Sticks and Stones (A Rachael Flynn Mystery)

Susan Meissner
Harvest House Publishers (2007)
ISBN 0736919155
Reviewed by Patty Inglish for Reader Views (3/07)

There should be a law against abuse and bullying, but the next best thing is increased awareness, like that raised by public health programs and Susan Meissner’s latest Rachael Flynn mystery, “Sticks and Stones.” However, unlike the schoolyard refrain, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me,” words can indeed injure a person and sometimes without remedy. This story offers some related insight regarding bullying and its dynamics and long-term results, as well as a gripping mystery.

Meissner offers a captivating puzzle that includes the presence of Christian faith in the hero, Ramsey county attorney Flynn, and her husband Trace. It is not a preachy indictment of society by any means, but a believably vital part of the couple’s life. This includes a gift Rachael received via the birth of daughter McKenna, manifesting as an uncanny discernment of events and information just beyond the senses of the average person. Rachel has become a profiler of sorts, but she does not see dead people and she does not “see” the whole picture. This gift is a combination of the words of wisdom and knowledge described as Gifts of the Spirit in First Corinthians 12:4, 7-11, and are tools to use in reasoning how to help the people involved. Believably, her Christian friends do not quite know how to handle her gifts and Trace feels left out of them. Unbelievably, baby McKenna never seems to cry.

Rachael works unofficially on the case of a deceased Ronald “Bucky” Buckett after she receives a different kind of gift: three anonymous letters that predict a body to be found at a construction site, but not a victim of homicide. A 25-year-old skeleton is uncovered and the story of the dead bully and his young victims, now middle-aged, comes to light in some surprising ways. One of these involves Trace and his friends Fig, Sid, and Brick, members of a quartet of artists that sketch crime scenes for Rachael when they are not sculpting Joan of Ark and such. These sketches hold the key to the mystery in an old house and the nearby woods.

Becoming almost obsessed with the case, Attorney Flynn stalls like a flooded carburetor when she tries to control her gifts too much, overreaching to grasp all the answers. Her younger brother Jason, doing a seven-year sentence for a crime he did not commit, is the one to counsel her that she should get out of God’s way and let her gifts work in her instead of trying to work the gifts. Finally taking his advice, Rachael is then able to solve this case by reaching out to the abuse victims and the reluctant murderer. She knows through her gifts that she will not be harmed in doing, so although she does not routinely race into dangerous situations in the story without thought and discussion.

This novel is fun, fast moving, and free of harsh language. It is serious about preventing bullyism and abuse and it shows people disagreeing in functional ways. Some of these lifelike characters discuss problems, compromise, and ask for help. Others show anger and sadness and put off dealing with their issues and conflicts through avoidance and lies for a season, but they confront their closet skeletons in due time. In another believable aspect of this novel, not everyone lives happily every after and not everyone has faith, but there is always hope as long as a body is breathing.

Teens through adults should like this novel “Sticks and Stones” for its excitement and commonsense approach to faith and choices as a part of daily living. It includes a list of anti-bully resources at the end, including the renowned Bully B’Ware program in Canada,
that can be shared with friends and neighbors.

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