The ghosts, phantoms, and ¿long-leggéd beasties¿ who haunt the cranberry bogs of Cape Cod and Plymouth County are best seen by moonlight¿though there are some folks who say that such things are best never seen at all. Even so, there can¿t be any harm in peeking, can there? Can there? Ask the boy named Christopher, who in broad daylight peeked inside the old Thompson screenhouse¿or the girl named Myra from Duxbury, who, alone at night, peeked into the shallow ditch that runs along the edge of the bog behind her house¿nothing bad happened to either of them, did it? Nothing too bad¿ Moonlight Harvest gathers together seventeen of Edward Lodi¿s best ghost stories¿including ¿Joe Baker Stops By,¿ first-prize winner in the ¿Strange Occurrences¿ contest sponsored by Prime Time Cape Cod. All seventeen are set on the cranberry bogs of southeastern Massachusetts; all are fraught with mystery, suspense, and nameless terror. Two of the stories have never before been published; a third appeared recently in the journal All Hallows but has never been collected in book form. A number of the stories appeared in Haunters of the Dusk and Murder on the Bogs, rare out-of-print collections that are highly sought after. Some of the tales in Moonlight Harvest are true or firmly based on legends. Others, though fictional, were inspired by actual cranberry bogs and events that happened there. All will make you think twice before setting out at dusk on that nature walk; or strolling across that dike near the reservoir; or skating on that quaint bog flooded for the winter. You never know: you might encounter Joe Baker¿or the creature named Flume Child¿or something far, far worse.

When Lena Lombardi's neighbor and fellow cranberry grower Gregory Eldridge is found dead, it looks like the perfect crime has been committed: no apparent motive, no witnesses, no plausible suspects, no substantial clues. Lena, half in fun, takes it upon herself to enlist the aid of her newfound friend Cheryl Fernandes in solving the crime.When the two women begin "poking around," someone becomes very upset and violence quickly follows. A booby trap is set, causing a near-fatal mishap; nocturnal shootings occur; a "ghost" is seen lurking near an isolated screenhouse.Lena is undaunted by these goings-on; she is after all handy with a gun. And Cheryl is no wimp. But when it becomes evident that the two women will not allow themselves to be scared off, the real trouble begins.When Marmalade and Murder appeared in hardcover in 2008 it immediately sold out and has since become a much sought after collector's item, especially among loyal readers of the acclaimed Cranberry Country Mystery series.The three subsequent books in the series are Murder at Anawan Rock, Murder on a Lonely Bog, and Murder in an Old, Dark House. Set on and around the cranberry bogs of Cape Cod and Plymouth County, all four mysteries feature Lena and Cheryl, and are noted for their local color, atmospheric suspense, compelling plots with surprising twists, subtle humor, and authentic characterization.

True New England Ghost Stories

"She attempted to pull herself up. Forty years ago she might have been able to do so, but at her present age she found that, without proper leverage, she didn't have the strength. She tried anyhow, several times--straining, lifting herself off the rubble pile an inch or two, only to lose her grip and fall back--until she'd ripped her nails and bloodied her hands."In the course of her investigations as a self-styled detective Lena Lombardi has on occasion found herself--figuratively--in some rather tight spots. But this time the deep hole she's fallen into is real. And there's no one nearby to help her out--no one except the three angry pursuers who, she has reason to believe, are out to kill her.It started innocently enough: Lena, trying to help out a friend suspected of murder. But was it murder? Peter Gilbert's body showed no signs of foul play. He simply froze to death. If it was murder, it could only have been done by magic. Or so it seemed.And then there was the so-called Hickman Secret. Was that connected with the two deaths? Yes--the first death was followed by a second. And no doubt about it, this one was murder.So the joke was on Lena. She was quite sure she knew the identity of the killer. She even had evidence of sorts. But what good would it do her--or her friend--if she ended up dead herself, like a rat in a hole?

In 1637 the Puritans of Massachusetts and the fledgling colony of Connecticut declared war on the Pequot Indians--the most powerful of all the New England tribes.The Pequots' seat of power was near the mouth of the Thames River, at New London and Mystic. The area under their control, roughly two thousand square miles, stretched far beyond the Connecticut River and included parts of Long Island.The objective of the English was not merely to defeat the Pequots, but to annihilate them entirely, to destroy them as a people. The Pequot War was the first genocidal war fought in New England.What--if anything--had the Pequots done to incur the wrath of the English? Why did the English undertake such a vicious campaign? Why did the Narragansetts and Mohegans side with the English? What role did the Dutch play in the war? Why did the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony refuse Massachusetts' request for assistance?Edward Lodi provides answers to these and other questions. Drawing upon numerous sources, including seventeenth-century narratives by men who fought in the war--John Mason, leader of the Connecticut forces; John Underhill, leader of the Massachusetts forces; and Lion Gardiner, in charge of the fort at Saybrook--Lodi presents a lively description of the war, along with a Chronology and Brief Biographies of more than one hundred and fifty significant players: English, Indian, and Dutch.

Late at night, while strolling among the tombstones of the cemetery near his house, wealthy antiques dealer Melvin Metcalfe is brutally attacked and left for dead.Frightened-this is the third attempt on his life-he enlists the aid of Lena Lombardi, an eccentric cranberry grower with a reputation for snooping, to ferret out the would-be killer before he-or she-strikes again.Bored with semi-retirement, Lena readily accepts Metcalfe's invitation to bring a friend along with her to spend a few weeks as a member of his household in a magnificent old mansion on Cape Cod, and help solve the mystery of who might want him dead.On the Cape Lena has a comfortable room (so what if the house may be haunted?) overlooking the ocean-and the cemetery, where mysterious lights appear at night, and dark figures come and go. Lena decides to investigate¿a decision that could prove fatal to her and her friend.

Murder in a lonely place¿Surrounded by swampland, Anawan Rock sits like a brooding sphinx in eerie solitude near a rural stretch of Route 44 in Rehoboth, Massachusetts.Renowned for an event that occurred there during King Philip¿s War--the capture by Benjamin Church of the great Wampanoag field commander after whom the rock is named--the historic spot has long had a reputation for being haunted. But surely it is not ghosts that are responsible for the grisly crime perpetrated there.A week before Halloween the mutilated body of Kenny ¿Mumbles,¿ a lowly character familiar to the New Bedford waterfront, is discovered atop the rock, victim apparently of a ritualistic killing. But what was Kenny, who seldom if ever left the city, doing so far from home? And what is the connection, if any, between his murder and a subsequent killing in the seaside resort of Onset? Or to events that happened in Plymouth Colony more than three centuries ago?The police may be stymied, but amateur sleuth Lena Lombardi--for reasons of her own--is determined to uncover the dark secret behind the two hideous crimes. She will solve this baffling mystery.Even if it kills her¿