Charlotte Carter (2)

A friend gave me this book when she was finished with it. Like her, I've read other books in the "Mysteries of Sparrow Island" series. I really liked this one. There are several mysteries: 1. why the lighthouse seems to go out intermittently? 2. Why does the Coast Guard monitoring of the lighthouse say nothing is wrong even when the lighthouse is not working? 3. Who sent the flower centerpiece arrangement to the sisters?

I liked that Bobby is learning ham radio operation from his uncle. I show more guess he is rather motivated to learn because he gets to take the test rather quickly and passes on his first try. (A bit convenient that the test is given so soon after the topic comes up, but the rest of the book was so good, I could overlook that.). It was nice to see the outcome of that.

Robert (the uncle) was blinded as an adult by an act of ecoterrorism. He's still angry about it (and I gathered that others with him did not survive what happened, so some of his anger may be understandable). At first he's feeling useless and not self-sufficient because of his disability, but a blind lady who still goes out bird-watching as well as Mary (who has a different disability) help him to see that it only means he's differently abled. Bobby also helps Robert to understand the need to forgive.

I liked the interaction between Pamela, Mary, Abby and Robert.

I didn't really have much that I disliked from this story. show less

I no longer remember how I discovered this series. I enjoy spending time with Sparrow Island's residents. This particular book was shared to me by a friend.

The lavender festival sounds like a fun event. I liked the idea of lavender in lemonade, tea, and some foods--I'm not sure I've tried it as a drink or food. In some cases, the scent can be a bit overpowering--so I might have avoided some of the shops indoors that had an abundance of lavender scented products.

I'm glad the fires got the show more islanders thinking about disaster preparedness--though I wish it hadn't had to be arson fires that did so. (At least a couple of the fires were not arson--the one at the camp that started by dry lightning, Mary's kitchen fire, and a boat motor fire.) I was sorry it made Mary conscious of her disability again--but it was nice that the neighbors redirected that to others in their neighborhood that might need help more than Mary.

I didn't suspect who the arsonist was but I'm not sure we, as readers, were given enough information to solve it until shortly before the identity was revealed. show less

In this installment of the Mysteries of Sparrow Island, Abby and her friend Rick find more than they bargained for when they locate a geocache. Suspecting that the documents they find might be fake IDs being used to allow illegal immigrants to enter the U.S., Abby and Rick take them to the Sheriff. ICE gets involved as well. Is a smuggling or counterfeiting ring using their tranquil islands for no good?

San Juan Islands, smuggling ring, all God's creatures need a place to call home.