From Publishers Weekly
Hart has created a fabulous two-in-one: an excellent mystery and the poignant memoirs of her heroine, Gretchen Grace Gilman. A letter received by the now elderly newshound extraordinaire returns her physically, mentally and emotionally to her past and to her hometown in northeastern Oklahoma. As the pages of the letter unfold, so does the story of Gretchen's summer of 1944. With every able-bodied male involved in the war effort, Gazette editor Walt Dennis agrees to give 13-year-old Gretchen a shot as a newspaper reporter. But the sleepy town is soon rocked by the murder of Faye Tatum, an artist and the mom of Gretchen's friend and neighbor Barb. To make matters worse, the prime suspect is Barb's dad, Clyde, home on leave but nowhere to be found after the murder. Political ambitions spur the county attorney and the sheriff to track down Clyde and arrest him, while less hasty Chief Fraser is more interested in first sorting through all the facts. The obviously well-researched history draws the reader into this atypical whodunit. Characters are Steinbeck vivid, as is the sense of time and place. Hart masterfully portrays an American small town during WWII.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Tony Hillerman
You'll enjoy it.

Book Description
World-renowned journalist G.G. Gilman does her best not to think of the past. But one day she gets a letter--sent from the small Oklahoma town where she grew up--that brings it all back. Memories of people she had once known and loved dearly--and of the sultry summer when her life changed forever.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Bestselling author Carolyn Hart steps away from her two popular mystery series to craft this elegantly written period suspense novel about a talented young journalist whose life is changed as she investigates a deadly local scandal. It's the summer of 1944 in a small town in northeastern Oklahoma. Gretchen Grace Gilman is almost 14 and thrilled to be doing her part for the war effort by writing for the sorely understaffed local newspaper. She's on the spot when the story breaks about her neighbor, talented artist Faye Tatum. It all starts with a noisy domestic dispute -- the sort Gretchen's paper wouldn't stoop to calling news. Even so, word gets around that Faye's husband, who's home on furlough, was furious to hear that his wife's been dancing most every night at a local hotspot. Late that night, Gretchen's friend, Barb Tatum, comes to her window, begging for help, claiming she heard her mother scream. The two girls hurry to the Tatum house, where they find Faye's lifeless body -- with the marks of a man's hands around her throat. Murder is big news, especially when it becomes clear that Barb's father, Clyde, has disappeared. The scandal that follows rocks the town. Some folks think that proves Clyde's guilt -- and Faye's faithlessness as well. That might make a great story, but it doesn't jibe with what Gretchen knows of Faye Tatum: loving wife and mother, supportive teacher, and good neighbor. So Gretchen sets out to discover the truth about Faye's life and death, determined to tell it as she sees it, in unambiguous newsprint. And uncovering that poignant and powerful story, from its sordid beginnings to the surprising final chapter that's finally revealed decades later, changes Gretchen's life forever. Sue Stone

FROM THE PUBLISHER

World-renowned journalist G. G. Gilman does her best not to think of the past. But one day she gets a letter - sent from the small Oklahoma town where she grew up - that brings it all back. Memories of people she had once known and loved dearly - and of the sultry summer when her life changed forever...

In the summer of 1944, Gretchen Gilman was working as a reporter at the local newspaper. Her assignments weren't very exciting - she mostly wrote about local boys just back from the war - but it was a good opportunity for a young woman with talent and ambition to spare. Gretchen knew better than anyone what people in town were talking about. And that summer they were talking about Faye Tatum.

Just hours after Faye was found dead in her own living room, the speculation began. Murdered, people said, by her jealous husband - just back from the war - who hadn't been seen since the night of her death. A woman, they whispered, who got what she deserved. Shouldn't have been dancing down at the bar - and with a different man every night. Just imagine! What kind of example is that for her daughter? It seemed like the gossip would never stop...

But Gretchen knew a different Faye - the talented artist, the devoted mother, the kind, fun-loving neighbor. She knew the circumstances of Faye's life and death were much different than people imagined - and she was determined to uncover the truth once and for all. Even if it meant writing a story that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

FROM THE CRITICS

The New York Times

A persistent sense of loss and longing accounts for the bittersweet tone of Carolyn Hart's Letters from Home. Set in a small-town America that lives only in memory, this artfully narrated whodunit observes the residents of an unnamed Oklahoma hamlet over the hot and dusty summer of 1944 as they ration their food, count their war dead and turn on their neighbors. —Marilyn Stasio

Publishers Weekly

Hart has created a fabulous two-in-one: an excellent mystery and the poignant memoirs of her heroine, Gretchen Grace Gilman. A letter received by the now elderly newshound extraordinaire returns her physically, mentally and emotionally to her past and to her hometown in northeastern Oklahoma. As the pages of the letter unfold, so does the story of Gretchen's summer of 1944. With every able-bodied male involved in the war effort, Gazette editor Walt Dennis agrees to give 13-year-old Gretchen a shot as a newspaper reporter. But the sleepy town is soon rocked by the murder of Faye Tatum, an artist and the mom of Gretchen's friend and neighbor Barb. To make matters worse, the prime suspect is Barb's dad, Clyde, home on leave but nowhere to be found after the murder. Political ambitions spur the county attorney and the sheriff to track down Clyde and arrest him, while less hasty Chief Fraser is more interested in first sorting through all the facts. The obviously well-researched history draws the reader into this atypical whodunit. Characters are Steinbeck vivid, as is the sense of time and place. Hart masterfully portrays an American small town during WWII. (Oct. 7) FYI: Hart is the author of April Fool Dead (2002) and other titles in her Death on Demand mystery series, as well as Resort to Murder (2001) and other titles in her Henrie O series. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

A letter from her Oklahoma hometown spirits famous journalist Gretchen Gilman back to 1944, when someone murdered Faye Tatum. People believed Faye's husband, jealous of her flirtations, did it and then disappeared. Gilman believed otherwise and set out for proof. A solid standalone work from the author of the "Death on Demand" series. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews