Biggie and the Quincy Ghost

J.R. Weatherford and his grandmother Biggie visit Quincy, Texas to learn what it would take to put together a historical society. Quincy (based on Jefferson, Texas) is obsessed with its history including a colorful ghost. Yet the dead woman J.R. discovers in the fountain outside his hotel room is no ghost. With the Sheriff sick, Biggie is called in to investigate.BIGGIE AND THE QUINCY GHOST is fun. J.R. is the point of view character and author Nancy Bell does a fine job remaining true both to the 12-year-old character telling the story, and to the East Texas setting. Anyone who knows Texans will get a smile (or belly-laugh) from some of the expressions that J.R. uses.Bell provides the reader with a rich serving of Texas history, Texasisms, and a purely enjoyable mystery.Although some of the materials may be inappropriate for children, BIGGIE AND THE QUINCY GHOST is easy to read and a lot of fun.

Biggie Weatherford is famous in Job's Crossing, Texas because her family founded the town and she is the richest person in it. Her notoriety has spread to East Texas because of her work in the DAR and her knack for solving various homicides. Her twelve-year-old grandson lives with her and adores his grandmother because life with her is anything but dull. Biggie's latest project is starting up a historical society in Job's Crossing. She, her grandson, and a few townsfolk travel to Quincy (near the Louisiana border) because their historical society is giving a four-day workshop on how to preserve the local history. The hotel Biggie and company are staying at is supposedly haunted but it isn't a ghost they see from their windows. It's the body of the waitress who served them the night before, a butcher knife in her chest. When the sheriff is suddenly hospitalized, he asks Biggie to help him in his investigation, a job she eagerly accepts. This story is written in the first person narrative through the viewpoint of a twelve-year-old boy who has seen more tragedy and evil in his life than most adults ever do. Although BIGGIE AND THE QUINCY GHOST has a dark side to it at times, this cozy is full of homilies and charming stories about small town living both past and present. Nancy Bell knows how to tell a good story with characters that represent the spectrum of the human race.Harriet Klausner