"By the Book" by Carolyn Greene

About this book:

  “One night while Mary is working late in her shop, she smells something burning. When she looks out the window, she sees smoke coming from Sweet Susan’s Bakery next door. The fire department arrives in time to stop the flames from spreading to any other buildings, but the bakery is seriously damaged. Even more shocking is the verdict that the fire was started on purpose! While Susan struggles to figure out how she can reopen her business before she goes bankrupt, Mary searches for the arsonist. Was it the woman who wants to open a rival bakery in town? The troubled young man who works at the hardware store and has access to flammable liquids? The firefighter who seems to love fire a little too much? Or, the worst possibility of all, Susan’s husband?
  The more Mary investigates, the less she likes what she discovers. Is this a case where it might be better not to know the truth?”


Series: Book #10 in the “Secrets of Mary’s Bookshop” series. Please click on the number to be taken to that review: Book #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, and #9!


Spiritual Content- Isaiah 48:10 at the end in the bonus pages; Scriptures are read & remembered; Prayers; Church going; Talks about God; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Many mentions of God, callings, & faiths; Many mentions of prayers, praying, prayer chains, & thanking God; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & those in the Bible; Mentions of churches, church going, church events, youth group, pastors, & hymns; A couple mentions of blessings & being blessed; A couple mentions of miracles.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘stupid’; A bit of eye rolling; A fire (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of fires, it being deliberately set, & the arsonist/pyromaniac (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of arrests & jail; Mentions of cigars, cigarettes, drugs, smokers, & smoking; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of stealing & thieves; A few mentions of threats; A couple mentions of 9/11; A couple mentions of gangs; A couple mentions of belching; A couple mentions of people abandoning animals; A mention of stray animals having unfortunate encounters with car tires;

             *Note: Mentions of authors, fictional characters, & a movie; Mentions of celebrities, baseball players, & singers; A few mentions of car brands; A mention of Lady Godiva.

Sexual Content- Mentions of a wife thinking her husband is having an affair (it is revealed later that he is not having an affair); A couple mentions of those in the Bible being know to succumb to the allures of forbidden women.

-Mary Fischer,
                                P.O.V. of Mary
                                                   262 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

For some reason, I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the previous books in the series. Partially because of the affair mentions or different character’s reactions to other events/conversations, it wasn’t a favorite read but I did enjoy seeing all the faith content and the plot being worked out in a timely fashion by the end of the story. :)

See y’all on Friday with a new review!

*BFCG may (Read the review to see) recommend this book by this author. It does not mean I recommend all the books by this author.