Stealing Lumby

The saga continues. In this particular volume, the story centers around a stolen painting, a stolen barn (trust me! the barn disappeared overnight), a midnight bovine Iditarod, and a hostile takeover bid for the monk's rum sauce company. Got your attention yet?

I continue to be enthralled with the characters of this delightful town. The setting, the people, the quirky characteristics of the inhabitants (human, bovine, equine, feline, plastic, etal), are reminiscent of a combination of the town ofThree Pines in Louise Penny's books (without the murders), the old TV series Northwest Exposure, and the solid feel-good humanity of the Mitford series. You know a trip to Lumby will be time well spent. A few hours of life in this town can lower show more anyone's blood pressure, put a smile on your face, and calm any stress from too much shopping, too many cookies, unmailed cards, and icy roads. If you haven't tried this series, please give yourself a gift and try them. I've yet to find anyone who doesn't want to go to Lumby show less

After reading a more serious book about World War II, I needed something a little lighter, a palette cleanser of sorts. This second book in the Lumby series fit the bill nicely. It was fun to return to some old friends from the first book, but Fraser also introduces some interesting new characters as well. The main storyline centers around a famous American painter, who painted the Barns of Lumby early in his career. When the painting is stolen, reporters descend on Lumby and secrets from the past are gradually revealed.

People often talk about comfort food, but I have comfort reads. When I get sick or stressed out, I have a few books that I can sink into gently. The Mitford books (by Jan Karon) have always served that purpose for me, show more but I think that I can also add the Lumby books to my list of comfort reads. show less

In the second installment of the Lumby series, the little town of Lumby is thrown into an upheaval when the priceless painting of the Barns of Lumby (considered a national treasure) by Dana Porter is stolen while in transit to the London Museum. Reporters descend on the town to get background for the story of the year.

Mark and Pam Walker's B&B is filled to capacity by the reporters who arrived determined to drag out any little jmorsel of scandal that can even remotely be associated with the theft to garner "a scoop". However, Lumby and its residents stand firm in their uniqueness and eventually the reporting mass sinks away.

While the story centers on the art theft and its effects on the town's inhabitants, the reader is introduced to a show more few new characters. The reader is also reminded of the unusual locale with little scraps of information throughout about Hank, the plastic flamingo, saving a little girl from drowning, the travels of a stone Owl to the Space Needle in Seattle and the Opera House in Sydney, the renovation of a bus stop including skylight, sofa and carpeting, a farm powered by cow manure, and a boat "sailing" down Main Street.

The most amazing part is the truthfulness of lines such as "from the Lumby Lines (the town newspaper) that it's almost unbelievable that we live in the same country. Their stories (Comparison to NY Times) cover stolen pension funds and murders, and ours are about wiener-dog races and a bovine Iditarod." These characters just see life in an entirely different genuineness which is why the series is so delightful to read and make you want to just laugh out loud. I wish the town Lumby really existed because I'd love to visit not just in books but in actuality.

I was worried that the second book would not be able to live up to the playful scenario that was depicted in the first book, The Lumby Lines. No problem here, the residents in the town just picked up where they left off and continued to amuse and delight this reader. show less

The painting by Dana Porter called "The Barns of Lumby" that gave the town some notoriety has been stolen. Reporters converge on Lumby to cover the story, including Adam who is a lot nicer than most of the reporters there. In the meantime, one of the barns from the painting disappears. The plot is perhaps a bit far-fetched, but the charm and quirks of the town of Lumby and its residences more than makes up for it. As always, the excerpts from the town's newspaper are delightful.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, The Lumby Lines, and I found this installment just as charming. The residents of Lumby all have such unique and interesting stories. Fraser does a wonderful job at weaving the individual stories into the overall picture. She is able to connect the residents of Lumby with the famous artist and the national story about the painting without losing the charm of life in Lumby. Many familiar characters return in Stealing Lumby and there are a few new friends introduced as well.

It is very rare that a book will actually bring a smile to my face or cause me to laugh out loud. Stealing Lumby is a fun book and a great break from the darkness often found in the books I read. It was actually a perfect show more follow up to Susan Kelly's By Accident because it was such a change of pace. show less

Second in the Lumby series.

The question I asked myself after reading the first in this series was whether or not Fraser could maintain the whimsical humor that in reality was the only saving grace of the first book. The answer, in my opinion, is no.

A world-renowned painting of two barns in Lumby that was painted 50 years or more ago, has been stolen. This brings unwelcome attention to the town itself and the current owner of the land on which the barns sit, Katie Banks--who hates reporters. Suddenly, one of the barns is stolen overnight. In addition, the monks of St. Cross Monastery are confronted with a hostile takeover bid for their rum sauce business, which is thriving. Those are the main plot lines.

Outside of a Moo Doo Midnight show more Iditerod and Hank, that’s it. The writing is at best average and the characters remain what they always were, one-dimensional. The monks are totally saintly, everybody behaves wonderfully except for New York reporters and a nasty financier--in other words, completely unnatural and unbelievable behavior. There is an attempt at pathos which fails miserably.

I can’t imagine why anyone would read beyond this book, which really should be labelled rural fantasy/sci fi, perhaps a new genre. Avoid. show less

This is the second book in the Lumby series. If you like *town* series, then you will fall in love with quirky Lumby. There's humor, love and caring for one's neighbor and even a bad apple or two. This town is a town where I would like to call home, quirkiness and all.