Missing Pages (Secrets of Mary's Bookshop #8). Vera Dodge. Guideposts (2013). 264 pages. Genre: Cozy Mystery.
First Lines: "'Mommy, look!' A little girl with wide dark eyes and a mop of dark curls stood in the gutter on the side of Main Street, pointing up at a giant paste and paper elephant."
Summary: It's the fourth of July and Ivy Bay is holding its annual parade followed by fireworks over the bay. The whole town turns out for the festivities as well as many visitors. Among the visitors are Mary's son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter. Mary's sister, Betty, had a hand in most of the floats in the parade. One of the floats is carrying the July Queen. This year, rising high school senior Amanda Branson was chosen as queen. Mary had the pleasure of getting to know Amanda when she worked an internship at her bookstore. The July Queen float is quite unique. It is meant to look like a fairy forest with several sparkly trees surrounding one large tree in the middle. The trunk of the tree is big enough for the chair that Amanda sits on to pass through. As the float moves down the street Amanda's chair moves through and around the tree as if she is on a lazy-Susan.
As the parade is winding down, the onlookers move toward the beach in preparation for the fireworks. Mary heads toward the docks looking for her friend Henry. On her way, she spots a young woman coming toward her on the other side of the street. She seems familiar, but something isn't quite right. She realizes the woman's gait is definitely Amanda's, but her hair is all wrong. Instead of Amanda's brown hair, this woman has blonde hair. Mary calls out to her, but the woman ignores her and disappears into an alley. Mary finds this strange, but continues on her way to the docks.
When she finally meets up with her sister to help tear down the floats, she learns that Amanda has gone missing. It seems that near the end of the parade route, the truck pulling the float that Amanda was on had a mechanical problem. Amanda went into the tree trunk and never came out. Everyone assumed that it was jammed. But when the float finally came to a stop, Amanda had vanished. Where could she have gone? Did someone take her?
When no one, including her mother or her boyfriend, know where she has gone, the police get involved and so does Mary. When Mary tells the police chief about the woman she saw who she thought could have been Amanda, he doesn't take her seriously because the woman had the wrong color hair. Mary is not sure how to explain this, but she persists. Will they be able to find Amanda before it is too late?
My thoughts: I love the cover of this book! I wish I could visit the shops in that quaint town. This particular story has a slightly different feel than some of the others. It feels slightly darker as it deals with someone who has gone missing. The mystery is introduced very early on in the story, so there is less about Mary's personal life and more about the mystery. This was fine, just different than some of the other books. Because Mary's family is visiting, she is not working at her bookshop and only stops in once or twice. Most of her time is spent following leads, not spending time with her guests. This bothered me a little, but she was good about contacting them and keeping them updated on when she would meet them.
The mystery was good with lots of clues and surprises along the way that kept me guessing. Mary's granddaughter even gets involved when she learns of something that one of Amanda's friends has not shared with the police. Everything becomes clear by the end.
The descriptions of the area near the docks with the alleys and buildings was very vivid. I have never been to Cape Cod, but I could picture what it was like. When reading an interview with the author at the end of the book I learned that she spends time at the Cape as often as she can and has been visiting since she was a child. Well, that explains the vivid descriptions!
This was an enjoyable read in a quaint setting with an interesting mystery.
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