Sandy Hill Books In Order

Publication Order of Erin Markham Mysteries Books

Publication Order of Tangled Threads Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Sandy hill is an American fiction and mystery writer. She borrows her figure skating and tae kwon do skills and journalism knowledge to write some of her novels.

Before becoming an author, she was a former newspaper editor and currently lives in North Carolina with her husband. Her dog, Bernese Mountain, features in some of her cozy mysteries. Her works include Tangled thread, Bonds of Courage, and Deadline for Death.

Tangled Threads
This is a story of two strong ladies at odds since they were kids. The story begins when they are in grade school going through life. Delia O’Toole is a young lady working at the mill, while Ruthann Harkey also works there. The two have a complicated and tortured history, and since childhood, they were tangled together, leading to tragedies. Kate is Ruthann’s granddaughter. Generations of disagreements and grudges hold the two ladies back, and their secrets are big.
They grew up in poverty in a town where most people depended on the cotton mill to get their daily bread. Delia is lucky to have more opportunities due to her love for music, and Ruthann envied and hated her for that.

When Delia began teaching, a concert raised money for three among four brilliant students to cater for their schooling up to the sixth grade. Ruthann’s brother was among the chosen students and Delia was the one to show how the winners will be selected.

On the other hand, Ruthann insisted that her brother should be among the chosen and even went ahead and tried cheating during the process of drawing straws but was caught. Her brother ended up picking the short straw, and Ruthann lived to blame Delia for the rest of her life.

The secret which Delia is holding can cause a controversy in the town. Ruthann is a part of this secret and still holds a grudge against Delia, and it’s that secret which forms a bond in their love/hate relationship.

Other things happened along the way, which kept them away from each other. The story is narrated from Delia’s point of view as she began her life as a woman in her 80’s and went back in time to explain the main events.

In the present time, Delia is planning to escape the nursing home that she feels has become a prison. She is inz her eighties and has always been a resilient woman. When her long-time enemy, Ruthann, pleads with her to return to their hometown, Delia sees this as the perfect time to confront her.

The story switches between the 1890s and 1950s and explores the limits of forgiveness and the hard choices that one has to make in life. Delia’s personality is shown through her joys and sufferings.

The story skips through generations back and forth as the author tries to explain how the two women became the way they are. Kate has no idea about her grandmother’s secrets, and when she joins the college, she meets Delia in Whistleton town, where she lives.

An exciting look at the small town and the people who hide secrets follows. The lives of the two ladies entwine in complicated ways until a secret brings them together. Can the two ladies reconcile, or will betrayal define their lives and those of their families? The story is set in the cotton mill village and a nursing home in Virginia.

This is a fascinating read about Mill workers’ lives and how people survived subsistence life back then. Children were forced to work at a young age to help their families get their daily bread. Sandy Hill takes some time to describe how the Spanish flu affected the community briefly.

The character development is done so well throughout the book. Sandy Hill is a talented storyteller as the tragedies in the story are realistic to serve a heartwarming and engaging novel.

The Blue Car
The sun shines so brightly in the cloudless sky one fine day when a blue car pulls up at Sarah’s home. Two gentlemen, assisted by her father, take her mother by force without saying anything, leaving Sarah confused.

Her mother needed help that could only be offered in a mental institution. The family members miss her so much and things took a different turn since the day she was taken away. This marks the beginning of Sarah’s journey in a world full of secrets and great responsibility, and less guidance

Sarah has to take in her mother’s role, take good care of her little sister, and do the clean for the entire family. When something terrible happens to her, she feels so lost with no mother by her side to console her. What really happened to Sarah? Will her mother ever come back? Her father worked far from home and couldn’t make it to walk home every evening, so he had to stay near his place of work.

Her elder brother is at home, but like all traditional families, all housework had to be done by Sarah because she was a girl. The author shows how Sarah tries to do the right thing and make the right decisions in the story. She has assumed the role of a ‘woman of the house’ even before she hits the age of thirteen.

Many things happen after her mother is taken away, and lucky enough, her family turns out to be more supportive. When something comes up, they all pull together to uncover the secrets and solve the problems that come their way.

When young girls experience bad things, they get confused by their innocence and fear, and the adult who doesn’t believe and discredits the child. The novel is perfect for tweens, written in a simple, easy-to-understand style.

The Blue Car is a well-written book that will keep you flipping pages to the end. The book is set in western North Carolina in 1952 and explores about keeping a promise and when to break it. It also centers on a mother who is taken to a mental hospital, leaving her child alone with no mother figure in her life.
The book also includes Book hub discussion questions about whether people can really change. The Bleu Car is an intriguing story full of incredible life lessons. Sandy’s writing style is simple but conveys emotional topics narrated from a 13-year girl.