: https://www.amazon.com/Judy-Higgins/e/B00FZQOZPU

Barnes and Noble Author URL: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/unringing-the-bell-judy-higgins/1128014473

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