Chesapeake Summer

In a sultry sequel to Chesapeake Tide, Jeanette Baker takes us back to Marshy Hope Creek. Life on the bay is about to get a lot more interesting. Bailey Jones has always been a misfit in a town that sets a lot of store on family lineage, old money and homes that overlook the Chesapeake. As he makes plans to leave Marshy Hope Creek for good, a couple of things delay his departure. A developer unearths a long-dead homicide victim on a land that was his up until a few weeks ago. And Chloe Richards is back in town. The first piece of startling news sends a shiver down the spines of four of the town's most prominent citizens. Each of them has something from their past that could connect them to this discovery -- with dire consequences. And the second piece of news sends a shiver down Bailey's back -- a not unpleasant experience. As the gossip mill kicks into overdrive, an air of expectation settles over the town. It will be a long, hot summer. From Booklist Bailey Jones is back in Marshy Hope Creek, Maryland, to sell his land, intending to return to New York, where his career as an artist is flourishing. Bailey's beginnings were less than auspicious as the son of a beautiful black prostitute and an unknown white father, and few are happy to see him, the exception being Chloe Richards, home from college for the summer. They are drawn to each other, but Bailey tries to keep his distance. When a surveyor discovers a body on Bailey's land, two distinguished families, including Chloe's, are assailed by painful memories. Her grandfather was a distinguished lawyer at odds with the town's other scion, Quentin Wentworth. Both families have been keeping secrets that, once exposed, shed light on the racism of the past. Baker's wonderful follow-up to Chesapeake Tide (2004) is full of intrigue and family drama and spiced with a distinctly Southern flavor. Patty Engelmann Copyright � American Library Association. All rights reserved Review "An intensely pleasurable read." -- Romantic Times BOOKreviews on The Lavender Field