Books for Christian Girls: "The White City" by Grace Hitchcock

About this book:

“Mysterious Disappearances Taint the Chicago World’s Fair
Step into True Colors -- a new series of Historical Stories of Romance and American Crime
While attending the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, Winnifred Wylde believes she witnessed a woman being kidnapped. She tries to convince her father, an inspector with the Chicago police, to look into reports of mysterious disappearances around the White City. Inspector Wylde tries to dismiss her claims as exaggeration of an overactive imagination, but he eventually concedes to letting her go undercover as secretary to the man in question—if she takes her pistol for protection and Jude Thorpe, a policeman, for bodyguard.
Will she be able to expose H. H. Holmes’s illicit activity, or will Winnifred become his next victim?”

Series: Part of the “True Color” series, but does not seem to be connected to any other book.

Spiritual Content- Psalm 27:1-2 at the beginning; Scriptures are remembered & read; Prayers & Thanking God; Talks about God; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of churches, church going, pastors, & services; A few mentions of a Bible & Bible reading; A mention of a book of sermons;

*Note: Mentions of the devil behind White City’s disappearances; A few mentions of angels; A mention of a man’s demonic flame in his eyes.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘who is tarnation’, two ‘darn’s, two ‘stupid’s, and five forms of ‘blast’; Eye rolling and some sarcasm; Fighting, being beat-up, injuries, & blood/bleeding (up to semi-detailed); A fire, smoke, pain, injuries, blood/bleeding, & a near death experience (up to semi-detailed); Witnessing a kidnapping; Winnie does lie for her safety; Many mentions of murders, murderers, autopsies, bodies, & makeshift coffins (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of kidnappings, kidnappers, criminals, crimes, being held at gunpoint, & ransoms; Mentions of a fire, the intention of burning someone alive, arson, & smoke (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of thefts, swindlers, thieves, & pickpockets; Mentions of insurance fraud; Mentions of fights, injuries, & blood/bleeding; Mentions of threats; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of gossip; A couple mentions of an officer with a gunshot would; A couple mentions of poisons; A couple mentions of throwing up; A mention of divorce; A mention of hunting;

*Note: Mentions of authors & books (each chapter starts with a quote from a famous author or book).

Sexual Content- Hand & finger kisses, a cheek kiss, three top-of-the-head/forehead kisses, an imagined kiss (barely-above-not-detailed in Winnie’s recalling of her dream the night before), a barely-above-not-detailed kiss, a semi-detailed kiss, and a detailed kiss; Remembering kisses (up to semi-detailed); Wanting to kiss/be kissed; Touches & Embraces (barely-above-not-detailed); Wanting to touch/embrace (barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing, Nearness, & Blushes (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of men staring at Winnie’s figure; Mentions of flirting; A few mentions of a man being a bigamist & unfaithful; A few mentions of seeing hand and cheek kisses; A couple mentions of men stealing kisses from ladies; A couple mentions of the possibility of a man touching Winnie; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of Jude’s hungry gaze towards Winnie; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;

*Note: A mention of a sister having better assets than the other sisters; A mention of a woman’s ample chest.

-Winnifred Wylde, age 19

-Jude Thorpe, age 24
P.O.V. switches between them

Set in 1893
256 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{Add a star for older girls who enjoy criminal justice topics and/or serial killer mysteries.}

Hmmm. A historical mystery, I do like trying those out.

While the romance of this story was a little too instant for my liking, my enjoyment of both Winnie and Jude allows me to overlook that little detail. I do wish there were a few parts not included in regards to their romance (such as Jude kissing Winnie twice under the pretense of distracting someone from looking at them, that bothered me), it was overall a decent mystery.

Instead of hunting down the criminal, we know who it is and are hunting down evidence. I liked this difference from most mystery/suspense books I’ve read. There obviously was the serial killer and mentions of how he killed his victims, but it wasn’t over-the-top at all, which I was very appreciative of. Probably not for those sensitive to murders, but it wasn’t gory which gives it a bonus in my eyes as the majority of serial killer books (even in Christian Fiction) I’ve read either border-line or are gory in the details.

One other part I want to mention that I liked was that both Winnie and Jude prayed when they were in danger or a dangerous situation. This has been one of my biggest complaints of Christian Fiction mystery/suspense books—that the main characters never pray when they’re faced with the criminal/murdered. I have to thank the author for including her characters showing their faiths and I ended the book with a smile because of it and the couple’s cuteness together.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!