Book 5 - What He Carried

In March of 1851, James Archer left something behind. Nobody knew it was still there.

When James Archer walked out of Millville for the last time, he stopped at the church first. He left his family's Bible in the vestry cabinet behind the record books, wrapped in canvas and sealed for safekeeping. He said he would send for it. He never did.

That was one hundred and seventy-five years ago.

The Millville Meddlers know the Bible is in the building. Somewhere. The original vestry was sealed during a 1904 renovation and hasn't been opened since. A new renovation starts in three weeks, and the construction crew chief has promised to call before anything old gets thrown out. He means it. But his crew reaches the wall in eleven days.

The Bible contains the full Archer family record - births, deaths, and names going back to Virginia in the 1780s. It is the only physical proof that everything Joseph Archer's family has carried in memory for six generations is true. And it has been waiting inside this church wall for longer than anyone has been alive.

Eleven days. One sealed wall. Everything the Archer family has been waiting for.

What He Carried is the fifth book in the Millville Mysteries - a mystery series for middle-grade readers set in a small Ohio town where history has a way of refusing to stay buried. Each book stands on its own, but readers who begin at the beginning will find a thread that runs deeper with every entry.