BURNOUT Sydney J. Smart RNSomething is happening at Old Barrington General. Barrington General is one of the oldest and most respected hospitals in the city, but for several months now patients are dying under very suspicious circumstances. At first it just seemed like statistics catching up with the hospital, but Linda, an experienced RN and her colleagues, including two nurses and a resident neurologist, have noticed that something is not quite right. They are all caught up in a whirlwind of too much work with too little time, and, although they try to pinpoint the reason for this mysterious run of unexplained deaths, they are inundated with life crises and tasks that are overwhelming. They know that something is amiss, but the question remains: is this a normal hospital life-death cycle or is something sinister really happening at Barrington General and, if so, who is to blame?
This is the first book in a series involving five senior citizen friends who are trying to run a charitable thrift store in a small, but picturesque village. Over time, they take in items which lead them on a merry chase, solving mysteries, straining friendship and family ties and growing to depend upon each other on ways they would never have believed. If you know anything about folks as they grow older, you will know that it involves smile and laughter, tears and anger, as well as a mysterious tale of those things we see as valuable, not just junk.
DARK and DASTARDLY DEADLY DEEDS By Dr. Sydney J. Smart "Heads up, the sky is falling " No, it wasn't a little chicken that was attempting to warn the folks who had accompanied him into the dark but you will have to read the book "Dastardly Deeds' if you have a hankerin' to find out who did yell it out. This book, the fourth in the Thrift- Store Mysteries, stars two of our intrepid volunteers from the thrift store in Paradise Valley - Charity Sue and Miz Emma. In its pages you will accompany the two on yet another adventure, still seeking the elusive Confederate gold once belonging to Charity Sue's kin in Widder's Holler. You will find the answers to many questions left unanswered in "Charity Sue," such as is the gold still in existence or had it been pilfered and spent by person or persons unknown over the years? This tale takes us to the Appalachian Mountain chain in West Virginia to the holler and the small town Charity Sue calls home. You will learn something about the way of life in the Appalachians of West Virginia, where coal was important but not essential to life. You will learn about Pottsville, Pennsylvania, the home of Uncle Otis and about Centralia, the town that, according to some, is no more...the ultimate ghost town, where coal was king and survival was brought out of the darkness of the earth in the form of rocks so black that, at times, they shined like obsidian, both materials formed during times of severe trauma to the earth. And last but not least - you will be able to answer the question, "what on earth is up with Charity Sue's ma' and pa'?" It is my fervent hope that you pick up this volume of the Thrift-Store Mysteries and read it with joy because it is my belief that reading should be "just for fun'. I know the more you get to know the ladies of Paradise Valley, the more convinced you will be that we are all brothers and sisters, hand in hand, together
EVERYTHING BELONGS TO SOMEONEByDr. Sydney J. SmartThis volume of the Thrift Store Mysteries is more of a true-to-life tales. Yes, tales of the social interactions of a group of Senior Citizens. Not just any group, but who make up the volunteers of the Paradise Valley Women's Club.These stories are of the type; that make us all want to shake our heads and chuckle. In saying what I have, I'll guarantee you; that you will see someone you know in some of these pages.Did you ever 'sible' You know, with a sibling or two? Did you every have the undeniable urge to snatch your brother or sister bald because of the way they treated you? Don't forget, if you are my age, this means those "beloved" siblings with whom you fought but now because you are older and more "mature" that isn't supposed to happen. Does it or doesn't it?Have you ever disagreed with someone when you knew you were absolutely right, and they were absolutely wrong? Did you win? Did it really matter in the end?Do you know whether or not they brought silver tea sets over on the Mayflower? Did all 120 of them stand on Plymouth Rock, as some people insist was so?How is maple syrup made? From where does milk come? Who invented ironing and why? What is a tatting shuttle?In this book you will meet two new members to the club, two very different folks in many aspects but both a blessing to the group.I hope that you get to laugh, cry, learn new things and find your own family in "Everything Belongs to Someone" and let me add "Everyone."
Charity Sue: She lisped, "Hi, I'se Charity Sue and I'se kin ta' thet woman on the floor. I jest cum frum Widder's Holler and I is gonna need sum hep." Then she smiled, a smile that warmed the entire room. From the rugged hollers of the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia to the rugged mountains of the Rockies in Colorado came this "raggedy" preteen girl carrying a burden far beyond her years and a secret worth more than the value of the entire town of Paradise Valley. She had made the trek, all alone, to find kin in the small town that held the Paradise Valley Thrift Store along with someone she knew was a relative, far removed, literally. The reason? An amazingly horrific flood in West Virginia in the year previous had taken away her parents, her uncle, the house in which she lived with them and... Well, you will have to read the book to find out everything that went missing and where it went. Suffice to say here that the journey turned out to be much more dangerous and complicated than any of her new friends had imagined. Will her West Virginian strong prevail? Will they find her parents, uncle and... I do hope you will read this with joy in your heart, have some laughs, maybe shed a tear but, most of all, enjoy the adventure.
