Review
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Title: The Topaz
Author: Jennie Hansen
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Genre: Fiction
Year Published: 2007
Number of Pages: 289
Binding: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-59811-456-0
Price: $15.95

Reviewed by Karen Hamilton

Serenity Caswell is an outspoken young woman who is taking care of her father, Charles, after the murder of her mother, Hannah Waterton. They live in a small Quaker town in Pennsylvania. Serenity knows little about her mother’s past, except that she is a Mormon. When two young men pass through town on their way back to Salt Lake City, she learns more about her mother than she thought possible.

Charles Caswell owns and operates a store of fine products. He travels to “the Big City” to make trades, purchase items for his store and to check on his investments. As he visits with the gentlemen from Salt Lake, he decides to go to New York to see if he can find out anything about his wife’s murder and her missing Topaz ring.

The visitors from Salt Lake City, James Holmes and Edward Benson, are back in town. In her father's absence, Serenity is running her father's store. She is shocked late one night when her father comes in, shot and bleeding. The two visitors are there when her father returns, tries to tell Serenity something about what he discovered, and dies. Now she is left with her mother’s saddlebag, the store and a large fortune that she didn’t know her father had. Serenity is in shock and is faced with a horde of individuals that want something from her and are willing to steal or kill for it.

When a local judge gives her an ultimatum, she marries a man she knows little about. As this next step of life happens, Serenity’s world is invaded with sinister events that threaten to destroy all she has and end her life. Her new husband does his best to keep her safe and help her in her new role of wife and confidante. Will greed and selfishness make life impossible or will her growing love and faith keep her safe?

This book is a stand alone book in a series, but it is helpful to have read the previous two. The story takes place shortly after the Civil War and is filled with more intrigue, twists and turns than you would ever expect. It is an enjoyable, easy read that can replace a gloomy day.