Connecticut's Northwest Hills conjure up images of winding country roads, 18th century clapboard houses, spectacular fall foliage, and the next Christmas tree for Rockefeller Plaza. Briarwood Cove, a hamlet ensconced deep in these hills, conjures up one additional thing - paranormal activity. Briarwood Cove is lucky to have a resident P.P.I. (Paranormal Private Investigator). Elevenyear- old psychic Ling-Ling Turner seeks the paranormal truth behind all sorts of bizarre occurrences in town. In Mystery of the Rising Island, doom casts a shadow over Briarwood Cove when blasting at a lakefront construction site releases a floating stink pile of muck from the depths of frosty Lake Tahaso. Coyotes arrive in town, and mysterious attacks on animals occur at night. While the local police deem coyotes responsible for the attacks, Ling-Ling and her friends Chloe, Jada, and Pablo discover the truth: the tiny town is under the spell of a revived massive ancient Indian curse
Laura J. Stegmaier writes fiction for children in a variety of media formats, including audio books, internationally broadcast animated television series, graphic novels, and comic strips. A long-time resident of the rural Connecticut Northwest Hills and an avid history buff, Laura's imagination is inspired by the mystery of her deep woods surroundings and all things otherworldly or paranormal. Laura always ascribes to the notion that there are things to be discovered in this world beyond our present comprehension, including Bigfoot, a creature she is quite certain she hears in her backyard. She is also a self-proclaimed dog whisperer, who believes the bond between humans and dogs goes far beyond dogs just being man's best friend.