|
A Penny for Your Thoughts (The Million Dollar Mysteries, Book 1) | 
 enlarge | Author: Mindy Starns Clark
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
Category: Book
List Price: $11.99
Buy New: $10.15
You Save: $1.84 (15%)
New (15) Used (13) Collectible (1) from $5.75
Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 69136
Media: Paperback
Pages: 348
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 1
ISBN: 0736909923
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780736909921
ASIN: 0736909923
Publication Date: July 1, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Callie’s latest assignment—go to Philadelphia and present an old family friend of Tom’s (her employer) with a check for $250,000. Wendell Smythe heads a relief organization and needs immediate funds. When Callie goes to his office, check in hand, she discovers him dead on the floor. At Tom’s request, Callie moves into Smythe’s home and begins a murder investigation. But it’s a dangerous place to be, for the family has secrets they would rather not have uncovered. Callie’s only hope is that God will help her use her investigative skills to discover the murderer and escape the web of deceit that surrounds her. This fast–paced, inspirational mystery series will delight readers with its hint of romance and strong heroine
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
Great mystery and Unapologetic Faith February 18, 2008
Emily Benedict (CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Two things make good Christian fiction. One: a good story line. In the case of a mystery, it needs an interesting crime and a solution that is not obvious. Two: an unapologetic approach to faith. Too often Christian writers shy away from actually discussing their faith, ending in a story that vaguely mentions God and behaving in a moral manner.
I am very happy to say that The Million Dollar Mystery Series fulfills both requirements. Mindy Starns Clark crafts excellent mysteries that keep the reader guessing to the last minute. I have often thought she challenges Agatha Christie with her plot twists and hidden culprits. She also weaves stores of faith and solid Christian doctrine without sounding overly preachy.
Can't read just one...... December 28, 2007
K. Lee
Mindy Starns Clark never disappoints! This book only leaves you wanting more....thankfully there are 4 more books in this series. When you finish this series go for the Jo Tulip series she wrote, equally as awesome!
A penny well spent April 10, 2007
Deborah (Reston, VA)
Callie Webber works for the J.O.S.H.U.A. Foundation, checking out charities to make sure they are practicing what they preach. If she finds them to be in good standing, she awards them with a check for their hard work. Her boss is a man named Tom, who Callie knows very little about. As she prepares to take a well earned vacation, Tom asks her to do a favor for an old friend of his and check out his charity. Callie obliges and postpones her trip, only to visit the guy and have him turn up dead minutes after she arrives. As a former PI, it's in her nature to find out who the murderer is and also as a favor to Tom. There are many suspects with many motives making this a challenge for Callie while also testing her relationship with Tom.
I had enjoyed Mindy's SmartChick series so I wanted to go back and read the rest of her books. I had heard really good things about this series, and boy I was not not disappointed. This was a top-notch mystery with a strong, hard to put down storyline. I love Callie's character, she is strong and very resourceful. She's good at noticing the tiny details which is probably why she was a PI. The reader also feels for her as she is a young widow after losing her husband only recently. Tom is a mysterious guy and if I had been in Callie's shoes I would have done some inspecting on him! The idea of the company is very cool, giving to those who deserve it but don't ask for it. I also found it very interesting about what was said about the exploiting of sponsoring children. It is true that most people do not find water irrigation very attractive to spend money on, but they will spend money to help a cute kid, so thus pictures of the kid is reused to attract people. So the people's money goes towards water irrigation but they think it's helping the kid. Is it deceiving for companies to do this, especially if they are Christian based? Why do people feel good if they help a kid, but they think it's wasteful to help an entire community? Very good stuff to think about.
Overall this was an excellent mystery story with twists I didn't see coming and likable characters making this book a great start to the series. I'm hooked.
 Sometimes costs more than a penny December 15, 2006
David Brollier (Huguenot, NY)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Mindy Starns Clark premiers her "Million Dollar Series" with a winner. Just put yourself in Callie's shoes. You've been trusted to run down the backgrounds of numerous non-profit organizations to see if they're legit. You have the respect of your boss, although you've never met him. Yet now, seemingly out of the blue your boss wants you to present a check for $250,000 without doing the standard background check. This goes against the grain a bit, but hey, you never know. They guy's a friend of your boss. Still it's hard to give that money to a dead man, and even harder to get out of town when your boss insists you take an active roll in the investigation. First the means of death, then a list of suspects, and gee, she's living in the house WITH all of the suspects. Clark handles a brand new mystery with the same elegance of "Ten Little Indians" and leaves you guessing all the way. Truly remarkable work. (I only give 5 stars for extraordinary work, so a 4 star from me is like a 5 star from most other reviewers). If you're a mystery buff this book should definitely be on your shelf.
Great Start to a Promising New Series October 28, 2004
Mark Baker (Santa Clarita, CA United States)
17 out of 18 found this review helpful
Callie Webber is looking forward to a week's rest as soon as she drops off one last check for her boss Tom. But when Wendell Smythe says that it's only a loan to Feed the Need and not a gift, Callie finds herself with an hour's paperwork to do. Returning to his office with the proper forms all filled out, she finds Wendell dead. The police quickly rule it a murder and ask Callie to stay in town as a material witness. Then Tom asks Callie to investigate. And how can she turn her boss down?
Staying with the Smythes gives Callie easy access to her prime suspects. But beneath the surface of a seemingly happy family lurks some sinister secrets. Who is leaving threatening messages for Sidra? What drove Sidra and Derek apart? What was going on at the company? And does this have anything to do with the murder?
Meanwhile, Callie is finding her own emotions hard to deal with. Being around this much sadness and death is reminding her too much of the death of her own husband. Can God help her deal with her own renewed emotions and solve the case?
The titles of this series really intrigued me, so I decided to give the first a try. It was certainly worth it. Callie was a very human character and I found myself chocking up on more then one occasion with the hurt she was going through. She's also strong and fun to hang out with. While the story started a little slow, it gained speed quickly. The twists came so fast in the final 100 pages I stayed up much later then was wise to finish. I never saw the ending coming, either.
If the rest of the series is this good, I can't wait to read it. The author has won herself a new fan.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
