Lumby's Bounty

November 26, 2007
The third installment of Fraser’s Lumby series looks in on the Rocky Mountain burg and finds its quirky citizens as busy as ever. In the midst of renovating the inn they’ve built from a fire-ravaged monastery, Mark and Pam Walker pop over to Saint Cross Abbey to visit the monks who helped them get going. The monks, now nationally acclaimed philanthropists, are struggling to accommodate an influx of seekers—some come for spiritual guidance, others are drawn by the abbey’s booming gourmet food business. Across town, Caroline Ross, granddaughter of Lumby’s late matriarch, has plans to buy Lumby’s deserted train station and transform it into an arts center, but the bustle hits a bump when a high school student, posing as the mayor, secures Lumby’s bid to host an annual hot air balloon festival. Lumby prepares to accommodate the scores of hot air–ballooning guests and to learn a thing or two about ballooning. Though this ambling tale takes a while to get off the ground, once the plots start moving, there are plenty of light chuckles to be had.