Reviews: The Jennie McGrady Mysteries #1 & #2

Hope you all had a great 4th of July yesterday! 🙂

Jennie McGrady Mysteries #1: Too Many Secrets

By Patricia H. Rushford

Nate, Jennie’s little 5-year-old brother, is having a birthday party, and Gram is late. Everyone is slightly concerned, except Jennie, who is beyond worried. She’s convinced something bad has happened.

On the radio, she hears the news about a stolen jewels. Could there be a connection?

On top of that, Jennie finds out that her mom is dating a new guy. She is convinced that her dad is still alive – they never found his body after the plane crash – but to her mom, five years missing meant that he was gone, and she is ready to move on. Jennie is floored. She has a plan in place that involves Gram to find her missing father.

But with Gram missing, her plan can’t come to fruition. She is determined to find Gram, not just for the sake of her plan, but because she is scared for her grandma’s life.

This is slightly off-topic, but the author mentions the Nancy Drew books and the Twilight Zone TV series, both of which I’m a fan of. I really appreciated that. XD

I found one small error on page 38: “Mom told us to smile while she focused the camera and took another dozen pictures.” The book is told in third person, so “us” should have been “we”. It didn’t really take away from the book at all, but it did make me curious if the author had written a draft of the book in first person at some point…

Jennie McGrady Mysteries #2: Silent Witness

By Patricia H. Rushford

Jennie’s mom is now engaged, but at least Jennie is glad to spend her summer away from home to get away from the drama for a while. Or so the thinks…

What started out as a vacation to Florida at a dolphin research lab turns into a mystery involving vandalism – and a murder from years past that Jennie feels she must solve. The solution to the mystery could be easy: There was a witness. Except that she no longer speaks – and is a Silent Witness.

And even though it is #2 in the series, I don’t think it is crucial to read the book one first. I didn’t, but I wished I had, because it felt like I was missing out on some of Jennie’s backstory at times. X)

Overall:

I have fallen in love this series. The mysteries are thrilling. These are two books that are really hard to put down once you start reading them. There are many twists and turns in the plots. It felt almost like a virtual roller coaster. They are great! I can’t wait to read more of these.