Book Description:
Three days of vacation. Two stepsisters. One mystery
involving a ghost dressed in a leather hat, suit, and boots. Dominique and
Jessica had no idea what awaited them during a weekend vacation with their
parents. They expected fun and excitement, but instead ran into a ghost and a
mystery. Long ago in Connecticut, a man in a patched leather suit and hat
roamed the countryside, living in caves for more than thirty years. Carrying a
sack, pipe, and prayer book, the man came to be known as the Old Leather Man.
His death came with the blizzard of 1889, but who could have guess that he
would return to haunt the stepsisters. A stolen wallet, a threatening anonymous
letter, and a ghostly visit force the stepsisters into late-night sleuthing,
all to uncover the history of the Old Leather Man. Can these teen detectives
find the truth before the Old Leather Man’s ghost returns for good?
Excerpt:
Dominique shivered outside the bookstore, feeling
alone, tired and battered by a negative wind chill that was normal for
Connecticut in October. Her tingling, numb fingers agreed.
This sad bookstore situation was a waste of time
and revealed to Dominique how little her stepsister, Jessica, understood the
idea of family love and bonding. Dominique was not a reader. Didn’t Jess
recognize that more than ten minutes inside a bookstore was much, much too
long?
Twenty minutes earlier, Dominique had entered the
store with Jess. The walls were colorful, lined with every type of reading
material imaginable. She had followed Jessica to the teen section, standing
idle.
“I’m leaving,” Dominique said after ten minutes of
complaining.
“Five more minutes,” Jess had begged. “Look, they
have the next book in the series I’m reading.”
“I’m so happy for you, but you’ve used your five
minutes plus some.” Dominique’s brown eyes flashed with annoyance, the light in
the store highlighting the green flecks in them. Spinning around, her long dark
hair whipped against her shoulders as she executed a neat turn and walked
quickly through the store. She made a happy whistling sound as she exited the
front door.
Twenty minutes was a long time in the cold.
Outside, becoming more frostbit every moment, Dominique’s frustration leaked
into her not so nice thoughts. For anyone other than Jessica, her rapid exit
would have been a huge hint to hurry up and follow, but Jessica remained inside
reading.
Dominique wanted to open the front door again and
scream, “Stop looking through the dumb books,” but yelling might not have gone
over well with all the quiet, bookworm type people. Judging by the constant
ticking of seconds echoing from Dominique’s bright orange Timex watch on her
wrist, she was reminded how long she’d been left waiting in what felt like
sub-zero temperatures. It didn’t matter much what Dominique did or said. Her
stepsister, as usual, ignored her.
To occupy herself, she eyed the books on display
in the front window of the bookstore, skimming the titles. She ignored most of
them, until an ugly face on the cover of a book of Connecticut Legends looked
back at her. She couldn’t help but stare. The man pictured was round and his
bulky brown leather suit made him seem monstrous. Eyes peeked out from under a
large, round leather cap, focused on something beyond the photographer. A hand
rested at his mouth, as if he might be shy. Fascinated by his odd appearance,
she wondered who he was.
Long overdue, Jessica came out the door, a smile
playing on her lips, blue eyes shining with happiness. “That was so fun,” Jess
told Dominique. “I got the next series I’m reading and found a great book on
dating and love. You have to read it after I’m done.”
Boys flocked to Jess, who had already started
dating at the age of thirteen.
“Yeah, sure,” Dominique preferred horses to boys
and could not imagine that ever changing.
Even with Jessica’s company, Dominique could tell
this was going to be a long, dull weekend filled with the boring events her
parents called culture and entertainment.
Bio:
Lisa Acerbo is a high school teacher and adjunct
instructor at the college level, holding an EdD in Educational Leadership. This
is her fourth novel. In addition to writing fiction, she has contributed to
local newspapers, news and travel blogs including The Patch and Hollywood
Scriptwriter. She lives in Connecticut with her husband, two daughters, three
cats, dog, and horse, where she is an active part of the community. Her poetry
won first place in a local writing competition and she is a judge in the annual
town literary competition and arts festival.
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