The Saddlemaker's Wife (Berkley Prime Crime Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Earlene Fowler (Author)

Book Description

Series: Berkley Prime Crime Mysteries | Publication Date: May 1, 2007

Ruby McGavin has inherited part of a cattle ranch from her late husband, only to discover that his family is very much alive, in contrast to what he told her. Even as she is drawn to handsome saddlemaker Lucas McGavin, she learns more about her late husband's family-and wonders if she ever really knew him.

Piecing together the truth, Ruby uncovers a legacy of pain and denial that has pursued the McGavin family for too long.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Fowler's lucky 13th novel, a departure from her Agatha Award–winning Benni Harper series (Delectable Mountain, etc.), offers a poignant tale of a family fractured by the secrets of the past. Ruby McGavin, grieving over the recent death of her husband, Cole, is shocked to discover that Cole lied to her about his family. They're not all dead, as he told her, but very much alive, and in his will, he has left her his share of the family ranch in California. Ruby heads to tiny Cardinal, Calif., with Cole's ashes, intent on selling her share of the ranch, but she quickly realizes that Cole had hidden many things from her. Cole's younger brother, Lucas, who has fled his life as a lawyer in San Francisco, has returned to Cardinal, where he scrapes out a life as a saddlemaker. Slowly Ruby and Lucas edge closer to the truth of a secret that haunts both their lives. Fowler, with her gift for drawing painfully real and credible characters, takes the reader along on an emotionally powerful ride. This could well be her breakout book. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The last thing Ruby McGavin thought she would be doing after her husband, Cole, died was meeting his family. He had claimed his relatives were all dead, and she didn't know him long enough--they were only married one year--to think otherwise. But it turns out that members of Cole's family, from a small ranch town in California, are very much alive, and they show up on Ruby's doorstep with the news that she has inherited some land from her husband. Ruby knows something about family turmoil, but she's hardly prepared for the turbulence surrounding the McGavin clan. As she attempts to sell the land back to the McGavins, she teams up with Lucas, one of Cole's brothers, to try to get to the core of the secret that is eating away at the family. With each step toward the answer, Ruby musters the courage to face her own familial demons. A touching family story set against the backdrop of a covered-up crime--give this one to Margaret Maron fans. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (May 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425215784
• ISBN-13: 978-0425215784
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #384,000 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Greetings from a native Southern Californian!

I've been married 37 years to my high school sweetheart, Allen, who was born in Kansas. We met when we were fifteen. We don't have children, but are owned by a spoiled and extremely intelligent Pembroke Welsh corgi named Boudin. We call him Boo. Though I'm a native Southern Californian, my parents are not. My father was born in Colorado and grew up in a migrant worker family. My mother's family were cotton sharecropers in Arkansas. I've been writing since I was in my late-twenties. I published my first novel, Fool's Puzzle, when I was in my late thirties. I like to ride horses when I can (and luckily, have friends who own horses), walk my dog, travel with my husband, sometimes do scrapbooking when I have time. I have three sisters. I'm the number two sister.

I was named after my father and my grandfather. Both of them are named Earl. The first book I remember reading by myself was Curious George. I think it was the one where he went to the circus. My favorite fictional character is Old Yeller. He had courage and loyalty, two virtues I admire greatly. If I wasn't a writer, I'd love to be a dog trainer. Back in the 1980's, for a year and a half, I taught a weekly craft class at a retirement home in Covina, California. My youngest member was in her late sixties; my oldest was ninety-eight. Those fifteen women taught me way more than I ever taught them. I love strawberry ice cream and fried tacos. Together or separately. Doesn't matter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keep them coming!, May 11, 2006

By 

EMBESTE "embeste" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Saddlemaker's Wife (Berkley Prime Crime Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I was originally disappointed when I learned that there wouldn't be a Benni Harper mystery this year. However, my disappointment was quickly eliminated. I couldn't put the book down. The characters were so well written and believable. I was immediately taken to Cardinal and drawn into the characters lives. The whole McGavin family is so easy to relate to, yet so complex you can't stop turning pages to learn more. I loved the fact that it was a mystery, a love story, and a drama, all at the same time.

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Whoa, can she write!, May 3, 2006

By 

Laura A. R. Wingfield "whodunit" (Kansas City, Missouri United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Saddlemaker's Wife (Berkley Prime Crime Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I love the Benni mysteries but this was a really terrific book. For some reason as I read this one I was really taken by her ability to write. There were just a lot of passages that I'd read and think how terrific they were. The story is compelling, the characters, as always so very human. I never thought I'd want to encourage anything that would take away from my getting a Benni book but I really want to know what happens next to these people. Again, I don't understand telling the story in a review because that's why we buy books, but it is a story of self discovery as well as of unpacking a husband's past that the wife was unaware of. That past includes a family she thought was dead. As you can imagine things don't run smoothly with the family. I will be glad to recommend this book to any of my friends who love a good book. The editorial review said this might be her breakout book and I hope that is true. She deserves a lot more attention than she gets. If you love Earlene Fowler's Benni books you'll love this. They are in no way the same but the quality is just as high. In the end I was surprised by some of the revelations and pleased by others. There's sadness and love and struggles, all the things life is all about. Just a great read.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreakingly real story of real people in the dwindling West, May 10, 2006

By 

Jo-Ann Mapson "novelist and dog lover" (Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Saddlemaker's Wife (Berkley Prime Crime Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Earlene Fowler's first mainstream novel is a winner! The characters of Ruby and Lucas, Bobby and Birch, and even Cole will stay with you long after you turn the last page. I loved the town of Cardinal and Lucas's saddle shop, and wanted to book a room at the Tokopah Lodge for myself. This book is part love story, part family saga, and all a great book I will definitely read again and buy for my friends.