My
Neighbor's Keeper
Charlie
Henson Book 1
by
Louy Castonguay
Genre:
Cozy Mystery
"My
Neighbor’s Keeper," the first in a series, is centered on
retired paramedic Mrs. Charlotte Henson, aka Charlie or Mrs. H. She’s
sixty years old and a widow. Her husband, a former police officer,
was run down by a drunk driver three years before. Charlie befriends
shy six-year-old Bert, from next door. One evening, Bert comes to her
door, dirty, tattered and crying. His mother won’t wake up and his
two younger sisters, he says, are hungry. Charlie runs to the rescue,
and ends up embroiled in a murder. Bert’s mother is crumpled at the
foot of the cellar stairs. When Charlie realizes she’s under
surveillance, she sneaks out the back door and down to the river,
where her canoe is kept. She gets out on the river, at night, in a
rainstorm, goes upriver and travels to a cabin hidden in the woods in
order to buy time to solve the crime. Along her journey, she makes
friends, and also gets help from her husband’s niece, Louise.
It was rapidly getting dark when six-year-old Bert knocked on my door that late summer evening. The sight of his tear-streaked face melted my heart. Holding back sobs, he told me his two little sisters were hungry. He whined that Mommy was sleeping and wouldn't wake up. I always was a sucker for children, so I ran next door to see if I could help his mother.
I should have called 9-1-1 and stayed at my house. Hindsight is a great clarifier of `should have's'. I'd probably do it the same way again, given what I knew at that time. I wouldn't learn the details of his mother's death for a long time. The image of his mother's broken body sprawled at the foot of the cellar stairs still haunts my dreams. He, poor, orphaned child, may never know all that happened, although he probably witnessed a good part of it.
Child's
Keeper
Charlie
Henson Book 2
This
Maine mystery tale, "Child’s Keeper," is the second book
in the Charlie Henson series. Charlotte, aka Charlie, a retired
paramedic, embroils herself in international intrigue when she
attempts to help a friend. She discovers that Shirley, the
great-granddaughter of her friend Susie, has gone missing, along with
her two young daughters. She soon learns Shirley has fled to Canada
and travels there to find out what is going on. The oldest daughter,
Shawna, is soon in the hands of Canadian authorities, caught in a
sinister plot to find Shirley. Charlie locates the daughter, steals a
snowmobile, and crosses back into Maine. The situation becomes very
complicated when she herself is kidnapped by the very criminals
interested in finding Shirley. When she finds herself back in Canada,
on the snowmobile trail again, she is able to effect an escape for
herself and Shawna. Will help arrive in time, or will the bad guys
find her first? In this journey, she gets help from unexpected places
and from old friend Ronny Curtis.
Follow the trail, Nellie had said, before her untimely death. Had she known about the smugglers operating out of Pease Pond? Hadn't she and her husband had a cottage there for some years? She also knew Pam, who seemed to be at the crossroads of all of this. Pam had lived with Nellie for a while during her college years. That was what I had whispered to Ronny in the room. Maybe she was the Canadian link to all of this.
I didn't have time to figure it out, because my eye was caught by the ceiling-mounted television. The voice was lost in the babble of breakfasters and clank of silverware and china. There was a picture of Shawna, obviously taken by the police. An artist's sketch of myself and Shirley was shown. It wasn't perfect, but it was close. I held my breath, scanning the room. No one appeared to be watching the picture. No one pointed a finger at me. No one even looked my way. The waitress, at my shoulder, jumped me when she spoke. "All done? Want anything more?"
"No. Thanks. Just the check, please."
She had it all made out and handed it to me and went on to the next table.
I looked at the figure, did a quick calculation, put ten dollars on the table, stood and left. I felt as if a hundred banshees were pursuing, closing in on me. I controlled my gait and walked out the door when I wanted to run.
I hoped they didn't have television sets in the department store. I passed the electronics department as I headed for women's clothing and realized that they did have televisions, the ones for sale, but the stations were tuned to talk shows and cartoons, which no one was watching, anyway.
I purchased two pair of warm slacks, two tops, underwear, a sweater, sturdier boots, heavy socks, a hat, gloves and a scarf.
Passing the girls' department on the way to the checkout, I thought about Shawna. She hadn't been dressed for snow when she was taken into custody. I turned back and picked up a full set of warm clothes for her, too, guessing at her size. I wanted her to be warm in case we got stuck in the snow on our drive into Maine.
By the time I was finished buying things for the trip, including a warm blanket, booster cables, emergency rations and other items to replace the travel kit I'd left behind in my car, the snow was starting to pile up on the ground in a wet, slushy blanket that would make the one hour drive to Lac Megantic a nightmare.
I
am a double graduate from UMF. My first degree in 1989 was in
Community Nutrition, with a minor in chemistry, the better to plot
murders. My second degree, in 1994, was for the newly developed BFA
in Creative Writing but had to be fluent in a foreign language. I'm
Franco American, so aced that.
I
have worked at various jobs throughout Central Maine, including shoe
shops, egg plants, wool mills, office jobs, finally spending time as
a volunteer driver for Community Concepts. Life experiences along the
way have given much material for my books.
I
am currently hard at work on the series, doing promotional activities
and hope to have a web site up soon. I'm also running a blog, Keeper
Series, to keep my reader's abreast of my progress. I hope to have
the next volume out by April.
Follow
the tour HERE
for special content and a giveaway!
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