Books for Christian Girls: "Missing Pieces" by Cynthia Hickey, Linda Baten Johnson, Teresa Ives Lilly, and Janice Thompson

About this book:

“What could go wrong when jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts get together?
How about four murders and a couple thefts? Can clues be pieced together to solve these puzzling crimes?”

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“Elvis Has Left the Building” by Cynthia Hickey

About this book:

“Cee Cee is hosting a jigsaw puzzle party in Apple Blossom, Arkansas, and everyone is expected to bring a brand-new 500-piece jigsaw puzzle to work on that depicts something from the 1950s. With a vintage car show, vendors, live music, and a dance, the night promises to be a great one—until the Elvis impersonator is murdered and a priceless puzzle is missing.”

Series: Does not seem to be connected to any other book.

Spiritual Content- Prayers; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & praying; A couple mentions of church & helping with the youth; A mention of Heaven; A mention of Vacation Bible School.

*Note: A mention of not having good luck; A mention of a man not only impersonating Elvis, but idolizing him.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: an ‘idiot’, a ‘stinking’, two ‘dumb’s, two forms of ‘shut up’, and five ‘stupid’s; Eye rolling; A few mentions of curses (said, not written); Being shot at; A car chase, crash, & injuries (up to semi-detailed); Seeing a break-in; All about many mentions of a murder, the murderer, how it happened, poison, & the crime scene (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of thieves, thefts, break-ins, stealing, & stolen items; Mentions of a dirty cop; Mentions of jail/prison, arrests, & criminals; Mentions of a car chase & crash; Mentions of gunfire, a gunfight/shoot-out, shooters, being shot, & injuries (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of injuries, beatings, & pain (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of threats & threatening; Mentions of bullies & being bullied (Cee Cee was locked in a locker by bullies in high school); Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, & drunks; A few mentions of a friend being jumped & killed (barely-above-not-detailed); A few mentions of druggies & a drug dealer; A couple mentions of lies & lying; A couple mentions of cigarettes & smoking; A couple mentions of throwing up/vomit; A mention of people acting like someone else is a famous serial killer; A mention of vandalism; A mention of cheating on a test; A mention of hatred;

*Note: Many mentions of an Elvis impersonator, songs, & a movie; Mentions of car brands; A couple mentions of Uber; A mention of a brand name (Coke); A mention of a TV show (Bates Motel); A mention of NASCAR.

Sexual Content- A lips-to-hands touch, a not-detailed kiss, and a border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss; Touches, Embraces, Hand holding, Electricity, & Warmth (barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); When Cee Cee is stuck in a window, Dane offers to push her backside (but they are both embarrassed by the thought and she handles it herself); Mentions of boyfriends, exes, dating, & dumping someone; A few mentions of a married man having a fling with another woman & a child being the result of it (the child is grown and they all are using each other to accomplish their own goals); A few mentions of teens being caught making out behind a library (which the old man who saw it was going to tell their parents, but didn’t because he “was young once too”); A couple mentions of flirting; A mention of crushes; Love, being in love, & the emotions;

*Note: A mention of an Elvis impersonator’s hip moves; A mention of a group not seeming like bosom buddies back in high school.

-Celia “Cee Cee” Adams, age 28

1^st person P.O.V. of Cee Cee

Novella

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

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“The Puzzle King” by Linda Baten Johnson

About this book:

“Jane enters a jigsaw puzzle competition at the Fargo, North Dakota, fairgrounds. When a fellow competitor is poisoned, all suspects are confined at the hotel during the investigation, and Jane is determined to use her puzzle-solving skills to root out the killer.”

Series: Does not seem to be connected to any other book.

Spiritual Content- Prayers; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, church services, church events, church family, & Bible studies; A few mentions of a Bible & Bible reading; A couple mentions of missions; A couple mentions of a devotional book; A mention of a person admitting that it’s not very Christian of them, but they don’t like a certain person; A mention of a person being treated like a leper in biblical days;

*Note: A few mentions of the Sioux funeral traditions (“They view the earth as our mother, so burial in the dirt reconnects the body and frees the soul”); A couple mentions of a man who is called “devilishly handsome” and was “blessed” with good looks.

Negative Content- Eye rolling; Passing out & Being poisoned (barely-above-not-detailed); Finding a body (poisoned, barely-above-not-detailed); Being arrested; Nobody is sad when a man is murdered as none of them liked him; All about many mentions of a murder, the body, the murderer, how it happened (poison), the motive, & the crime scene (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of jail/prison & arrests; Mentions of drunk driving, a car wreck, injuries, & blame/guilt (Jane and her friend many years prior to the book, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of a man who was mauled by a bear (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of poisons, being poisoned, & drugs; Mentions of blackmail & threats; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of alcohol, drinking, choosing not to drink, & drunks; A few mentions of a father being a mean drunk and him abusing his family; A couple mentions of hatred; A mention of a service man’s death; A mention of tobacco;

*Note: After seeing an interaction between a married couple, Jane thinks that she would hate to be married to someone so controlling; A mention of a “somewhat disturbing movie” (Fargo made by the Cohen brothers); A mention of Disney World; A mention of John Lennon; A mention of a magazine (USA Today); A mention of someone’s zombielike movements.

Sexual Content- Hand holding; Mentions of a teen ruining his girlfriend’s life, her getting pregnant, & the father being kept a secret (& the woman now living in a “facility for those not in touch with reality”); Mentions of Rohypnol (the “date rape drug”) & that a man confiscated it from a high school boy (not pure motives); Mentions of dates & dating; Mentions of (innocent) pictures of a married woman and another man that could be taken the wrong way; A couple mentions of a popular teen girl in high school getting pregnant and the school opinion being split between sympathetic and being delighted she’d been caught in a scandal.

