| Title | : | A Body in the Belfry (First Ladies Club #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781311276490 |
| Format Type | : | ebook |
| Number of Pages | : | - |
| Publication | : | First published December 15, 2015 |
When Reverend Merrillanne Bishop accepts leadership of the First Baptist church in the picturesque seaside community of Bannoch, Oregon, she doesn’t know what to expect. Not everybody is pleased with the idea of a female pastor, but Merrill’s determined to prove to everybody—including herself—that she belongs in the pulpit.
Merrill’s always been adept at digging up the good in the midst of bad situations, so she soon finds new friends in the First Ladies Club and even meets Peter, a Seattle reporter, who offers her more than friendship. However, the bliss of moonlit walks and beachside bonfires shatters when Merrill discovers a body in her church’s bell tower.
As the frightening discoveries continue, Merrill struggles to comfort her flock, knowing full-well one of them could be a killer.
A Body in the Belfry (First Ladies Club #2) Reviews
-
First the author gave me the book for review .The book is a great read here i came with my help form my brother help they put the stuff in the house and now time to go through them.But let me introduce my self i am the first women minister you see they had me come to the little church and told no one.
i came her sick yea i now but cant happen now i have sermon do on Sunday the church people want to hear what i am going to say well i am trying to find out who knocking and it the lady's of the church what an i say thank you lord.
The lady's and i put thing way and then we talking about the lady groups and then order pizza they want me to join the women group and i told them i see if i could make it i can not guarantee it.
Well i am doing the service an they are not in the main chapel i ask why there is to much damage to the chapel and we are going to be doing it in small chapel for while .Well i have my brother and his friends to come and help if they can help in some way,
Well the storm is bad here and never heard such a bomb go off and found out it was the bell tower the rope came lose and i went to cheek it and what did i find in it a dead women and that not suppose to be there i call the police and then the deacon.
Well the bell is typed and then they are going to have to find out what happen who killed her and why put her up in the tower in first place Well i ask my brother to ask around and then things are started to happen in the church you see damage to the main area and the bath room,
Well guess what during the repairs the construction crew find a body in the baptist pool and now it goes again close the side of the church again,I am up set about this because i come to have service and then i can not.
Well you will see what happen the book goes to a lot of crazy thing but it if fun book and then you will not believe who did it like a Agatha Christi book she keep you wondering who and why. -
This story opens with the description of the murder of an unnamed woman, always a good start to a cosy mystery as the reader has no emotion invested in the victim, only the characters who are gathered afterwards and whose secrets and weaknesses are subsequently revealed.
Merrillanne, known as Merrill, is faced with the challenge of establishing the confidence of her new flock in Bannock, where lady pastors are frowned upon by men who resent their authority and where even the women secretly envy her status. Her congregation all have individual ideas about how the church should operate and pastors should behave.
Merrill handles the small minded, the morally superior and the downright creepy with aplomb, but before she can establish her own personality on the church, she discovers the body of a woman hanging in the belfry. How long the body has been there isn’t specified, although the death is decreed a suicide. I wondered why no autopsy was carried out which would surely have revealed an alternative cause of death proving it was a murder.
Merrill has to navigate through local feuds, gossip and prejudices as she gets to know her congregation, the other pastors and their wives, as well as battling a fever, Merrill is also distracted by the neglected state of the baptistery which she is determined to reinstate, only to be thrown into a family tragedy resulting in her orphaned sixteen-year-old nephew arriving from Nigeria to live with her. I was definitely suspicious of Ryan; any sixteen-year-old who eats tofu stir fry without a whimper needs watching, but I was wrong about him – he has no flaws – at all.
When vandalism and arson start happening, Merrill is as baffled as everyone else as to why her church would be targeted. When another body turns up, [again no autopsy was performed - or at least none that Merrill was informed about] and a local woman goes missing, it takes the journalistic instincts of Peter, a visiting reporter, to point out the connections to the police so they start taking the events seriously.
This novel is written in multiple points of view, so I had trouble keeping track of whose head I was supposed to be in as the narrative jumped, sometimes within paragraphs. However, Merrill is a delightful character and her interaction with Peter is a balm to her fractured nerves when she has so much to deal with. The story kept me reading until the end to see if I was right about the identity of the villain and their motives.
I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. -
[I received this book in exchange for an honest review. In no way was my review influenced by this.]
"It is a common joke among Christians that if you pray for wisdom or patience, God will give you plenty of memorable learning experiences in answering those prayers".
The Rev. Dr. Indigo Merillanne Bishop has come to Bannoch to lead a new, small Baptist flock. And not everyone is happy in this tiny town where change comes slowly. Her church has divided over "situations" many times in the past, and the rement is meeting in the Annex' Social Hall. However, the "parsonage": an underused and rather shabby apartment attached to the church building, is where Merill sets up her household. And as she gets to know her parish, she discovers a series of "unfortunate events" in the deaths of two people from Portland that happened in the church proper. The question is, neither person had any connection to the church so why was one found hanging in the belfry, and a second dead in the baptistry?
Interwoven into this mystery is the arrival of her nephew,Ryan, who has come to live with her after his missionary parents are killed.
A new parish, a fairly uncomfortable reaction from some. Is she truely meant to lead this flock?
