Jessica, The Heiress

Three stars for me; four stars for the target audience, preteen girls.

Jessica Trent—who has eveidently already been the star of other books detailing how her father died, how her father's ranch manager went rogue, how she came to be called the “Little Captain”—begins by being kidnapped. It is hours before the family and staff realize she's gone, since she disappeared right in the wake of her little brother's prank with his friend, and they think she has gone out alone to look for their lost clothes. (Alone into the desert? Not smart.) Well, she is gone for many hours, until an old shepherd in the area comes to her rescue and finds her in a cave, near a copper vein that could spell fortune for the family, which is barely making ends meet.

They capture the dwarf who kidnapped her, and try to make plans for prosecution. While they are doing so, though, the prisoner escapes from a locked and guarded room. Thereafter, as they search for him, the place is terrified by constant robberies—everything from a pie on the kitchen counters to emptying the safe—and a local “spook” haunts the frontier. Most of the book is taken up with little incidents regarding this. Also, it's fun to read of their simple preparations for Christmas, since the story takes place in December.

There are also questions about Jessica's schooling, which evidently is the next book in the series. What I didn't get is how the beloved mother can sit around and bemoan that her children aren't getting a first-rate education like she did, yet her twelve-ish daughter can't even spell. Why can't she teach them at least that much?

Anyway, if I'd read this about fifteen years ago, I'd have rated it four stars, and I did enjoy the read. It would be best to start with the first book in the series, though.