-Jane Dahl

1^st person P.O.V. of Jane

Novella

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

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“A Puzzling Weekend” by Teresa Ives Lilly

About this book:

“Tabitha’s first event at her new bed and breakfast in Pumpkin City, Pennsylvania, is a jigsaw puzzle mystery weekend. All is going well until the hired cook is found stabbed to death. As the prime suspect, Tabitha works with the handsome investigator—and two wily beagle dogs—to clear her name.”

Series: Does not seem to be connected to any other book.

Spiritual Content- Prayers; A small discussion about sin & God forgiving a murderer; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Tabi is trying to not partake in gossip & asks God to help her; When a lady says a stinging comment, Tabi reminds herself that she’s a Christian and needs to turn the other cheek; Mentions of God; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of a church, church going, & church groups; A few mentions of Bible reading & devotionals; A mention of a Bible study;

*Note: Tabi being worried that if it gets out about there being a murder at her B&B, only ghost hunters would come at Halloween.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a form of ‘stupid; Finding a body & blood (up to semi-detailed); All about many mentions of a murder, the murderer, how it happened, the crime scene, & blood (up to semi-detailed); Many mentions of gossip & rumors (which is an issue that Tabi feels like God has been working on in her life and tries not to listen to or partake in gossip; When she slips up, she asks God to help her); Mentions of hatred; A few mentions of another murder; A couple mentions of lies & lying; A mention of a woman going to kick a dog, but is stopped before she does;

*Note: Mentions of stores & brand names (Piggly Wiggly, Hobby Lobby, Pine-Sol, Sprite, Coke/Diet Coke, ); Mentions of dogs named after Bonnie & Clyde; A mention of a play of ‘Gone With the Wind’; A mention of Nancy Drew.

Sexual Content- A cheek kiss; Noticing & Nearness; Blushes; Tabi has a slight crush on the new, good-looking officer and wants to get to know him better; Many mentions of dating, break-ups, boyfriends/girlfriends, exes, & a cheater that dated many girls at once (called a playboy who dated a girl for the excitement of getting away it behind his other girlfriend’s back); Mentions of a rumor of a guy getting a girl pregnant (untrue); A couple mentions of a rumor of an affair;

*Note: A mention of a woman being dressed like a saloon girl from an old Western movie.

-Tabitha “Tabi” Jenkins

1^st person P.O.V. of Tabi

Novella

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

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“Mystery at the Jigsaw Swap” by Janice Thompson

About this book:

“Mariah hopes to sell her vast puzzle collection at a jigsaw puzzle swap in Camden, Maine, at the historic opera house. But her most valuable puzzle ends up missing when another vendor is stabbed to death.”

Series: Does not seem to be connected to any other book.

Spiritual Content- A Scripture is quoted; Prayers; Talks about God, His plans for you, His timing, & trusting Him; ‘H’s are capitalized when referring to God; Mentions of God, His plans for you, His timing, & trusting Him; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, teaching at church, Sunday school teachers, & a worship team; A mention of thanking God; A mention of being a good Christian (Mariah is told she is one, to which she responds “Some days. Other days, not so much.”); A mention of a blessing;

*Note: A mention of there being a curse on an item.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘screw-up’ and three ‘stupid’s; Finding a body & blood (barely-above-not-detailed); Mariah tries not to spread gossip (she does try to eavesdrop a couple times though); All about many mentions of a murder, the murderer, how it happened, the crime scene, blood, & the screaming/crying by someone close to the victim (barely-above-not-detailed); Many mentions of thieves, a theft, & stolen item; Mentions of hearing something like gunfire (it was fireworks) & thinking there’s a shooter in the building; A few mentions of lies & lying; A couple mentions of lottery tickets; A couple mentions of cigarettes & smoking; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of World War I; A mention of hatred; A mention of gossip;

*Note: Mentions of songs; A couple mentions of sports teams; A couple mentions of TV show (Hoarders & The Big Bang Theory); A mention of Clark Kent; A mention of a car brand.

Sexual Content- A bit of noticing; Mentions of catching a couple kissing/making-out like “two teenagers on steroids” (barely-above-not-detailed); Mentions of boyfriends/girlfriends, a plan to get back at an ex, & a boyfriend hitting on with another girl; Mentions of handsome men & them causing Mariah’s heart to flutter; A few mentions of a great-grandfather who “got around” & had a whole other family; A mention of a married couple sharing a kiss;

*Note: A mention of Mariah’s best friend saying she (Mariah) has the best figure in town.

-Mariah Jamison, age 29

1^st person P.O.V. of Mariah

Novella

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

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Overall Ratings:

Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

Elvis Has Left the Building – The Elvis stuff was completely lost on me, but it was a decent mystery. Definitely not the most realistic or accurate, but that’s pretty common with suspense/mystery books. The little bit of romance was okay, rushed, but okay.

The Puzzle King – Hmm. This one was interesting because of the puzzle competitions, but I wasn’t a fan of the mystery. The brand-new sheriff instant pegged that Jane was the murderer just because she gave him a cup of coffee. Then, Jane was constantly alone with the murder suspects. I didn’t care for her personality, really. The whole novella had depressing undertones.

A Puzzling Weekend – This one was pretty good. The ending/result was a little lackluster, but I actually liked the main girl this time and thought the mystery was interesting. Very light romance with the officer, but the Tabi never put herself in danger like the other novellas.

Mystery at the Jigsaw Swap – My favorite of the collection—no shock, I know. ;) I liked how Mariah didn’t put herself in dangerous situations, but still was involved in trying to figure things out. There was good faith content (the most from the four novellas) and I enjoyed it.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy this collection as much as I hoped I would, but the last two were pretty good and I thought it was neat how there could be four different murder mysteries surrounding puzzles.

See y’all on Friday with a new review!