by Chautona Havig
This time, however, the “curiosity” found her.
Challenged by Edward Gastrel, to prove her deductive prowess, Madeline embarks on riddling out the puzzle of a journal left to him by his grandfather. If she can decode the contents, the local gentleman may find himself in the possession of something quite valuable.
As usual, however, things aren’t as they seem, and Madeline finds herself in a race against more than time and ambiguity.
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I have not read any of the other books in this series, so I was slightly confused about who everyone is. Other than that, I really enjoyed this book. The quirky characters will have you laughing at some of their crazy thoughts and wishes, the historical detail is amazing, the mystery intriguing, and I especially enjoyed the faith aspect of the story. I enjoyed this book so much that I want to go back and read the other books in the series. If you are looking for an interesting read, then I highly recommend this story.
I received a complementary e-book copy from Celebrate Lit in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
Chautona Havig lives and writes in California’s Mojave Desert where she uses story to point readers to the Master Storyteller.
Denny’s. “America’s Diner.” It’s also my “office away from my office away from home.” Most nights I write at our local prayer house. But on Wednesday nights for a few hours, and then all night on Saturday, I sit in booth 14 and write.
It was a cold, frosty Wednesday night. With thoughts from Bible Study still swirling in my mind and heart, I ordered my loaded baked potato soup and began brainstorming with my writing and podcasting buddy, April.
She left around midnightish—as usual. And another evening regular began chatting.
Look. I like this guy. He’s a fascinating conversationalist. We have a lot of fun talking books, movies, politics, history, computers… He’s even given me a great idea for a book (without meaning to, but still).
But… that night, I needed to get a bunch done on Madeline and didn’t have time for chatting. So, when he started talking about his evening, I wanted to bang my head on the table. I kept repeating, “People are more important. People are more important. People are more important,” over and over in my head.
I can’t tell you how often this has happened at Denny’s. Employees stop to chat. Regular diners stop to chat. This guy starts a long conversation and always on nights I can’t afford to spend… chatting!
But everything shifted in an instant.
The man said something—what, I can’t remember—and my brain started churning.
I asked a question.
He answered.
The next thing I knew, he’d moved into my booth and began firing questions at me. Suggestions. Most of what he suggested wouldn’t work with the story, but he had no way of knowing that. Still, every time he did I got a new idea. And I’d ask a question. He’d answer, suggest. I’d counter—ask or answer. Ideas blossomed and exploded into seeds of even more ideas.
And right there, at two o’clock in the morning, with Angela the wonder server keeping me in fresh glasses of Coke, Fine Print went from not only my favorite of the Madelines (thus far) but also became much more exciting.
The whole thing taught me a couple of lessons. First, I always say that people are more important than the “stuff” I do. Sometimes, that’s not so easy to live. But the Lord is always faithful, like He did that night, to remind me that it sometimes helps me, too.
Second, sometimes a mid-book brainstorming session is just what I need to keep my excitement high. And, if that means a “wasted” Wednesday night in booth 14, then I’d say it’s worth it.
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All-of-a-kind Mom, March 6
Bigreadersite, March 7
proud to be an autism mom, March 7
Pause for Tales, March 8
Multifarious, March 9
Blogging With Carol, March 9
Bibliophile Reviews, March 10
Connie’s History Classroom, March 10
A Greater Yes, March 11
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, March 11
Lots of Helpers, March 12
Janices book reviews, March 13
Jeanette’s Thoughts, March 13
Carpe Diem, March 14
A Baker’s Perspective, March 14
The April Journal, March 15
Kristin’s Book Reviews, March 15
Mary Hake, March 16
New Horizons Reviews, March 16
Simple Harvest Reads, March 17 (Guest post from Mindy)
Among the Reads, March 17
Book Bites, Bee Stings, & Butterfly Kisses, March 18
Pursuing Stacie, March 18
Aryn the Libraryan, March 19
Have a wonderful Day, March 19
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