As a retired Transitional Minister who served churches often not ready for, but unable to compensate a male minister ( and his family),I can empathize with both sides of that dilemma. It is well known the significant hurdles change can bring. Add murders to the equation and you get an interesting melange such that answers can hide in plain sight. This is an awesome book with great characters. Worth seeking out! -
When Merrill Bishop was offered the job to become the new Pastor of a church, She accepted the position. The church membership had steadily declined before Merrill became pastor and Merrill hoped to bring the membership up. Not everyone was happy to have a female pastor and a lot of mysterious things happened in and around the church, including a murder. After Merrill found the body, the person who murdered the deceased made life very difficult for her. This person wanted to go on with their life, never getting caught, and they found Merrill to be in their way of staying anonymous. This book had a lot of twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat, I couldn't put it down, and I highly recommend it. All the characters are multi-dimensional and I had to keep reading the book through until the end. J.B. Hawker is a wonderful author and you will not be disappointed. I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
-
I loved my introduction to this author.
This cozy romance has the right amount of suspense, engaging characters and the beautiful setting of coastal Oregon.
I always love stories where the Lord is placed first in their lives.
I am anxious to read more by this author.
A copy of this book was given in exchange for an honest review. -
A very good book.
-
Hawker is a very gifted writer who has created such delightful characters in The First Ladies Book Club Series that they quickly become your friends -- or at least you would want them as your friends!! A new main character, Reverend Doctor Indigo Merrillanne Bishop, a widow, has just been called as Pastor of the First Baptist Church, Bannoch, OR. She is warmly greeted by the First Ladies Club and invited to come to their meetings. In fact, they go out of their way to make her feel a part of the community. Her church family welcomes her, too -- 98% of them. The naysayers aren't happy because she's a woman & just because they wouldn't be happy with ANYONE or ANYTHING! Merri moves in to the parsonage and starts settling in. Very quickly everything changes. Her husband's brother and his wife (who are serving as missionaries in Nigeria) are killed and she is named as guardian for their 16 yr. old son Ryan. Prior to his arrival, during a horrendous storm, the ropes tying the bell in the bell tower come untied and Merri goes to retie them. Hawker writes an action packed, detailed description of Merri's ascent into the Belfry in the midst of the thunderstorm. It's so descriptive you feel as though you're standing next to Merri and experiencing it with her! That's when she discovers a body hanging in the Belfry. That'll get your blood pumping as you start your new job as pastor!! As Merri and Ryan settle in, Merri seeks the approval of her Deacon Board to start repairs on their beautiful Sanctuary that hasn't been in use for several years. She tells them her two brothers are willing to supply the labor if the church will pay for the material. Everyone is overjoyed -- except for ONE. There always has to be ONE! Repairs start and plans are made for a celebration Sunday. Until tragedy strikes again, and again, and again. However, there are some wonderfully unexpected moments such as when all the churches in the community gather together and have a potluck picknic twice and everyone enjoys themselves! No one is trying to steal anyone else's church members. They are just coming together as believers. They eat together but worship with their own congregation. Also, Peter, a handsome friend of Merri's brothers, Sage and Wolf, comes to town and ends up playing a significant role in helping solve the many mysteries that have gone on as well as romancing Merri. There are many other subplots and a major action packed ending that will have you reading as fast as you can!!
I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. -
I just read a really good book, y'all — A Body in the Belfry by J.B. Hawker. Let me tell you a little about it. A Body in the Belfry is the second book in The First Ladies Club Mystery series, following book one, The First Ladies Club, also really good.
In the prologue of A Body in the Belfry, the reader learns how the body in the belfry came to be — how the victim succumbed to the unknown assailant and ended up at the end of a rope — how, but not why. The prologue hooked me, and I remained engrossed in the story lines until the end. I was so caught up that I didn't want to put it down, and finished it in two days.
The main character, and my favorite, is the Reverend Doctor Indigo Merrillanne Bishop. Yes, Indigo. Her two brothers are named Sage and Wolf. Their parents were going through a hippie phase at the time. She goes by Merrill now.
Other primary characters are the ones in the First Ladies Club, "a support group for pastors' wives" who "also do community service projects." The various first ladies are unique, realistic, likable, and well-rounded. They are friendly and welcoming to Merrill, and she is very thankful for their support.
Author J.B. Hawker has created a very believable world of Bannoch, Oregon. She describes it with just the right amount of detail, so that I can picture it — and want to visit there. The citizens of Bannoch are all three-dimensional and realistic, including the secondary characters.
I liked how everything — all of the sub-plots — comes together at the end. You won't want to miss the thrilling climax! I really love that part, with its edge-of-your-seat excitement.
A Body in the Belfry is a fast-paced and enjoyable read. After finishing the book in two days, I was a little sad to leave the First Ladies Club that I have grown to love. I'm looking forward to Author J.B. Hawker's current work in progress, A Corpse in the Chapel.
To sum it all up, I really enjoyed A Body in the Belfry by J.B. Hawker, and grant it Four Stars!
Note: I received a complimentary copy of A Body in the Belfry in exchange for my honest review. All opinions shared are 100% my own.
Originally published on my blog
Jane Reads -
Rev. Merrillanne, new to town and a woman minister, finds friends in the First Ladies Cub and the community. It's hard enough moving to a new town, but when a body is found in the belfry and other deaths follow, Merrillanne and her new friends help her find her way as well as find the killer. On top of that she takes in her newly orphaned nephew and has a new man in her life that just may be the One. It was an excellent second book in the series and I like how the author is using the same characters of the village but a different main character in each book. I can't wait to read the next one. I received this book free in exchange for my honest review.
-
This second book in the series introduces some new characters who take center stage and retires some from the previous book to the wings. I really am enjoying this series.
