Review: Trouble at Lake Lorraine by Sherry Chamblee

Book Cover and Synopsis:

Her best friend calls her reckless, her mom says she’s nosy - KerryAnne thinks of herself as blessed with hyper-observationalism. She hopes that someday it will all add up to a career as a journalist. For now, she just needs to get through Bible college, maybe even go on a date once in awhile.

Class projects, school newspapers, all-night cram sessions, terrifying noises in the middle of the night - the perfect start to a freshman year.

Trouble follows KerryAnne Dawson, she can’t help it. Mystery is around every corner, and she likes it that way. So when the mystery begins on campus, she’s ready for it.

There couldn’t be a better start to her first year in college than by uncovering the mystery at Lake Lorraine. 

My Thoughts:
I've felt for a while that the Christian fiction market needs more books with college-age characters, so I was happy to stumble across this title. Granted, mysteries aren't my preferred genre, but I was still curious to check it out.

The book is written in first person from Kerry's point of view, but in my opinion Tim is the highlight of the entire book. Initially I felt the story was just "okay", but my overall feeling greatly improved once his character became more integral to the story (about half way through). Tim is very happy-go-lucky, always looking for the humor in things, but he is occasionally serious as well. Kerry has a fairly serious personality, and she finds Tim's funny-man act completely aggravating...but nevertheless, when Tim is around Kerry tends to loosen up as she tries to come up with retorts to his smart remarks. The banter between them can't be calling anything less than flirting, though Kerry doesn't yet realize it.

The book is marketed as Young Adult, I'd say probably for mid-teens. There were a few things that struck me as slightly unrealistic, and occasionally the characters and their actions felt a bit more "high school" than "college". There is a noticeable lack of adults at the college; I honestly can't imagine college faculty just sitting back while events of this nature were occurring....but I think all of this stems from the Young Adult target audience. Despite all this, and my not being in the Young Adult age range (I'm mid-twenties), I still found the story to be worth reading. If you're a bit older, don't just instantly dismiss it! :)

Trouble at Lake Lorraine appears to be the start of a series about KerryAnne. The story ends somewhat abruptly; though the mystery is solved, everything else is left fairly open, so it's obvious the author has plans for additional stories about Kerry. I'm undecided if I will follow the series or not...Kerry is a bit too obsessed with mysteries for my taste, but I really did like Tim and the banter he has with Kerry. I'd be interested in seeing their relationship grow, so you never know, I may just decide to check out the next installment.

My Rating: 4 stars