My take on: The Lightkeeper's Ball

Look at that cover. Do you get questioning your life through God? Do you get suspenseful, murder mystery from it? I don't, but it's all in there. And, it's well done.

The Lightkeeper's Ball by Collen Coble is the third in the Mercy Falls series. I didn't read the first two, but I don't think you need to. Olivia Stewart is drowning amid the rich elite of 1910. She wants out of a life of parties and power alliances. Her sister Eleanor has died under mysterious circumstances, throwing the Stewart family for a loop. Eleanor was set to marry Harrison Bennett, a man from a very wealthy family.

Olivia's money-hungry mother wants her surviving daughter to take Eleanor's place. Olivia has other ideas, like finding out who killed Eleanor. Under the title Lady Devonworth, Olivia sets out to find the truth. Except someone doesn't want her to find out the truth. Is it Harrison? Harrison isn't what he seems. Olivia thinks he's another one of the power elite, who thinks about nothing but business and money. Harrison thinks Olivia is just another society girl, who thinks of nothing but herself. They're both wrong.

Harrison, like Olivia, thinks outside the box. Harrison wants to build things. He wants to build a life without his father's money, power, and influence. He builds an airplane to take him away from that life. Is it enough? Is this what God wants?

"Harrison knew God had given him the talent to work with numbers and money. Why then did he yearn for something more than creating this? Why did his spirit long to be in his machine soaring above the clouds? His mother said he was throwing away God's gift by not tending to his talent in the boardroom. Did God always expect a man to use a gift? What about his own desires?"

We all yearn for more. Olivia yearns for more just like Harrison. She learns to see him in a different light. But is he a murderer? Or is he the man she has been looking for? It's quite possible he is. The relationship between Olivia and Harrison is at the heart of the book. In the beginning they're adversaries, but soon find out how much they have in common. A "scandal" forces them together. Their "friends" disappear because how can a fallen woman help them in society.

Just when you think you have a grasp on the murder mystery, another suspect emerges. A lot of the motives are greed, power, and revenge. I found myself speed-reading the last 80 pages. I just had to know who did what? When? Why? How? I wonder if the first two books were like this. I haven't read many Christian historical fiction novels. The message in the book isn't heavy-handed. It's very subtle and wrapped up in a great plot.

Rating: Superb

Notes: I received a copy of the book from The B&B Media Group in exchange for an honest review.