Let There Be Suspects – Reading Guide
For a printable guide, click here
- Aggie Sloan-Wilcox has a peculiar family background, particularly for a clergy spouse, who might be expected to be more traditional. In Let There Be Suspects, Junie, Aggie’s mom, and Vel and Sid, her half-sisters, are introduced for the first time. Did you feel that despite the odd nature of their upbringing, they are still a successful and happy family?
- Ginger Newton Grable is, as Aggie says, the poster child for Sociopaths Anonymous. A foster sister of sorts to Junie’s girls, Ginger has created trouble since the day she came into their lives. Was it clear to you that she would be a murder victim? (Even if you didn’t read the back cover copy?)
- Was it equally as clear that Sid, who had the most reasons to despise Ginger, would be the foremost suspect?
- After Ginger was found dead, who was your own chief suspect?
- Aggie and Ed’s Christmas Open House is meant to bring the congregation together. Do you think that it succeeded? After this one would you attend any party Aggie was throwing?
- The Women’s Society punchbowl seems to court trouble. In Blessed is the Busybody, it became a weapon. In Let There Be Suspects, Sid pushes Ginger into it. What possible roles will the punchbowl play in future novels?
- Pain management becomes an issue in this novel. Dr. Peter Schaefer is dedicated to ending the pain of acute and chronic disease. In real life doctors like Peter are often sued or arrested for dispensing too many drugs. How do we as a society make that judgment? Was this story line thought provoking for you?
- For a minister’s wife Aggie ends up in the oddest places. In Blessed is the Busybody she investigated at a local dive called Don’t Go There. In Suspects she ends up at a flashy club in Cincinnati called Technotes. Where else might Aggie go in her relentless pursuit of justice?
- All the Ministry books are “suggested” by Old Testament stories. Which one did this resemble? Did the food at the Open House and Junie’s reaction to it give you any clue? Were there other similarities?
- Will Aggie ever get to the point where she figures out who a murderer is before he’s standing right in front of her? (Stay tuned.)
