The Hidden Gate by Marlene Chase

The Hidden Gate
by Marlene Chase

Hardcover: 257 pages
Publisher: Guideposts Books
Released: January 1, 2020

Source: Borrowed from the library.



Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Meredith Bellefontaine has recently reopened her late husband's investigation agency with her best friend and retired juvenile court judge, Julia Foley. Despite the anxiety that comes with starting a new business, leaving the comfort of her job as president of the historical society in Savannah, and recovering from a near-fatal heart attack. Meredith truly believes that this is God's next step for her life.


My Review:
The Hidden Gate is a mystery. Meredith and Julia investigated a case that Meredith's dead husband appears to have been investigating while also trying to learn more about a local family for a historical society. A local woman also hired them to find her mother, who deliberately disappeared from her life. Since the reader also gets the viewpoint of the hiding mother, we learn why she left. She knows what happened to the girl that disappeared years ago and fears retaliation. While Meredith did do some following up on leads and talking with people, the first case was basically solved by finding the hiding woman.

Since we know more than the investigators, the story read more like a romance (as Meredith literally ran into a love interest) and a historical (with the ongoing story of a white daughter of a prejudiced plantation owner befriending the black, hired help's daughter). There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting historical/mystery.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.