The road to Cardinal Valley

Ruby never thought she'd return to Cardinal, but she's hoping the place and people who gave her so much can give her brother Nash -- who's been drowning in drink in Nashville -- the fresh start he so desperately needs.

Author Notes

Earlene Fowler was raised in La Puente, California. She wrote literary and commercial short fiction for ten years without publishing success when she decided to write a mystery novel. Her first novel, Fool's Puzzle, was published in 1994. Her other works include Kansas Troubles, Seven Sisters, Arkansas Traveler, Broken Dishes, Delectable Mountains, and The Saddlemaker's Wife. She won the Agatha Award for Mariner's Compass in 1999.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Fans of Fowler's Benni Harper mystery series will welcome this likable sequel to The Saddlemaker's Wife (2006), which follows troubled but mainly goodhearted characters in Cardinal, Calif., a small town in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Lucas McGavin is restlessly looking for a profession or a woman he can commit to, in particular gentle Ruby McGavin, who's still hung up on her dead husband, Lucas's brother. In addition, Ruby is terribly worried about whether Nash, her own younger brother, can stay off liquor and drugs. None of what happens with these characters or the vividly drawn supporting cast is earthshaking, but together the events make up an appealing panorama of ordinary people trying to live up to their best potential-if they can figure out what it might be. Fowler demonstrates that such a story can be religious without being sanctimonious, though outrageous authorial manipulation at the conclusion weakens the effect. Agent: Ellen Geiger, Frances Goldin Literary. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review