About this book:
“When Sarah Morgan’s brother, David, brings her a beautiful desk rumored to have belonged to a European archduchess, Sarah is fascinated. But as excited as she is about the antique, she can’t help feeling skeptical about its origin story…until she finds a cache of coded messages inside a hidden compartment in the desk. The messages concern the Austrian royal family and a mystery that has puzzled historians since the end of World War I. Could the secret she’s stumbled upon really lead to the location of the Florentine Diamond, missing from the Austrian crown jewels?
As Sarah tries to piece together the clues and uncover how this priceless desk ended up in Port Huron, she traces the history of her small Michigan town, leading her to a mysterious local mansion and surprising connections to people and places she never could have anticipated.”
Series: Book #2 in the “Gift Shop Mysteries” series. Review of Book #1 Here!
Spiritual Content- Luke 12:2 at the beginning; Scriptures are read, thought over; Bible reading & Devotional/Quiet time; Church going (including once where Sarah has difficultly focusing on the sermon because of the mystery); 'H’s are capital when referring to God; Sarah is concerned over her brother skipping/missing church and discusses it with him and their family (There isn’t anything at church that is exciting for him unlike others who have group activities, but says he isn’t in danger of waking away from his faith and is just taking a break for a while; Sarah doesn’t want to sound like she is meddling or being judgmental, but is worried about him; Some family members aren’t concerned and tell her that faith is more than church attendance and that he is in God’s hands; *Spoiler* Towards the end, he joins the church’s men’s softball team and tells her that he knows it’s important to be with other Christians *End of Spoiler*); Mentions of God & being in His hands; Mentions of those and events in the Bible, Bibles, & Bible reading; Mentions of prayers, praying, thanking God, & blessings over food; Mentions of churches, church going, pastors, services, sermons, hymns, & groups/activities; A couple mentions of a historical figure that is said to be a “devout Christian” and also later said to be a “devout Catholic”; A mention of a cross necklace;
*Note: Mentions of luck & being lucky; A mention of a man’s family business being almost like a religion to him.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’, a ‘stupid’, and a ‘my word’; Some eye rolling; A break-in & fear over it happening (up to semi-detailed); Mentions of deaths & grief (including a woman for her son); Mentions of wars, deaths, injuries, & illnesses, & Nazis; Mentions of break-ins, crimes, thieves, thefts, stealing, & stolen items; Mentions of a man bullying others to get his way; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A few mentions of suicide & assassinations (historical figures); A few mentions of smuggling rings and gangs; A couple mentions of graffiti; A couple mentions of jealousy; A mention of a divorce;
*Note: When researching consumption (tuberculosis), Sarah notes that she’s never met anyone who had it which seems to be because of the vaccine that makes it “largely preventable”; Many mentions of historical figures (such as Archduchess Marie Valerie, Empress Sisi, Emperor Franz Joseph I, and those connected to them; Also Princess Diana, Mozart, Queen Elizabeth I, Blackbeard, Harry Truman, King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, & Shakespeare); Mentions of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ by Jane Austen and fictional characters from it; Mentions of car brands; A few mentions of sports teams; A mention of a poem (‘The Wasteland’ by T.S. Eliot); A mention of an actor (Walter Brennan); A mention of Zumba classes.
Sexual Content- Some noticing (not detailed); Sarah is disappointed when she thinks a cute guy has a girlfriend; A guy flirts with Sarah a couple times & she blushes; Mentions of boyfriends/girlfriends, dates, & dating; A couple mentions of crushes; A mention of a relationship not sounding like a fling; A mention of a wife kissing her husband;
*Note: A couple mentions of historical figures marrying their cousins (which makes a modern-day person say “eww”).
-Sarah Morgan
P.O.V. of Sarah
262 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
Older High School Teens-
My personal Rating-
This is the second book in Guideposts’ newest cozy mystery series following Sarah who has recently opened a gift shop. This one shared about Archduchess Marie Valerie from Austria, who I knew absolutely nothing about and honestly wasn’t super interested to learn about, but I tried my best to keep up with the mystery. I was a little bored at the beginning personally because of this, however, once the mystery of a gemstone came into play, my attention was kept a little better as I like mysteries about sparkly jewels, haha!
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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