Book of the Week #48 "Of Dubious and Questionable Memory"

Of Dubious and Questionable Memory

by Rachel McMillan

What happens when a former bachelor girl detective marries? Why, her partner simply has to travel down the street rather than the hall to stir up trouble and invite her friend on the case. Even with Jem now married to her dream guy, Ray DeLuca, Merinda still expects them to stay a team, and Jem couldn't stay away from detective-hood if she tried. When the two are contacted about a missing woman in Boston, they hop a train in no time flat, off to solve another mystery. Yet not without the disapproval of Ray and Jasper, who think Merinda and Jem are being a bit too reckless with their careers. Once in Boston, the two find it strange that the sister of the missing girl, Del, isn't more upset than she is. Even more so that the police gave up searching for her after little effort, and that no one in town seems to know who she is.

I think this is my favorite book in The Herringford and Watts Series so far, and that's saying a lot considering how much I enjoyed the other two books in the series. Little Women is one of my all-time favorite books, and I so loved reading about Jem and Merinda visiting Orchard House (that is on my bucket list!) and finding a copy of Little Women in Del's things. Rachel simply has knack for packing a lot of content into a small package and making it work. Though this novella is only 56 pages long, there is still much mystery and intrigue, wit, and deals with some of the issues between Jem and Ray. And it all works. For a short time in the book, I was almost put out with Ray, yet when he explained himself to Jem, I forgave him for his outburst at Jasper's birthday party. And he made lemon jam for her, and that definitely helped to smooth things over.

All in all, Of Dubious and Questionable Memory is, in my opinion, the best installment of this sparkling series yet. I enjoyed every bit of it, and look forward to more of Jem and Merinda's (and Ray and Jasper's) adventures.

I give this book a 5 out of 5.