1 Ragged Ridge Road

Carol Robbins and her Army husband, Blake, decide to buy their first home when they're assigned to Pennsylvania. Carol falls in love with a neglected mansion in the rural town of Fayette, which they later learn was the location of a brutal murder in 1928. Their troubled marriage is further shaken when Blake accepts a new posting in Germany, and Carol finds comfort in their son, Sammy, and the process of returning the mansion to its original splendor as ""Christmas Inn,"" a bed and breakfast. While restoring the house, Carol becomes obsessed with the 70-year-old tragedy of Charles and Veronica Kennedy, the home's earlier owners. She doesn't understand the animosity of Fayette historian Esther McPherson and Mayor Lyle Quinn to her project, although the hostility of Paul Clemson, the squalid tenant she evicts, is expected. Feeling vulnerable, Carol is tempted by both handyman Walker White and actor Will Williams. Then, when another tragedy hits, she determines that only a solution to the old murder mystery will bring peace. Despite some minor flaws (namely stereotyped and one-dimensional supporting cast members), this coauthored debut is adroitly constructed, with eerily riveting snippets of the original tragedy punctuating the progress of the contemporary tale. Carol's final encounter with a murderer caps this clever tale with resonant irony. (July)