October's Picks/Midnight Bayou

By Nora Roberts


Declan Fitzgerald has dreamed of owning Manet Hall for years. Trading in his briefcase for a tool belt, the former Boston lawyer has finally purchased the mansion on the outskirts of New Orleans and is determined to restore the crumbling house to its former glory. Rumors exist that say the decaying mansion is haunted, but Declan is too busy trying to rescue the house from the spiders and dust that have laid claim to it for at least century.

As Declan begins working, sometimes long hours in total isolation, he begins having strange experiences, including visions of people and some of the rooms in the mansion and how they may have looked over 100 years ago. He begins to wonder if the talk of hauntings is more than
just local legend. Add to the mix the beautiful Angelina Simone, whose grandmother is Declan's closest neighbor. They discover that Angelina and her granmother are both oddly tied to the house and its history. Before long Declan and Angelina are uncovering the secrets of the original owners of Manet Hall, secrets as dark and deep as the bayou that flows near it. In doing so they finally help lay to rest the ghosts of a murdered young woman and her husband who has been seaching for her for the past century.

Best-selling author Nora Roberts delivers what we consider a good, old-fashioned, ghost story that will have you sleeping with the lights on!

Southern Comfort!

Lemon-Blueberry Layered Dessert from myrecipes.com
Ingredients

15 lemon cookies, coarsely crushed (about 2 cups)

1 (21 ounce) can blueberry pie filling

1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

6 (6 ounce) can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

Prep

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon crushed cookies in the bottom of an 8 oz. parfait glass. Spoon 1 1/2 teaspoon pie filling over cookies. Spoon whipped topping into bowl; fold in condensed milk and lemonade concentrate. Spoon 2 tablespoons of mixture on top of filling. Repeat layers once. Top with remaing cookies and chiil for 4 hours. Makes 8 servings