Gr 3-6-It's a joyous occasion when a mail-order bride arrives for Ida Kate's Papa, but an uneasy feeling descends when Caroline Fairchild has the wrong color hair and is shorter than expected. With the encouragement of a friend, the child finds increasing evidence that the bride is not who she claims to be. Clues pile up and in the midst of a spring blizzard with her father on a trip to town, the 12-year-old has to decide whether her family is in danger and what to do about it. This is a simple mystery with little suspense since it is obvious from the first that "Caroline" is kind, witty, and capable. The details of life on the Kansas prairie in 1878 help to ground the story, but the blandness of the characters and clear outcome from the beginning leave little to capture readers' interest. This series entry is not successful as history or mystery. Frances Arrington's Bluestem (Philomel, 2000) provides a more vivid picture of prairie life and Joan Lowery Nixon's In the Face of Danger (Bantam, 1996) has a stronger sense of suspense. However, fans of the series will undoubtedly enjoy another safe journey to the sanitized past, where fathers know best, women never lose patience, and the children are above average.-Carol A. Edwards, Sonoma County Library, Santa Rosa, CA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Genre: Mystery