The Baby Thief - A Review

I've been reading so many good books lately. This one is by one of my favorite authors, L.J. Sellers.

What happens when a disreputable doctor starts a commune and becomes their religious leader? What happens when the women of his commune want to have babies by artificial insemination? Is the doctor impregnating young girls on their 16th birthday?

No one knows what's going on in the commune because, let's face it - most people don't want to know what goes on at a commune.

On the face of it women and their children are living quietly off the land and worshiping in a gentle way. Underneath is the kidnapping of a woman for her ovaries, the impregnating of young girls without their consent, two doctors going over the edge, and a criminal building his retirement fund from the process.

Add a reporter with very good connections with the police force. Mix with love and the kidnapping. It all makes for a real page turner.

The Baby Thief is available now for the Kindle and other eReaders and is due out soon as a paperback. Meanwhile, visit LJ Seller's web site for an excerpt of the story.

Marilynne

The Forgotten Garden - A Review

I’ve just finished reading The Forgotten Garden: A Novel by Kate Morton. This is a multi-layered cake of a story with several related story lines going at nearly the same time. I often had to go back and determine which layer I was reading. I found this annoying, but having finished the book, I admit to having enjoyed it very much.

A little girl is left on a dock in Brisbane, Australia after a large ship from England has finished unloading its passengers. She is holding a white leather suitcase. There is no one to fetch her and no identification on her. The dock master takes her in his care and when no one comes looking for her, he simply takes her home.

Thus begins the mystery. Who is this child and how did she get there? The child herself is not able to provide information. She simply tells him she was told to hide until the Authoress comes for her. The dock master and his wife raise her as one of their own. They don't tell the child how she came to be in their family until the father is old and dying.

The story, of course, sets out to solve this mystery. We have the story of the little girl, whom they call Nell. We have the story of her granddaughter, Cassandra. We have the story of how they individually go to England to try to solve the mystery. And we have the story of the little girl before she was hidden on the boat.

If you like puzzles, then this is the story for you. If you don’t want to work a little in order to savor the richness of the story, then perhaps you would like something else. Here's a description from the author herself.

Marilynne Smith

Missing Mabel by Nancy Mehr

I've just finished reading Missing Mabel by Nancy Mehl. This book is targeted for the Christian audience. The religious part of the story is very natural and not forced. Hilde Higgins could be one of your friends, maybe someone you know from church.

Take a woman who dresses hair for people who are about to be buried, mix it with a boarding house full of people, some good friends, a long lost friend, and a new friend and you have the beginning of a good book. No blood, no horror, no steamy scenes, just a good puzzle to work out.

Hilde takes her job at the town mortuaries seriously. Using a photo of the deceased as her guide, she does her best to make her clients look just like the person in the photo. Sometimes she even whispers in their ear “You look really nice.” Sweet of her, isn’t it?

On one job, she has only a quick glimpse of the deceased before the body is whisked back to the morgue for an autopsy requested by the grandson. When the body is returned for burial, Hilde takes a good look at the photo, comparing it with the body, and announces “This isn’t Mabel!” How could she possibly tell because her pet dog is shown in front of Mabel's face. Hilde is sure it isn't Mabel because the body has a side part and the photo shows it parted in the middle. She knows people of Mabel’s age don’t usually change the part of their hair.

No one will listen to her concerns and the body is buried as Mabel’s. Hilde expresses her concern, first to her friends, and then to Mabel’s family. No one seems concerned, though a few friends help her in her investigation. Hilde is sure the family wouldn't want the wrong person in Mabel's grave - and who is the person being buried anyway?

Along the way Hilde makes some new friends and solves the mystery of who killed Mabel, proving first that Mabel was murdered, then that Mabel is not the person the family buried.

Congratulations to Nancy Mehl for constructing a murder with no easy answers, and a lot of mystery. I enjoyed the book and I recommend it as a great read.

Missing Mabel can be purchased from amazon.com or from Barbour Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 719, Uhrichsville, OK 44683.

Marilynne Smith

A gushy review of a good book

I just finished reading Borderline by Nevada Barr. I am astonished how much this already great writer has improved. Borderline is a real page turner from the puzzling "Confession" to the last page.

Let me quote part of "Confession"
"For purposes of mine own I have done many terrible things. I have moved thousands of tons of rocks from . . . "

I read this short paragraph three times before I realized it was like an Acknowledgments page. Nevada is telling us that for the purpose of her story she has changed the scenery around a bit. I loved her amusing way of telling us so. Most acknowledgments are pretty dry.

Nevada Barr is known for her books that feature park ranger Anna Pigeon. They take place in the various National Parks. Borderline, the book, takes place in Big Bends National Park. Big Bend is on the border of Texas and Mexico and much of the story takes place IN the Rio Grand. Or should I say the best parts do.

Anna Pigeon has had a traumatic experience (told in the previous book) and has come to Big Bend with her husband Paul suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome. She's in bad shape. She and Paul plan a rafting trip through the park and down the Rio Grand. Everything goes wrong, of course, and Anna finds herself not only caring for a newborn baby, but carrying it around during some of the most treacherous parts of the book.

I can't tell you more without giving things away. This is such a good book and I hope you'll read it some day soon and find that you agree with me.

Marilynne