Norman Rockwell

#2

1983

It's not a mystery, it's a story of survival and triumph. That's what some people say about Romance, a would-be hit play about an actress pursued by a knife-wielding stalker. But isn't it romantic! Before the show can open, the leading lady is really attacked, outside the theater. And before the detectives of the 87th can solve that crime, the same actress is stabbed again. This time for keeps. A.D.A. Nellie Brand moves in for a murder conviction, but Detective Steve Carella is sure she's got the wrong guy, and wrestles for the case with Fat Ollie Weeks, Isola's foulest cop. While Bert Kling interviews witnesses and suspects ranging from the show's producers to the author - who has written novels about cops and knows how it's done - to the lead's lovely understudy, he can't keep his mind off what's happening to him. He's falling in love. With a doctor. Who happens to be a deputy chief surgeon. Who happens to be a black woman. In the city of Isola, nothing is black and white. In the play Romance, no one is guilty or innocent. And in the gritty reality of the 87th Precinct, everyone is in love with something - even if it's only murder.

#3

2004

Retrieving the mail from his old apartment brought more than just letters for Vince Cutler. When he opened the door on the lovely Jolie Wheeler and rooms he hardly recognized, he knew he'd found the person to fix up his bare new bachelor quarters. But behind their banter, he sensed a pain that his friendship couldn't assuage. The warm embrace of Vince's family reminded Jolie achingly of the nephew taken from her, and the sister she refused to see. Vince's embrace made keeping the distance between them all the more difficult. And all the while the spirit of Christmas was working within Jolie's heart to reconnect her with her family...and with Vince suring this very special season...