Diane Noble

Through the Fire is book 1 in the Mystery and the Minister's Wife series. The minister's wife is Kate Hanlon. Her husband, Paul, and she have moved from their old church, Riverbend Community, in San Antonio, Texas, to take over Faith Briar Church in the small town of Copper Mill, Tennessee. There is a larger town nearby named Pine Ridge. It's good thing that Pine Ridge will handle fires too large for Copper Mill's volunteers, because the Hanlons arrive just in time to see Faith Briar Church burning.

We're soon introduced to the living cross the Hanlons will have to bear: church board member Renee Lambert, who takes her Chihuahua, Kisses, almost everywhere. She's very opinionated and quite happy to make her opinions known. By chapter 6 Renee is asking Kate and Paul to look after Kisses while she's at an appointment. Later she's even telling Kisses that Kate is [the dog's] Grandma.

The parsonage is tiny and ugly except for its living room, which might be bigger than the rest of the parsonage. (Guess what the Hanlons are going to have to do with it while the church is being rebuilt...) There's a sliding glass door stained with minerals. I like what the stains resemble, though.

We learn early on that it's a case of arson, but who is the arsonist? Renee thinks she knows. Paul doesn't believe it. The man's backstory is tragic, but does that make him guilty?

Turns out a corporation, Worldwide Destination Resorts, wanted to buy the church's land. Suspicious, isn't it? Even more suspicious is that the CEO died in what might or might not have been an accident a few days ago. Then Kate starts getting death threats...

NOTES:

According to chapter 4: Kate and Paul's eldest is Andrew, a lawyer in Philadelphia. Rebecca is their youngest, an understudy hoping to act on Broadway, New York City. Melissa, their middle, is married and living in Atlanta. She has three children. The most recent is baby Mia Elizabeth.

Chapter 8: Do NOT feed your dog what Kisses, also known as 'Little Umpkins' was fed. A little garlic is okay, but onions are not good for dogs!

This isn't a bad cozy mystery. I like Kate and Paul and I didn't guess the arsonist.

Dog lovers: You won't get to meet the Philpott rottweiler, Maximillian, but there are plenty of scenes with Kisses the teacup Chihuahua.

Cat lovers: Kate gets to take care of Mrs. Philpott's cat, Ruffles, because her sons fear for their rottweiler while their mom is in the hospital. (Enid is the referee.)… (meer)

This is book two in the 'Brides of Gabriel" series and although it can be read as a stand alone story, I encourage you to read book one ('The Sister Wife') first, as it really helps you understand much of the background of this story. Once again, I was very upset and bothered by the way these people follow the Brigham Young belief system (Mormonism in the 1840's) and swallow hook, line and sinker, the glory that will be theirs through the practice of polygamy. It made me angry, but was well written and kept me turning the pages to see if these ladies would finally find freedom.

Recently widowed Bronwyn has become the second wife to Gabriel MacKay, and because she is/was best friends with her new sister wife, Mary Rose, she promises her that their marriage will remain strictly platonic. But that doesn't happen and Bronwyn struggles with her feelings for her new husband and the betrayal of a promise to her best friend. When Gabriel takes on a third wife, Bronwyn begins to really question the rightness of this religion.

Bronwyn and Mary Rose begin to plot their escape after some very horrible decisions are made among the leadership and the marrying off of young 13 and 14 year old girls to the old men. There is also a dead body discovered which is alarming to the two sister wives. Now they must decide how and when to leave, but it is a very dangerous thing to do. Who they will find to help them near the end of the book was a good twist to the story. Well done series that showed the author did her research and turned history into an interesting work of fiction.… (meer)