New Release!! Breakfast at Bernie’s: Waffles and Wisdom
D. L. Norris is delighted to announce the release of Breakfast at Bernie’s: Waffles and Wisdom, a warm and richly layered new novel set in the heart of small-town Wisconsin. The eBook edition is available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble for $9.99, and directly from the D. L. Norris Bookshop for the special price of $4.98. Purchase links are provided below. For readers who enjoy character-driven fiction filled with friendship, humor, faith, mystery, and the quiet wisdom found around a familiar table, Bernie’s Café is ready to welcome you.
Step inside Bernie’s Café, where every cup of coffee comes with a story—and some stories refuse to stay buried.
In historic Columbus, Wisconsin, Bernie’s Café is more than a stop for waffles, bacon, and hot coffee. It is a morning refuge where four old friends—storytelling Ed Johnson, opinionated widower Bill Welcher, ailing retired dentist Grant Belmont, and minister emeritus Leo Gibson—gather to joke, argue, remember, and carry one another through the ordinary aches of aging. Around them are Lou, the sharp-tongued waitress with a guarded past; Marlene, steady and observant; and Bernie himself, who knows food can be a form of mercy.
Their familiar routine changes when newcomer Myra Davis walks in. Polished, watchful, and hard to ignore, she charms Bill, unsettles Lou, and starts asking about River Road, old land records, and the reclusive Deakins sisters. As Bill leans toward the hope of a second chance, Lou suspects Myra’s interest in Columbus is no accident. Soon, small-town curiosity becomes a search through courthouse files, faded maps, family rumors, and memories hidden beneath pantry floorboards and forgotten ledgers.
While Grant faces a health crisis that may pull him away, Bill risks his heart on a woman he barely knows, and Lou must decide whether her suspicion is wisdom, jealousy, or an old wound sounding the alarm. As Myra’s link to the Deakins estate comes into focus, preservationist Charles Pritchard enters the picture, determined to protect history—even if doing so means deciding who is allowed to claim it.
Warm, humorous, and gently suspenseful, Breakfast at Bernie’s: Waffles and Wisdom is a story about friendship in the later seasons of life, the cost of loving deeply, and the danger of secrets left too long in the dark. Set against the comforting rhythms of a small-town café, it blends tender character drama with a mystery rooted in family history, land, memory, and belonging. At Bernie’s, every cup of coffee carries a story—and some stories must finally be brought into the light.
