“At the funeral of Margaret Flannery, Mary encounters a woman who claims Margaret stole her daughter’s identity. At first Margaret’s daughter, Marnie, dismisses the accusation. But when she finds a box of documents in her mother’s cottage that suggests Margaret did, indeed, change her name when she was younger, Marnie asks for Mary’s help to find out the truth. If the real Margaret Flannery died as a girl decades ago, then who was Marnie’s mother?
With the aid of photographs found in Margaret’s Bible, Mary tries to track down her true identity. The search takes Mary from the well-moneyed neighborhood of Nantucket to a women’s shelter in Boston and requires all of her sleuthing skills to put the pieces together.”
Series: Book #23 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, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13,#14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, and #22.
Spiritual Content- Genesis 1:27 at the end in bonus content; A couple Scriptures are remembered; Prayers; Church going; Talks about God & praying; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Mentions of God; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & books of the Bible; Mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Mentions of churches, church going, a pastor, a sermon, hymns, & Sunday school; Mentions of blessings & being Blessed;
*Note: The phrase “speak of the devil” is used; A few mentions of someone never being a “religious person” and wondering if the person “became more spiritual…as she got older”; A mention of a devil-may-care look; A mention of a painting with mermaids.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘drat’; A bit of eye rolling; Many mentions of deaths & grieving (for spouses, a mother, a daughter, friends, & parents, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of missing people & families grieving; Mentions of car accidents & deaths (including a drunk driver, up to semi-detailed); Mentions of a murder mystery, murder, & murderer; Mentions of crimes, criminals, & threats; Mentions of robberies, break-ins, thieves, stolen items, & an elderly woman being tied up and left to die (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of identity theft; Mentions of domestic violence, abuse, women being covered in bruises and trying to leave their abusers (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of lies & lying; A couple mentions of the Vietnam war & a death (barely-above-not-detailed); A mention of World War II; A mention of divorces; A mention of a shelter requiring their guests to be sober; A mention of jealousy;
*Note: A few mentions of authors (John Grisham, J. K. Rowling, Edgar Allan Poe, Agatha Christie); A few mentions of Girl Scouts & Boy Scouts; A couple mentions of a TV show & movie (60 Minutes & Ghostbusters); A mention of a car brand; A mention of a brand name (Crock-pot); A mention of social media sites (Facebook); A mention of a vintage product that would “have the animal-rights people up in arms” if it was sold today.
Sexual Content- Mentions of a baby born out of wedlock & the girl never knowing about her father; A mention of wondering if there will be something more between two friends (Mary and Henry); A few mentions of a boyfriend; A mention of a wink;
*Note: A few mentions of some men wearing pink (salmon) pants and Mary thinking that it’s strange; A mention of a woman being “stuffed into a clingy top” that was too small for her; A mention of a social media page for a teenager that has pictures of her not “wearing enough clothing, in Mary’s opinion”.
-Mary Fisher
P.O.V. of Mary
268 pages
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My personal Rating-
To be frankly honest, I didn’t love or even really enjoy this book. The mystery was interesting and I was very much into it, but the whole book had a sad tone because of the deaths of loved ones and also wasn’t as squeaky clean as the prior books in the series because of some content mentioned (domestic violence/abuse). I will add that Mary frustrated me a bit towards the end and I don’t agree with how she handled something at the big reveal. I don’t typically share spoilers in these final thoughts, but I feel like I need to for this book: *Spoiler* She tells the abusive jerk (who was the reason Margaret disappeared and changed her identity) that he has a daughter—despite Mary knowing that he was abusive and him literally just threatening Mary herself. I don’t know what Mary was thinking? It almost felt like the book needed to end right there for some reason and only lasted a chapter longer. Rushed is an understatement. I think Mary should have talked with the daughter, Marnie, first before revealing anything to the man, as it would greatly affect Marnie and if she even wants to meet her biological father. *End of Spoiler*. I found this part and different elements to bring down the ratings for this book and they caused me to not enjoy the book as much as I was hoping.
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.
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