Laurel Falls, N.C., Christmas 2012: The walnut dresser I bought my son sure brought a load of trouble. Not because one of the drawers kept sticking and the whole thing needed so much refinishing. No, I could handle that, what with being a woodworker most of my life. It was the diary hidden in a secret compartment for almost sixty year that turned everything upside down.
That diary was filled with awful stories of mistreatment and misfortune, stories that twisted up something inside of me. Especially because the teenage girl who wrote them stopped writing mid-sentence. Like someone grabbed her and took her away. Or killed her to keep secret what she'd written.
I just had to find out what happened to her. I knew what a lousy upbringing looked like, but even mine couldn't compare with what she'd faced. I needed to know she'd made it through, like I had.
I was awful glad Della Kincaid could help. It'd been almost thirty year since she'd moved next door, buying Coburn's General Store after Daddy drove it into the ground. She'd made a success of it, and hired a good assistant a while back, which meant she had time to join me on the search for the truth.
The timing, though, couldn't have been worse: Christmastime and I had the boys that year. I was set on making it the best one yet, but with vile threats and truck chases and family feuds raining down on us, it was hard to squeeze in very much ho-ho-ho.
Turned out our investigation took us all through the mountains of North Carolina and up into Virginia to places I never wanted to see again. Abit Bradshaw
You'll enjoy this suspenseful Christmas mystery because who doesn't hope someone would care if you disappeared? If you love Louise Penny, Richard Osman, and Fern Michaels, you're sure to enjoy the Appalachian Mountain Mysteries series.
Get it now-for the rich natural setting, colorful characters, and suspenseful investigations.
Unwrapped is the seventh book-a standalone novel-in the Appalachian Mountain Mysteries series by award-winning author Lynda McDaniel.
Interview with the Author Q: Where does this seventh book pick up in the lives of Abit Bradshaw and Della Kincaid? A: It's three years after Abit and Della helped a man reclaim his identity in Up the Creek. Abit is feeling more content with his lot in life, doing his woodworking and enjoying the nature that surrounds him on his farm. Della, on the other hand, is feeling unsettled, bored even, with her life at Cobu