About the Book

Book: Such a Tease
Author: Chautona Havig
Genre: Christian Fiction/Historical/Mystery

My Thoughts:

After reading the first book in the Meddlin’ Madeline series,Sweet on You, last year, I really wanted to read the second book, but it hadn’t been written yet! Now it has, and it’s better than the first book. I loved reading Such a Tease. If you enjoy light mysteries, or stories about human interactions, you’ll probably like this book.

Madeline is still wondering about Vernon’s true character. She spent the whole of the first book trying to determine if he was a fit husband for her best friend, and now she’s trying to decide if his scheme of electrifying the entire city, starting with the slum area, is truly for the benefit of the people of that poor district—or for the benefit of his pockets? How can she expose him, if he is the fraud she thinks he is? Or is he the caring, loving man he portrays himself as?

Madeline has a new job in this book; she is now working at the bank. This, of course, gives her the opportunity to observe even more people, in different ways. It also gets her into some pretty interesting situations. Because she is working for Mr. Merton, the father of her best friend, she has to walk a tightrope, being very careful what she says, to whom.

There were many threads in this story that were skillfully brought together into one cohesive whole. Russell is still paying a lot of attention to Madeline, only, of course, because his sister asked him to keep her from becoming lonely while she was away in Europe. Madeline has several other friends, too, and they have a lively social life. The president is shot, and, as the city’s mayor, Madeline’s father is quite affected. I also appreciated seeing Madeline’s spiritual life growing. I’m liking her even more than in the first book! 

I really enjoyed reading this book, as I said. I loved the way Chautona Havig wrote in the style of the early 1900s, and I loved the little details that gave the flavor of the time—such as stepping around “an unfortunate package left by the passing horses.” Then there was Madeline’s statement, “That arrogance will cause mistakes. I only intend, if possible, to observe them.” I also had to chuckle at her thought, “Your pride in your humility serves only to create annoyance for all, Mrs. Hardwick.” So true! And then there was the word I was sure was a misprint—only to discover much later that it was intentional on the author’s part. I laughed out loud, literally, when I realized why she used that particular word.

WARNING: A woman is found murdered about halfway through the book.

The author’s synopsis:

Madeline, with a little assistance, discovers her old adversary is gaining a following in Rockland! Can she expose him for the fraud she’s sure he is? In book two of the Meddlin’ Madeline series, Madeline Brown has a new endeavor to occupy her time. But is it to keep her out of the way or a reward for her work in Sweet on You? With the help of her young friends, Madeline discovers her old adversary is gaining a following in Rockland! What’s a girl to do? But her new position also gives her opportunities to observe, and what she sees sets more than one new investigation in motion. What does her old suitor, Delbert Jackson, know? Why is Mr. Merton giving important papers to that scoundrel, Vernon Smythe, and whatever happened to poor Abigail Cooper? Add to these intriguing questions Henry Hardwick’s continued attentions, Edith’s newfound devotion to the temperance movement and Madeline’s determination to find her a more reliable suitor, and strange behavior from her Aunt Louisa and things heat up as summer fades from Rockland. Her dear friend, Russell, busy with an important project at work, finds himself unable to help keep her out of trouble and away from danger. Is Madeline going too far? Will her meddling get her in serious trouble this time, will it destroy her reputation irreparably, or will she rid Rockland of a scoundrel once and for all?

About the Author

Author of the Amazon bestselling Aggie, Past Forward, and HearthLand series, Chautona considers herself blessed to live in California’s Mojave Desert with her husband and five of her nine children. When not writing, which she admits isn’t often, Chautona enjoys blogging, paper crafts, sewing, smocking, photo editing, and old (read: before her parents’ time) music.

Guest Blog Post from Chautona

Leon Czolgosz is my new nemesis. He’s dead, but he ruined my book. No, really. The guy totally destroyed the opening pages of Such a Tease. Now, these days, not a whole lot of people remember the name of Leon Cozolgosz. I didn’t. But I’ll never forget him now (although I may never remember how to spell his name). Who is he? Only the guy who shot President McKinley. Why am I annoyed with him over a hundred years later? The idiot did this thing on September 6, 1901. You know, four days after this book opened? Yeah. Couldn’t he have done it on say… January 6, 1901? Even January 6, 1902 would have served my purposes. Look, I’m not as callous as I appear. Truly. But if President McKinley had to die, did his murderer have to do it when it would completely mess up my book?

How did it mess up my book you ask?

I’ll tell you. I left it out—the whole assassination thing. There I was, fixing a wedding date for one of the characters, when a thought occurred to me. She could be married on Flag Day—if Flag Day was a thing then. I didn’t think it was. I really thought Wilson was responsible for that—you know, creating holidays in between his notes to Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany or something like that. But I hoped. Somehow—just maybe. I mean we had Labor Day from Cleveland, why not Flag Day from McKinley. But noooooo. He didn’t. What did he do? He got shot. Four days after my book opened. And there wasn’t a single word about it in the story. Like I could ever get away with that. This was news! Big news. And nothing about it in the life of a daughter of a politician? I think not. Not only did this Leon Czolgosz (no, really. It’s spelled correctly) shoot the president on September 6^th, but he didn’t do a good job of it! Look, I think I’ve established that I didn’t want President McKinley killed. But if the guy with the unpronounceable last name had to do it, couldn’t he have done a good job of it? Couldn’t he have shot the president in the head? McKinley suffered for eight days before he died. Eight days! They thought he was getting better and then gangrene killed him. It would have been a mercy had Leon just shot McKinley in the head or the heart. Why the abdomen? Cruel, if you ask me, even for an anarchist. And it made adding the whole affair to my book even more problematic. No, really! Think about it. I couldn’t have the newspapers announce the death of President McKinley on September 7^th and then have a few mentions of the bank being affected or something. No… no… now I had to have a headline event, give false hope, and then add the death on top of it all. Look, I do an obscene amount of research for my books. No, really. Keen was slang in 1901. Woohoo! Look up “peachy keen”? Yeah. Can’t use it. 1950s. The telephone? Can Madeline expect to use one in a burgeoning city in 1901? Considering there were over 850,000 telephones in use, yes. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that a photographer who works for a local paper might have a telephone in order to receive calls requesting him to come photograph some big event—like the Mayor’s speech on the death of President McKinley, perchance? Yep. Somehow, I almost missed one of the biggest events in US history. Research saved the book—and ruined my timeline. All at the same time. Gotta love history. Or not. And Leon Czolgosz? Yeah. Thanks for nothing.

Buy the book on Amazon here.