Böcker av Patricia E Flinn

Laura Farrington was living in a cozy apartment in Greenwich Village, N.Y. working as a set designer on Broadway when the pandemic arrived and shut down the entire city. With no means of income and little savings, she was forced to move to Jersey where she rented a cold-water flat in an old run-down tenement on Adams Street in Hoboken. Her days were lonely and sad until she rescued a lovely golden retriever named Charlie from the local animal shelter. One day while visiting a college friend, Laura met Tom, a handsome, unemployed actor whom she assumed was gay. He was everything she could imagine: intelligent, well-read, sensitive and mysterious. Their friendship slowly blossomed after several unexpected encounters and intensified after a mutual friend died suddenly from the virus.Laura was still reeling from her friend's tragic death when she suffered another devastating shock. Tom was a suspect in the murder of his brother, Jake, who had been gunned down outside the Schubert Theater. Laura was convinced Tom was innocent and unjustly victimized by police who were anxious for a quick arrest. She vowed to help him in any way she could. Her fascination for Tom soon turned into love, but Laura's life took a radical turn as detectives closed in, revealing details about Tom she had never dreamed possible.

The stories in this collection are rich with eccentric, comical characters and unpredictable plots. In The Dancing Lady of Pleasant Valley, uptight neighbors in a wealthy suburb are shocked to find a beautiful woman clad only in a flimsy nightgown, dancing and singing under their windows after midnight. In Two Handfuls of Aardvark Dung, a hapless husband and wife are rescued from suicide by Noah who agrees to lessen their financial difficulties by giving them ancient droppings from the animals on his ark, which they can sell on eBay. Anyone who hates going to the dentist will relate to Giving Up the Ghost, which is about a haunted barber chair, and music lovers will no doubt be intrigued by the Mouse Who Liked Mozart. In The Cemetery Lady, The Bridge and Brandon McCarthy: Book Lover, the main characters struggle with loneliness, loss, and confusion. Most of these stories are told in the first person, drawing the reader into an intriguing intimacy with the narrators, making it easy to suspend ones disbelief and provide companionship for those long sleepless nights.