Books with title Blackthorn Winter: A Murder Mystery

Fifteen-year-old American-born Juliana Martin-Drake attempts to solve a murder while visiting a seaside artists’ colony in England.About the Author: Kathryn Reiss is the author of many mysteries for children and teens, including Time Windows, an ALA Best Books for Young Adults, and Edgar Award nominees, Pale Phoenix and Paper Quake. She lives with her family in northern California and is a Professor of English at Mills College.

The last place fifteen-year-old Juliana wants to be is halfway around the world in Blackthorn, England, an idyllic seaside artists' colony her mother has dragged her off to while her parents weather a trial separation. Juliana misses her father terribly and doesn't understand why her mother needs to travel so far to resurrect her artistic self, which she claims to have lost in the marriage. Soon after they arrive in the tiny village of Blackthorn, the artists' colony is set on its heels by the murder of one of its own. Juliana feels compelled to solve the crime, but she is shocked and frightened when it seems that clues in the matter are hitting a little too close to home. Can she figure out who the murderer is before anyone else--herself included--gets hurt?

With her parents on a trial separation, the last thing fifteen-year-old Juliana wants is to be dragged by her mother to an artists' colony in England. Halfway across the world, Juliana misses her father terribly. But soon she has bigger worries when the sleepy town of Blackthorn is set on its heels by the murder of one of its own. Juliana feels compelled to solve the crime, but she is shocked and frightened when she uncovers clues that have chilling parallels to her own mysterious past. Can she figure out who the murderer is before anyone else--herself included--gets hurt?

You gotta have this--Doug Wilson's first voyage into children's fiction. Set on the eastern seaboard in the third year of the reign of good Queen Anne, this pirate novel contrasts righteous behavior and foolishness. The story follows the service of fifteen-year-old Thomas Ingle on the Prudent Hannah under the honorable Captain Monroe and then their unfortunate tour on the Lady Constance. Treasure, financial hardship, and pirate mystique all add to the cleverly woven tale. Kid's won't put it down, and you won't either. Difficulty: average Soft 141p

In April, when blackthorn blossom clothes the hedgerows like a wedding veil, there sometimes comes a frost so severe that it seems as if the summer will never come. Country people call this a blackthorn winter. For Claudia Barron, arriving in the Dorset village of Court Barton that April, blackthorn winter seems like a metaphor for everything that has happened to her. Hiding from her previous life, she adopts an assumed name and applies for a job in the local school. But villages don't much like mysteries and secrets and soon the inhabitants of Court Barton set out to find out what it is that Claudia Barron is hiding from and why.

With her parents on a trial separation, the last thing fifteen-year-old Juliana wants is to be dragged by her mother to an artists' colony in England. Halfway across the world, Juliana misses her father terribly. But soon she has bigger worries when the sleepy town of Blackthorn is set on its heels by the murder of one of its own. Juliana feels compelled to solve the crime, but she is shocked and frightened when she uncovers clues that have chilling parallels to her own mysterious past. Can she figure out who the murderer is before anyone else--herself included--gets hurt?

In April, when blackthorn blossom clothes the hedgerows like a wedding veil, there sometimes comes a frost so severe that it seems as if the summer will never come. Country people call this a blackthorn winter.For Claudia Barron, arriving in the Dorset village of Court Barton that April, blackthorn winter seems like a metaphor for everything that has happened to her. Hiding from her previous life, she adopts an assumed name and applies for a job in the local school. But villages don’t much like mysteries and secrets and soon the inhabitants of Court Barton set out to find out what it is that Claudia Barron is hiding from and why.

The last place fifteen-year-old Juliana wants to be is halfway around the world in Blackthorn, England, an idyllic seaside artists' colony her mother has dragged her off to while her parents weather a trial separation. Juliana misses her father terribly and doesn't understand why her mother needs to travel so far to resurrect her artistic self, which she claims to have lost in the marriage. Soon after they arrive in the tiny village of Blackthorn, the artists' colony is set on its heels by the murder of one of its own. Juliana feels compelled to solve the crime, but she is shocked and frightened when it seems that clues in the matter are hitting a little too close to home. Can she figure out who the murderer is before anyone else--herself included--gets hurt?

Pursuit, life, love and revenge in the English countryside. Captain Mark Wynstanley, ex Sas, is a man on the run pursued by the Provisional Ira. He finds a safe house in rural Kent, where he tries to realise his vision of Arcadia and recuperate through the healing powers of love and nature. However, unexpected encounters and events, linked to his past, play havoc with his new found tranquillity, and he becomes increasingly disillusioned . . .

In April, when blackthorn blossom clothes the hedgerows like a wedding veil, there sometimes comes a spell of frost or snow so severe that it seems as if spring and summer will never return. This is what country people call a blackthorn winter. For Claudia Barron, the blackthorn winter of that particular April is like a metaphor for her whole life: for the end of glamour, financial security and marriage. Her rich and powerful husband has been sent to prison, leaving her homeless and virtually penniless. Hopeless to cling to the remnants of her old life, pointless to stand by a man who has betrayed her in almost every way a man can betray a woman. Instead she goes into hiding, buys the only house she can afford in the Dorset village of Court Barton - a hideous bungalow built in an old kitchen garden - and changes her name. Under a cloak of anonymity she sets out to get herself a job in the local school. But villages don't much like anonymity and before very long Claudia finds herself drawn into the gossip and the grumbling, the lives and loves and quarrels of Court Barton in a way that she had never expected. Blackthorn winters do always give way to spring in the end.