"Maureen the Detective" by Veda Boyd Jones

About this book:

  “Maureen Stevenson wants to belong.

She left her native Ireland and lost her parents. Now she’s trying to fit into her adoptive family in the United States. While she makes that adjustment, she finds herself caught up in a mystery: Who is stealing artwork from the mansion of old Mrs. Hoag, the eccentric widow who pays Maureen to help catalog her collection?

As the eleven-year-old stumbles over clues to the burglaries, she makes plans to become a U.S. citizen—and enjoy the full benefit on the heaven-blessed “land of opportunity.””


Series: Book #17 in the “Sisters in Time” series. Click on the numbers to be taken to that review: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, & #16.


Spiritual Content- Prayers; Church going; Talks about God; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers, praying, & thanking God; Mentions of churches, church going, services, Sunday school classes, being baptized, & a minister; Mentions of Christians & missionaries; Mentions of Palm Sunday & Easter; A few mentions of Bibles & Bible reading; A couple mentions of Heaven; A couple mentions of blessings; A mention of the Christian thing to do;

             *Note: Mentions of the evils of alcohol; A mention of a witch doctor.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘stupid’; A girl says some insensitive/mean things to Maureen & Maureen is hurt by them, but tries to ignore them; Being hit by a fire poker & pain (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of Maureen’s parents’ deaths (her father from an accident and her mother recently from the flu); Mentions of a sudden death, pain, & sadness from the family; Mentions of injuries & blood/bleeding; Mentions of thieves, burglars, & stolen items; Mentions of arrests & jail-time; Mentions of alcohol & a temperance union; Mentions of rumors; Mentions of dead birds, them being poisoned, & burning the carcasses (barely-above-not-detailed); A couple mentions of jealousy; A few mentions of saloons & violence;

             *Note: A couple mentions of a book & author.

Sexual Content- N/A

-Maureen O’Callaghan Stevenson, age 10

                                P.O.V. of Maureen

                                            Set in 1903
                                                    142 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

This was a fun mystery. It really reminded me of a Nancy Drew style mystery set in the early 1900s. Maybe my second favorite in this series thus far. :)

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.

"The Escape" by Lisa Harris

About this book:

  “How do you catch a fugitive who has nothing to lose?

  US Marshals Madison James and Jonas Quinn have orders to transport two high-profile prisoners across the country on a private plane. But when the plane experiences engine trouble en route from the Pacific Northwest to Colorado, the pilots crash-land the aircraft deep in the heart of the sprawling Salmon-Challis National Forest. 

  With both pilots and one prisoner dead--and one fugitive on the run--Madison and Jonas must negotiate the rugged and remote backcountry as they track a murderer who is desperate to disappear . . . and will do anything to stop them.”

Series: Book #1 in the “US Marshals” series.

Spiritual Content- A few Prayers; Talks about God; Mentions of God & faiths; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of churches & church going.

 

 

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘stupid’ and five ‘shut up’s; A plane crash, being shot, injuries, pain, blood/bleeding, & dead bodies (up to semi-detailed); Fighting & being held at gunpoint (semi-detailed); Being strangled & shot (semi-detailed); All about many mentions of prisoners/felons, murders, killing, robberies, crimes, arrests, (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of Madison’s husband’s murder & the killer (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of plane crashes & deaths; Mentions of a car crash, fire, & injuries (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of being shot; Mentions of a possible bomb; Mentions of threats, hostages, & blackmail; Mentions of a con-man; Mentions of lies & lying; Mentions of hunting & a hunting accident that caused a death; A few mentions of murders that looked like suicides; A few mentions of domestic abuse & a murder; A few mentions of divorces; A few mentions of bars; A couple mentions of terrorists & arms dealers; A couple mentions of throwing up; A mention of jealousy;

             *Note: A couple mentions of TV shows, actors, & characters; A couple mentions of car brands.

 

 

Sexual Content- An almost kiss; Wanting to kiss someone (barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing; Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of dates, dating, & flirting; Mentions of affairs & flings; A few mentions of sex trafficking & human traffickers; A couple mentions of large gaps (20+ years) between couples; A mention of a crush; A little bit of love, possibly falling in love, & the emotions.

 

-Madison James

-Jonas Quinn

                                P.O.V. switches between them

                                                        327 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{Add  a full star for older girls who are interested in law enforcement.}

While I’ve enjoyed Lisa Harris’ prior stand-alone books, I was really looking forward to the start of this new series. This may have not been my favorite by the author, but it was still suspenseful and interesting. I was happy to notice that there was a lot less awkwardly timed romance parts in this novel. (An example of what I mean would be the one you see often in romantic suspense books of “we just finally caught the bad guy and now we kiss!” *cue fade to black screen*. There was one moment I wanted to tell Madison and Jonas, “hey, eyes on the stake out! not each other!”, but only one moment compared to the book being filled with them, was a nice change of pace. This is probably due to this being the first book of a series.) I wish there had been a more faith content, but I enjoyed the discussion about being called to be in the law enforcement field that Madison and Jonas had.

“The Escape” was a good suspense book and I look forward to reading the rest of the series as they release.

 

 

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.

*I received this book for free from the Publisher (Revell) for this honest review.