The three central figures are Scout Johnson, passionate about her work as a ranger in the National Park Service (NPS) and unfortunate enough be named Magnolia Pearl by her dynamic and totally different personality type mother Lucille.
Naki Dana is a Native American of the Penobscot Nation.
And then we have Chase Fletcher, who runs the Bar Harbor Gazette, a local newspaper which is barely hanging on by a thread to avoid going under.
And so we have an awkward sort of love triangle, where Chase seems convinced that Scout is interested in him, despite myriad indications that she isn't. (Although there's one bit where he puts his arm around her and she lets him, which I found very odd, and another point where he does something which made me write 'what a nerve!' in my notes!) On the other hand Scout IS immediately but almost unwillingly attracted to Naki.
When Scout is left behind at a remote lighthouse by irresponsible teenager Frankie, she finds a note which hints at lost treasure. This news proves impossible to keep secret, which means that Scout, Naki and Chase - with the 'help' of Frankie and Maisie (a complicated young woman who is VERY keen on Frankie despite him taking almost zero interest in her) - have to solve a series of clues to find the treasure before the park is overrun with Treasure Hunters.
I absolutely love Suzanne Woods Fisher's novels, so I was surprised to find this one a little hard to get into. My book notes read '47 pages in and I like barely anyone'! But it's worth persevering, even though Frankie's character seems to have become a million times more irritating since the opening book in the series (which, by the way, it is not essential to have read before this one, although it gives background to some of the characters in this), and Chase is doubly annoying in terms of his desperation for the Gazette and his interest in Scout. It soon feels much more like Chase is competing with Naki for Scout's interest, rather than him really being interested in her.
Naki is an intriguing character with an interesting cultural background, and he is keeping a big secret of his own. I was completely unaware of the Penobscot Nation and I found this fascinating. The treasure hunt and its associated clues is very well done and definitely draws the reader in. I really enjoyed this element of the story, both in terms of the clues, and the way they were solved. The descriptions of the scenery are fabulous, too - you could almost be standing there yourself.
There are several excellent plot twists. I think I liked the last one the best! All the way through there is plenty of interest and intrigue alongside the main characters and story. Suzanne Woods Fisher is an author who writes complex, realistic and relatable characters and is not prone to making her peripheral characters 'thin' and uninteresting. In this book we have several 'supporting characters' who also have their own issues, hopes and loves which are well woven into the story in more than merely a passing way.
This is a tale with a strong message about seeing people as they are, not what you may first think about them, or how we think they should be. And it's about trying not to view them as we are ourselves, either personally or through the lens of our own cultural experience. For me, that meant learning a bit about Frankie, as well as considering these factors in real life terms. It's a book about trust, which must be earned and cannot be assumed. It's about second (and third, and fourth) chances, reconciliation, forgiveness and family reconnection and restoration - yet without too many hearts and roses! Faith elements are strong, but appear rather randomly throughout the story.
I could have been put off of this book very early, but I'm glad I stuck with it. A brilliantly clever and entertaining 'treasure hunt' mystery, it turns out there's not merely physical gold to find between its pages.
NOTE: I read a pre-publication version supplied by the publisher. No review was required. All comments and opinions above are entirely my own.
