the personal journal of Brent Stewart
This is the second book in the Bellingwood series. I checked and there are currently 41 of them!
The books are just really enjoyable. Polly, as a character, has a blend of independence, pragmatism, and tolerance, that makes her appealing to a whole range of folks. Each book has some element of mystery, but most of the book is taken up with the in and outs of life in Bellingwood.
In this book, the Inn is approaching completion when Polly decides it needs a barn. The Inn hosts a barn-raising and hoe down. There’s drama around Polly’s love life, and Polly’s friend finds a dead boy, leading to the background mystery.
Sure. The reason I read is to enjoy a story, and Diane Greenwood Muir tells a layered set of stories that have the right amount of tension, character development, and closure to make them easy to consume and hard to put down.
I like the way the book is described by the arc of the mystery, with the lives of the people forming a kind of soap-opera backing that propels you into the next book.
Yes. Sometimes I get into heavy reading and everything slows down because it’s just not fun. Everyone needs some Polly in their lives to be that treat that keeps reading fun and a way to relax. It’s funny - my go to enjoyable novel is SciFi and this is not Science Fiction. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it and remembered a little more the joy of falling into a book.