Mandie and the Secret Tunnel by Lois Gladys Leppard

~Saturday Stories~

"“Don’t get so close, Amanda. You might fall in.” Her mother grasped the back of her long, dark skirt. Mandie tried to pull free. Her tear-filled blue eyes sought a glimpse of her father through the homemade coffin resting by the open grave. “I want to go with you, Daddy!” she was mumbling to herself. “Take me with you, Daddy!” she tugged at her long, blonde braid in her grief."

When her father dies, Mandie is left with her unfeeling mother and cruel sister. Things don’t get better when she is sent to a neighbor’s farm two miles away to live. Mandie’s two friends are Joe, an old schoolmate and a great comfort, and Uncle Ned, her father’s faithful Cherokee friend. Will she be able to run to safety with Uncle Ned? Will she finally get to know the truth about her family? Where does the secret tunnel lead to? Most importantly, does God still love her?

Mandie and the Secret Tunnel, the first of the forty-book Mandie series, teaches important life lessons. Why does God take our loved ones? Is it because we did something wrong? Will God love us after this? Can we trust God fully? The whole focus of the book isn’t so much on God, but He is certainly very important. This story will entertain the younger teenager as well as show that God really cares.

“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Psalm 23: 1

Learn more about Lois Gladys Leppard.

Shadow of Doubt by Terri Blackstock

~Saturday Stories~

Typical Celia: Celia reached for a tissue next to the bed and blew her nose. "I read about all those martyrs in the Bible who walked into furnaces and lions' dens and were crucified and beaten and beheaded... and I kept wishing that I had some greater purpose for my suffering, too. ... But there isn't any grand purpose here, Allie. There's no greater good. It's all just a mistake."

Celia's husband had died of arsenic poisoning.  And she was accused - though not convicted. And just when Celia thought the nightmares were over, her second husband gets poisoned too. Who is the killer and why would he want to do this to her again? Doesn't anybody believe that she's innocent?

Shadow of Doubt is not only a mystery but a Christian one. Throughout the story, Celia learns to trust God with the battle instead of trying to do fight it herself.

I wasn't ready for the length of the book -370 pages - and would have liked a faster-paced novel. However, I'm not the targeted audience, which would probably find the length acceptable. The story is told from multiple points-of-views. About halfway through I thought about it, figured out who the murderer was, and later had the satisfaction of saying "told ya." I wasn't prepared for how smart he was, though.

This is the second in the Newpointe 911 series. The first is Private Justice, and the rest are Word of Honor, Trial by Fire, and Line of Duty.

For more on Terri Blackstock visit her website and Facebook page.