“Gift shop owner Sarah Morgan is helping Justine Hendricks, a young scholar, with a research project―but then a nineteenth-century logbook and diary entrusted to the student disappear! Since Justine is part of a group volunteering at the lighthouse, there are plenty of possible suspects around her who could be responsible for the theft. To make matters worse, rumors are swirling that the lighthouse is haunted―a thing Sarah does not believe for a moment.
Soon Sarah and Justine are drawn into the compelling story of a nineteenth-century woman who may well have been Michigan's first official female lighthouse keeper. Sarah will need all her sleuthing skills if she is to uncover the surprising connections between the modern-day theft, the strange happenings at the lighthouse, and this dauntless woman from the past.”
Series: Book #5 in the “Gift Shop Mysteries” series. Click on the numbers to be taken to the prior books’ reviews: Book #1, Book #2, Book #3, and Book #4.
Spiritual Content- James 1:2-3 at the beginning & later quoted in the book; A few Scriptures are quoted & mentioned; Prayers & Thanking God; Church going & a sermon; Going to Bible study; Sarah asks her pastor his opinion on why people believe in ghosts (he gives some thoughts and says that sometimes “people search for answers in unusual places”due to pain and suffering not making sense from our human perspective); Sarah feels calm when near nature and thinks of her pastor previously saying that “that God’s presence didn’t exist just within the walls of the church but in living beings all around them”; Mentions of God, Jesus, & His timing; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, services, pastors, & sermons; Mentions of Bibles, Bible studies, & devotionals; Mentions of blessings & being blessed; A mention of Heaven; A mention of Christians; A mention of a hymn;
*Note: Two new side characters are “ghost hunters”, run a social media platform about paranormal places, and the wife has the “‘gift’” to sense the “energy surrounding people and places” (which she says is not talking to ghosts, but picking on the “vibes” around certain humans, objects, or landmarks); Sarah and the other characters do not believe ghosts are real and often say so; Sarah strongly believes that there are reasonable explanations found in God’s laws of nature for all of the possible “ghosts” or “haunted” places; Mentions of “ghosts”, places being “haunted”, & people believing in both; Mentions of luck & someone crossing their fingers; A mention of Mother Nature; A mention of a food pairing being a “match made in heaven” (which Sarah says “Amen” about in agreement); A mention of food smelling “divine”.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘dumb’; Some eye rolling; Trespassing; Many mentions of stolen items, stealing, crimes, thieves, & a theft; Mentions of deaths (including by drowning) & grief (including for a wife & a husband); Mentions of a missing person; Mentions of break-ins, vandalism, & trespassing; Mentions of arrests & jails; Mentions of injuries & pain; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of gossip & rumors; A mention of a fire; A mention of a divorce; A mention of the lottery; A mention of hunting;
*Note: Mentions of authors, books, & fictional characters (Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Walt Whitman, ‘Hamlet’, & Sherlock Holmes); Mentions of car brands; A mention of a painting (Mona Lisa); A mention of a baseball team; A mention of Halloween.
Sexual Content- A few kisses from a married couple in the historical chapters (no details); Some embraces, touches, butterflies/flutters, nearness, & noticing (most in the historical time period; barely-above-not-detailed); A few winks & blushes; Sarah says she doesn’t have time for a romance right now, but does have flutters and feels delight when around Flint (this is a potential budding romance); In the historical time period, someone accuses an unmarried couple of “parading around as husband and wife” (by living in close quarters without being married), but the woman says “nothing of the sort” has happened between them; Mentions of flirting, blushes, & crushes; Mentions of dates, dating, & boyfriends/girlfriends; A few mentions of married couples sharing kisses; A bit of love, falling in love, & the emotions (in the historical time period).
-Sarah Morgan
P.O.V. mostly of Sarah
6 chapters set in 1849, 1850, & 1855
257 pages
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Pre Teens-
New Teens-
Early High School Teens-
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My personal Rating-
Before starting this book, I decided that I wanted to go into it blindly by not reading the back cover blurb—I knew the mystery would center around a lighthouse because of the title and cover, but that was it! Which turned out to be kind of fun and I think I’ll be doing that again for this series.
Once into the book, I wasn’t super sure about the “haunting”, “energies”, and “paranormal” parts of this book as I strongly do not believe in that kind of thing, but thankfully, the main character shares that same opinion! Basically her, all her friends, and the majority of side characters do not believe in ghosts, which was refreshing to see. A new side character that is introduced in this book (that I doubt we’ll see again in this series) says she has the ability to sense “energies” off of items (which I concur with another character about being a bunch of hogwash) and while Sarah disagrees with this being a thing, she is still kind and respectful to the woman. Usually, I do not like anything that hints to ghosts or whatnot being real, but I’m glad how the author handled it in this book and thought it was overall done well because it’s disapproved that any ghosts were involved in the mystery despite some silly rumors saying otherwise. (Which is what I wanted and expected from a Christian publisher!)
Speaking of this author, I’ve not read anything by her before, but I hope (and assume) she’ll be writing another book or two for this series. Even though the mystery wasn’t the most compelling or engaging for me personally, I found myself reading this book faster than all the previous ones in the series and enjoying the writing style. While it’s still a 3 star rating for me, I would say it’s my favorite of the series so 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.
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