Stokes Jackson is a slick political operative who comes down to Asheville from New York to run Wayne Gilmore’s state senate campaign. It’s the early 1920s and women have just gotten the right to vote, so a key part of Jackson’s strategy is to persuade women to vote for his candidate.  However, Gilmore’s opponent is a woman, Joan Bellamy.  Jackson’s first thought is to throw mud on Bellamy, but before he can do that he is murdered.  The whole Bellamy family comes under suspicion.  Only with the help of a detective is Joan able to prove her innocence, and as the novel ends her personal and professional futures look quite bright.

Because there were two factual errors early in the book (Asheville is not in Orange County and Marshall, not Madison, is the county seat of Madison County), I was ready to dismiss this novel, assuming that the author hadn’t spent much time in the state. In fact, James Hay Jr. spent over a decade in Asheville, working some of that time at the Asheville Citizen.  And, in 1920, a woman, Lillian Exum Clement, was elected to the North Carolina General Assembly from Buncombe County.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: October 6th, 2009 under 1920-1929, 1925, Buncombe, Hay, James, Madison, Mountains, Mystery.
Comments: none

The “Ladies” have been living in Covington for just over a year and although they have settled into their home, they’re not so sure they are truly accepted by their neighbors. Each of the women faces her own trials, tribulations, and triumphs: Hannah works in her greenhouse and takes up an environmental cause, Grace opens a tearoom with her gentleman friend Bob (who wants to build a house on the ladies’ land), and Amelia works on her photography and falls for a mysterious man. The ladies also befriend the lonely and elderly Miss Lurina Masterson and face developers from Georgia who want to ruin their beloved Cove Road with a slew of new condominiums. This is the second book in Medlicott’s Covington series.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: February 20th, 2009 under 2000-, 2001, Madison, Medlicott, Joan, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Novels in Series.
Comments: none

Louisiana (Louise) Rogers, a pretty mountain girl, is sent by her father to Oakvale Springs to recover her health. The resort has a healthful climate, but most people who come there are well-to-do Southerners looking to socialize with people like themselves. Louisiana is out of place, as is Olivia Ferrol, a New Yorker. The misfits become friends. Olivia makes Louise her project, changing her hairstyle and manner of walking, and dressing her in finer clothes. Complications ensue when Olivia’s brother is taken with Louise. When Louise and the Ferrols take refuge at Louise’s house during a storm, the differences between Louise and her suitor are exposed. Louise’s father is the hero of this tale, which ends happily for the young lovers. Oakvale Springs is thought to be based on Hot Springs in Madison County.

Check this title’s availability and access an online copy through the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: December 18th, 2008 under 1900-1909, 1907, Burnett, Frances Hodson, Madison, Mountains, Novels to Read Online.
Comments: none

In Just North of Luck, the second book in the Logan Hunter mystery series, new SBI agent Logan trades the beach for the Blue Ridge Mountains. Her first assignment is to expose a moonshine ring in fictional Moss County, but after a school janitor is brutally murdered in the town of Trust, she offers to help with that investigation as well. As time passes, the deaths of more school employees have Logan and a local detective searching for a serial killer. In addition to murder and moonshine, Logan also uncovers a local meth producer and faces some of the ghosts from her past.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Posted: November 17th, 2008 under 2000-, 2007, Madison, Mountains, Mystery, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Novels in Series, Whitfield, Susan.
Comments: none

Amelia, Hannah, and Grace have a lot in common: they are all in their 60s, disconnected from their remaining family members, and living unhappily in a gloomy Pennsylvania boardinghouse. When Amelia inherits a North Carolina farmhouse and its surrounding land, the three women pile into Hannah’s station wagon and drive to the fictional mountain town of Covington. This short visit to see the property is just the start of their adventure. After renovating the house and moving to N.C., the women begin to discover new interests and start to reconnect with their families. A Publisher’s Weekly reviewer has compared Medlicott’s Covington (which is located near Mars Hill and Asheville) with Jan Karon’s town of Mitford.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

Posted: August 20th, 2008 under 2000, 2000-, Buncombe, Madison, Medlicott, Joan, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Novels in Series.
Comments: none

Past and present are entertwined in this novel when 17-year-old Travis Shelton begins to investigate his ancestors’ role in the 1863 Civil War massacre at Shelton Laurel. Travis has just dropped out of school and spends most of his time hanging out and reading history with a former teacher in Madison County, N.C. The teacher has turned to selling pot to make a living and needs Travis’s help when he gets in over his head with nearby drug dealers.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC Library Catalog.

Posted: April 14th, 2008 under 2000-, 2006, Madison, Mountains, Rash, Ron, Suspense/Thriller.
Comments: none

• The Ladies of Covington Send Their Love. New York: St. Martins Press, 2000.
• The Gardens of Covington. New York: St. Martins Press, 2001.
• From the Heart of Covington. New York: St. Martins Press, 2002.
• The Spirit of Covington. New York: Atria, 2003.
• At Home in Covington. New York: Atria, 2004.
• Two Days after the Wedding. New York: Pocket Books, 2006
• An Unexpected Family. New York: Pocket Books, 2007.
• Promises of Change. New York: Pocket Books, 2009.

Grace Singleton, Hannah Parrish, and Amelia Declose, described as women “of a certain age,” were finding life a little listless in the Pennsylvania boardinghouse where they lived. When one of them inherited a run- down farmhouse in Covington, N.C., the three women jumped at the chance for change and adventure. In each of the novels the women explore the lively town of Covington while they battle illness, welcome their children and other visitors, and meet the challenges of caring for a rambling old house. Covington is a fictional town in the North Carolina mountains, not far from Mars Hill.

Posted: March 13th, 2008 under Madison, Medlicott, Joan, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Novels in Series, Series.
Comments: 1