newcomer: The St. Cross Choir Series, Book 1


​Lauren E. Beale spent 40 years working in newspapers -- the bulk of her career at the Los Angeles Times. Welcome to her first foray into fiction, which sets the stage for a music lover's adventure series in the mountains of California.  

Having left her career as a newspaper reporter, newcomer Harper Henshaw seeks a fresh start in an offbeat mountain town in the rugged Sierra Nevada range. There she settles into the St. Cross choir to prepare for a performance of Maurice Durufle’s Requiem. But illegal pot plantations and the activities of a drug cartel threaten the settlement’s seemingly idyllic life just as she starts to find her niche in the community of singers, churchgoers and animal lovers.


What READERS Are Saying

"No worries if you don't know a basso profundo from a mezzo soprano, newcomer Lauren Beale's 'Newcomer' is a treat, and the choir is a clever vehicle to bring together a diverse cast of characters. Well-paced with intriguing plot turns and some fun dialogue, the illustrations penned by the author are an added bonus. Good thing this is just the first in a series - inquiring minds want to know lots more about the doings in St. Cross!"

Lisa Powlison
 
"What makes a great novel? Captivating characters you wish you knew in real life. A plot line that is complex yet easy to follow. Enough realism to make the world the characters live in believable on multiple levels. Some thought-provoking issues and situations to stir one's soul. Lauren Beale's 'Newcomer' delivers on every one of those accounts. The lead character, Harper Henshaw, makes a major life-change when she moves to a new community where she must make inroads both professionally and socially. Harper's passions draw her into relationships where community and vulnerability are valued. Her journey is enriched by an eclectic cast of characters and complicated by an intriguing plot twist that is both unexpected and culturally relevant. The reader will be greatly relieved to know that 'Newcomer' is only the first of a series, so there will be additional opportunities to embrace Harper's new community and its residents -- all who have become friends by the end of this novel."

Carole Smoot
 
“Lauren Beale's first novel, ‘Newcomer,’ is a treasure for anyone who loves animals, choral music, and the outdoors. The protagonist, Harper Henshaw, experiences the emotional changes of uprooting herself from a known life and inserting herself into the life and characters of a small Sierra Nevada town. As a choral singer, I loved Harper's journey through a church-choir-performance of Durufle's Requiem and the relationships that develop as a result. Lauren obviously has a lot of compassion for dog friends that comes through in her writing. The inclusion of the problems associated with illegal marijuana grows, common on California National Forest lands, drives the plot forward through a number of unexpected twists and turns. Highly recommended!!!”

Hugh McDevitt

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rd" series. I'm looking forward 
--just the first in a series - inquiring minds want to know lots more about the doings in St. Cross"