“When Mary's sister is late to come home one night, she doesn't think too much of it. Betty has a full social calendar and is probably enjoying a friends company. But then Eleanor Blakely, Betty's sister-in-law, calls to tell Mary that she has just received a distressing phone call: Betty has been kidnapped, and the kidnapper wants Eleanor to pay a hefty ransom.
While the police work with Eleanor to communicate with the kidnapper and get the ransom together, Mary just can't sit and wait for her sister to be rescued. Armed with a few scant clues, she does everything she can to find Betty. As the hours slip past and the kidnapper's demands increase, Mary investigates the most important mystery of her life. She knows her sister is counting on her, but can she uncover the truth in time?”
Series: Book #24 (of 24) 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, #22, #23, and #24.
Spiritual Content- John 15:13 at the end in bonus content; A few Scriptures are read, mentioned, & thought over; Prayers; Bible reading; Church going; Talks about God; 'H's are capital when referring to God; Many mentions of God, Jesus, & peace; Many mentions of prayers, praying, & blessings over food; Many mentions of churches, church going, a pastor, a sermon, & a prayer group; Mentions of Bibles, Bible reading, & those in the Bible; Mentions of blessings & being Blessed; A couple mentions of miracles; A mention of a praise song.
Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘stupid; A couple mentions of curses (said, not written); A bit of eye rolling; All about many mentions of kidnappings, kidnappers, abductions, ransoms, & threats; Mentions of a kidnapping that ended in a death; Mentions of a slashed tire (vandalism); Mention of a divorce; A few mentions of eavesdropping; A couple mentions of finding bodies; A couple mentions of deaths of spouses; A mention of an extreme food allergy that could kill someone; A mention of being drugged; A mention of lying; A mention of a rumor;
*Note: Mentions of brand name (Post-It, Tiffany and Co, Gatorade, Mountain Dew, & Tylenol); A few mentions of a movie, TV show, & celebrities (including Teen Beach Movie, Knots Landing, The Joan Rivers Show, Steve Jobs, & Bill Gates); A few mentions of a song & group (Jan and Dean); A couple mentions of stores (Home Depot & Lowe’s); A couple mentions of an author & fictional characters; A couple mentions of AAA; A mention of a car brand; A mention of the website, Urban Dictionary.
Sexual Content- A bit of Touches, Embraces, & Smelling; A mention of a married couple kissing.
*Note: Mary refers to Henry as her “rock” a couple times during a hard time.
-Mary Fisher
P.O.V. of Mary
246 pages
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My personal Rating-
The final book in the “Secrets of Mary’s Bookshop” series. Like most series, I’ve enjoyed some of the books more than others—especially as it’s a larger series written by multiple authors, but they’ve all been entertaining and easy reads. The last few books including this one seemed a bit more dramatic than the normal mysteries, but I suppose you could say it ended with a bang.
This 24th book was actually a bit hard for me to read because of the plot line hitting me in a place I wasn’t expecting about sisters. It was interesting that while I’ve read many suspense books with a kidnapping plot, this one never felt too suspenseful. I definitely wanted to know Betty was okay, but my heart never raced compared to a suspense book, which made me note that this series really has been more focused on mysteries and that can be a nice breather at times. :)
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.
