Rocky Road

Rocky Road

By: Josi S. Kilpack

The Scoop:

Dr. Hendricks has gone missing.  The community of St. George, Utah is devastated.  After all, he helped save countless lives with his breast cancer charity.  All of the polices’ leads have ended in dead ends and Sadie is 100 percent not getting involved in this mystery!  Nope not her.  She has a wedding to think about and a girl’s week to enjoy.  But how can she enjoy her girl’s week, when the girls want to get involved in the disappearance of Dr. Hendricks? 

Summary

Sadie is supposed to have a relaxing week in St. George, Utah with Caro, Pete’s cousin, and Caro’s cousin, Tess.  Sadie didn’t expect to have an investigation thrust on her the moment she sets foot in her hotel room.  Sadie doesn’t want to get involved at all.  She wants to turn it all over to the police.  After all it’s their job, and she’s done stepping on the polices’ toes.  But when the police ask her to get involved and poke her nose in other people’s business, how can she resist? 

Sadie as a Dynamic Character

Throughout the series Sadie slowly changes.  Sometimes it takes several books to see a change, and other times a drastic change happens over the space of one book.  As mentioned in previous reviews, I believe that’s what makes this mystery series different than other mystery series. 

Sadie had struggled with her faith since Pumpkin Roll after the death threat from Jane.  In Rocky Road she finally undergoes a spiritual change. Caro quotes a scripture to Sadie at the beginning of Rocky Road that states God doesn’t intend for us to hide our light under a bushel.  From there Sadie encounters several God fearing people including Officer Nielson, the detective assigned to the case.  For the first time since Pumpkin Roll, Sadie actually prays in faith.  She asks to be led to the right places to figure out what happened to Dr. Hendricks.  All the time Officer Nielson continues to mention God and how He plays a significant part in his life even though bad things have happened to him.  Sadie leans on Officer Nielson’s faith throughout Rocky Road until she’s able to stand on her own.

I had been waiting for this change in Sadie for several books now.  By not restoring Sadie’s faith immediately after Pumpkin Roll, (there’s about 1½ years between Pumpkin Roll and Rocky Road) Kilpack shows Sadie’s imperfections and insecurities that make Sadie a round character.  It also shows she’s not a superficial person, but someone that many of us can connect with.  I know there are many people who go years struggling with their faith because of something that happened in their lives.  I’m happy that Kilpack not only let Sadie struggle with her faith, but also brought back her faith slowly and believably.

Personal Review

I loved how Kilpack brought Caro back into the story.  I find that many minor characters who aren’t directly related to Sadie are usually forgotten after they make an appearance in one of her books.  When Caro showed back up and played a major roll in Rocky Road, I was thrilled.  I do, howerver, feel that Caro is somewhat a flat character.  Nothing about her stands out except she loves solving mysteries.  So does Sadie.  What makes Caro different than any other character?  In my opinion nothing.  As good as this book was, it could have a lot more complexity if Caro were a round character.  Despite Caro’s character, I would recommend this book.  It was a plot twister and page-turner.