Summer Solstice by Gayle Hayes

When an old woman falls while answering her doorbell at one o'clock in the morning on the SUMMER SOLSTICE of 2010, her niece enters the same orbit as a dangerous and diverse group of people whom she otherwise never would have known.

JAYME BAKER appears to be in her thirties and is attractive, newly divorced, and hopes to write nature stories for children someday. She leaves her "dream job" to become caregiver to her aunt, CORA, in Port Owen, Montana, nestled on the shores of Flathead Lake, a tourist attraction. Jayme meets SHERIFF R. BATES RIGGS on the plane to Montana. He is a disgruntled former FBI agent who is still sexy at fifty-five, plays jazz piano, and photographs wildlife instead of mounting them on his wall. He is the son of a Native American mother and "a high roller from back east by way of Texas who had a good job with the Bureau of Indian Affairs under Eisenhower."

Jayme rides to Port Owen with the sheriff, who loans her his car when he leaves to investigate an accident. This "sensible decision" leads to the first of three crimes where Jayme finds herself a victim of the type of people she has seen only from a distance as a criminal paralegal. Seemingly minor crimes have tragic consequences. The story moves quickly as the crimes and criminals overlap. As companion to the sheriff, Jayme is privy to the investigation of a series of murders. Jayme's attention to detail and analytical mind make her a valuable sidekick. A "quirk" in her personality compels her to follow a good mystery.

If you long for a wholesome, old-fashioned love story with an admirable hero and heroine in believable predicaments and enjoy solving a mystery, SUMMER SOLSTICE will not disappoint.

About the Author:

Gayle (Evankovich) Hayes was bitten by the writing bug while a student at Sacred Heart Grade School when she won the American Legion award for her essay on the American Flag. At Butte High School, the newspaper editor opted not to publish her story, The Snail, which was a torrid, ill-fated romance on the beach. Instead, the editor wanted a "cat's eye view of Christmas." Undaunted, Gayle went on to major in English and graduate from Montana State University at Bozeman. Her flirtation with words developed into a love of the language and its possibilities while at the university. She published one poem, Pyrogenic Meditation. Several years later, she wrote a humorous column, A Piece of My Mind, for the Montana Standard, her hometown newspaper. Then Gayle took a shot at screenwriting before putting her typewriter away. For the next sixteen years, she took on a fixer-upper in the country. By the time the house was just right, Gayle was ready for a change. She enrolled at the University of Montana College of Technology in Missoula, Montana at age 54 to become a paralegal. She discovered the creative embers were still alive when she wrote essays for Comp 101. Gayle graduated with high honors and went to work for the Missoula County Attorney in the Criminal Division. When she retired in 2009, she was putting the finishing touches on a new home in the Bitterroot Valley south of Missoula. Although it had again been several years since she wrote creatively, Gayle was inspired to write about the small delights she observed while at the creek on the property. Then one day, she realized she had waited long enough for an idea worthy of a novel. Gayle sat at the computer determined to write something or give up on the Dream once and for all. The characters came to life and would not let her rest until she told their story. The result is her first novel, SUMMER SOLTICE.