Echoes of Mercy by Kim Vogel Sawyer

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Title: Echoes of Mercy

Author: Kim Vogel Sawyer

Echoes of Mercy is set primarily in Sinclair, Kansas in the early 1900s. The story centers around Dinsmore’s World-Famous Chocolate Factory. Caroline Lang, an investigator for the Department of Labor, is sent on assignment to the chocolate factory to investigate the suspicious accident and death of a fellow investigator. She goes undercover as Carrie Lang and meets the charming and intriguing janitor, Ollie Moore. Ollie Moore, aka Oliver Dinsmore, is heir to his father’s chocolate factory and is working undercover to see the day to day operations and decide what he can do to improve things when he takes over the chocolate factory.

Gordon Hightower, who has his own aspirations to one day own the factory, manages the factory and no one will stand in his way of getting what he wants. But Carrie and Ollie have other ideas.

Meanwhile, Carrie meets and befriends fifteen year old Letta when she covers for her theft and then teaches her that stealing is not the way to obtain what you need. After Letta’s father’s death, Carrie and Ollie are faced with the challenge of finding a home for Letta and her two brothers, Leslie, and Lank.

In the process of solving mysteries and working out problems, Oliver and Caroline discover more than they bargained for. They find love and mercy in more ways than one.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It has about 4 primary characters and 6 supporting characters. Each character, whether primary or supporting is well-developed. Kim Vogel’s description of each character immediately brings to your mind’s eye a picture of what they might look like.

The story is a little bit of everything: mystery, romance, adventure, and lessons in Christianity. I enjoyed how Kim wove multiple stories into one: Ollie and Carrie and the mystery of the chocolate factory death and the secrets they uncover, Oliver and Caroline’s budding romance, and the story of Letta, Leslie, and Lank and their search for a place to belong.

This was a very well-written book, beginning to end. This is the second book I have ready by Kim Vogel Sawyer and both in my top 5 favorite books that I’ve read so far this year. (The first was Waiting for Summer’s Return.) I highly recommend not just Echoes of Mercy, but anything by Kim Vogel Sawyer.