Whiskey Straight Up — Nina Wright

Nearly drowning in an icy lake isn't Whiskey Mattimoe's favorite way to celebrate the season. Neither is finding the mayor dead at Magnet Springs' annual Ice Fishing Jamboree. And then there's the problem of locating Chester, her precocious eight-year-old charge, who has run away...or was he kidnapped? This is how Whiskey, an eternally disheveled, mid-thirties realtor, is drawn into another rollicking adventure with her purse-stealing Afghan hound. Other eccentric characters abound in this Michigan resort town, such as the police chief with a gift for tuning into the town's magnetic energy and the adorable vet with an unfortunate speech impediment. Amid the uproar, Whiskey also makes a surprising discovery that -- for the first time since her husband's death -- she's ready to dip her toes into the whimsical waters of love again.