“Harriet Bailey gets a wonderful surprise when Ashley Fiske, her friend from the States, brings her young son, Trevor, to White Church Bay for a visit. Harriet cannot wait to share the village’s charms with her friend, but she never predicted they would end up solving a mystery together! An unpublished manuscript by a famous British children’s author named Adelaide Evergreen has turned up in Harriet’s aunt Jinny’s cottage. The book claims to tell the truth behind an infamous and mysterious railway crash that happened in White Church Bay in 1917, on the fringes of the Great War.
As Harriet delves deeper into the mystery, it’s difficult to tell where literary license ends, and reality begins. And when it is revealed that Harriet’s relative may have had a hand in causing the train tragedy, the stakes become personal. Will she find the truth at the end of the line?”
Series: Book #8 in the “Mysteries of Cobble Hill Farm” series. Review of Book #1 Here, Book #2 Here, Book #3 Here, Book #4 Here, Book #5 Here, Book #6 Here, and Book #7 Here!
Spiritual Content- Luke 8:17 at the beginning; A couple Scriptures are quoted; A few Prayers; Most 'H's are capital when referring to God; Church going (once, which Harriet struggles to pay attention to the service and when asked her thoughts, says it was encouraging even though she didn’t fully absorb the message); Mentions of God & His paths for us; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of church, church going, a hymn, services, & a sermon; A couple mentions of miracles; A mention of providential interference; A mention of the song “God Save the King”;
*Note: It’s noted that a deceased person had “flown to the arms of heaven”; A man thinks he is looking at an angel when he sees a beautiful woman.
Negative Content- Some eye rolling; Being threatened, Being chased, Being hit and knocked unconscious, Being trapped in a fire, Pain, & Injuries (up to semi-detailed); Seeing someone become unconscious after falling and hitting their head (barely-above-not-detailed); Seeing a train crash (up to semi-detailed); All about & many mentions of World War I, a train crash and accident, spies and sabotage, & someone profiting by selling goods on the black market; Mentions of deaths (including from a car accident and a respiratory illness) & grief (including from a wife for her husband and young son for his father); Mentions of a recent near-death experience (Book #7); Mentions of Canary Girls during World War I, chemical exposure, & illnesses (including a fatal liver illness); Mentions of explosives, working in a TNT factory and the dangers, & near deaths in the factory; Mentions of a fire & someone being left to die in one; Mentions of stealing, stolen items, thefts, thieves, & break-ins; Mentions of forgeries, bribery, threats, & manipulation; Mentions of trespassing; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; A few mentions of criminals; A few mentions of two dogs fighting & being aggressive; A couple mentions of dead bodies and a mortuary; A couple mentions of jail & arrests; A couple mentions of stalking & stalkers; A mention of a cat burglar; A couple mentions of gossip; A mention of jealousy;
*Note: Mentions of actors/actresses & a movie (Rex Harrison, Audrey Hepburn, & My Faith Lady); Mentions of car brands; A few mentions of Jane Austen; A couple mentions of Florence Nightingale; A couple mentions of Houdini; A mention of someone suggesting that another should be committed to an asylum.
Sexual Content- A few touches, embraces, flutters, warmth, & blushes; Some noticing (barely-above-not-detailed); Harriet and Will recently admitted to feeling more than friendship for each other; Mentions of dates, dating, & boyfriends/girlfriends; A few mentions of two young men eyeing a young woman with interest and her not being interested in being a trophy for them to compete over; A couple mentions of blushes; A couple mentions of a “hunk/hunky” man; A mention of making eyes at someone; A mention of flirting; A mention of jealousy; Very light attraction & the emotions of possibly being more than just friends with someone;
*Note: Harriet thinks that a young boy will change his attitude about romance in a few years (as he currently says “yuck” about it); A mention of a married couple having a “notoriously independent relationship”.
-Harriet Bailey, age 34
P.O.V. of Harriet
245 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
While this book was overall clean, my personal rating was affected by my enjoyment level of the book and plot and also the writing style not being my favorite.
This one was very jumpy in terms of the writing style and because we just launch into the mystery and new characters introduced, it felt off to me. So that was a bummer. I wasn’t quite sure why I was supposed to care about the train crash? It’s suddenly introduced and Harriet gets wrapped up in the document about it, but I don’t feel like there was enough prior explanation about it and the importance.
There were notes from 1917 but I’m not clear if it was supposed to be the document/report that was found in the present day or if it was a nod to almost a dual-time novel. If it was supposed to be the document/report that was found, it was written half like a fiction book and half like a newspaper article, so it was a little strange.
Harriet didn’t act like herself in this book—which always happens once a Guideposts series in my opinion because of all the different writers. She got so distracted with the mystery that she forgot about her clinic for one, which she’s always put the clinic and her clients at the top of her priorities no matter what is going on in the prior books. She also did some things that felt out of character. I would say it was 80/20 on the mystery to the animal/vet parts when it’s usually 60/40 or vice versa. There’s only one mention of Maxwell and Charlie even!
This eighth book does reference events in the prior book but does not name or give anything away, really. This is most likely because of the different authors and overlapping deadlines/writing.
It was a clean mystery and I think others will probably enjoy it more than me, but it definitely wasn’t my favorite of the series.
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.