Be Buried in the Rain by Barbara Michaels

Barbara Michaels' suspense/adventure novels (with a dash of romance thrown in) are just my speed. I don't care for truly scary stories and I don't always appreciate a suspenseful nail-biter as much as the next guy, I guess. But Barbara Michaels reminds me of Mary Stewart or even a more down-to-earth Victoria Holt--suspense, atmosphere, mystery, but also a book you can put down at bedtime AND still sleep nightmare-free.

In this tale, medical student Julie Newcomb reluctantly returns during her summer break to her grandmother's ranch to care for the old lady after she's suffered a stroke.  Not only does her return to the ranch drag up old memories (none of them good), but it also seems to bring with it a new and present danger.

While I like Mary Stewart (and Helen MacInnes and even E. Phillip Oppenheim) better than Barbara Michaels, I really did like this story. I didn't particularly care for Julie--I so often mildly dislike Barbara Michaels'/Elizabeth Peters' female characters (all too often they seem rather self-centered and overly feministic to me)--I was firmly allied with her in her dislike of her creepy grandmother and her distrust of some of the old family retainers, and I admired her commitment to care for her grandmother despite the years of abusive behavior grandma had previously dealt poor Julie. Note: There was one episode of unmarried sex with no description of said love scene.

I like Barbara Michaels a lot. This woman has about a million stories in her head and I'm happy to read them all.