Dubiosity. Definition: doubt, uncertainty.
It is also the name of Christy Barritt's novel which is published by Waterfall Press.
Savannah Harris is an ex-investigative journalist and ex-pastor's wife who is presently working as a textbook editor. She is filled with doubt in many areas of her life because of the tragedy that resulted from digging too deeply into secrets that certain people wanted to keep hidden. As a result, she lost her baby daughter, her husband, her journalistic fervor, and her faith. Now a childless widow, her investigative abilities are called upon again when a dying migrant farm worker requests her presence at his deathbed and tells her that her that he was murdered. He utters the name of a prominent business man, the owner of a local farm, but without any explanation before he passes on. Savannah cannot believe her ears and is reluctant to look into the matter. However, with the disappearance of three more migrant workers and the mysterious attack upon the migrant workers' advocate, Marti, who happens to be Savannah's best friend, Savannah can no longer ignore that something illegal and dangerous is happening to the migrant workers at the farm where they work. It becomes more apparent that the threat is real when Savannah discovers flattened pennies in locations connected to the migrant workers who have died or disappeared, and then in the presence of her own home.
Clive Miller is doing a little bit of investigating of his own at the farm. He is Savannah's new boarder, staying at the carriage house on her property while he tries to discover who murdered his wife six years before in the Cape Thomas area. He has a tight timeline; he has other obligations that require him to be elsewhere in a short while, and there is also the danger that people will find out who he really is before he gets the information that he wants. When Savannah is threatened in her home, Clive offers his help. Their attraction to each other grows as they spend time with each other, both helping each other in investigating the happenings at the farm. However, Clive is a believer and Savannah is filled with doubt about the existence of God since He allowed such horrible tragedy into her life. She still feels guilty about her past actions which led to the deaths of her husband and child. Clive, on the other hand, must keep his motives for finding out who murdered his wife as a means of redemption, rather than for revenge and retribution.
The stakes are raised when their adversary explodes Savannah's car, in an effort to deter her from continuing on with her investigations. The murderer of Clive's wife leaves behind a necklace to convey the message that someone knows who Clive really is, and also to gloat about her murder. Savannah finds out Clive's true identity. Will she be able to figure out who is responsible for the deaths, kidnappings, and attacks in the Cape Thomas area? Is it Clive? Is it the farm owner? Is it one of the migrant workers? Or is it someone else entirely?
"Dubiosity," is an apt title for this book. Savannah is filled with doubt about the existence and goodness of God. She is doubtful about whether she can use her journalistic gifts for good since it had resulted in so much pain and death for her personally. She is doubtful about whether or not the migrant worker's death was murder. She is doubtful about whether the farm owner could be guilty because she perceives him to be a good man. She is doubtful about Clive once she finds out who he really is, even though she has been able to get a good gauge of his character after spending time with him.
However, Savannah does come to a place of restored faith in God, when she finds that she can rely only on Him to get her out of the danger that she is in. She confesses that though she had believed in His existence before, she did not have a relationship with Him and that she finally wanted to be His disciple, using her gifts for God instead of using them for other reasons, purposes, or idols. In this spirit, I found that the Scripture that is inscribed at the start of the book to be totally appropriate. It reads: Stop doubting and believe. - John 20:27. This is necessary for Savannah to break through in her struggle with the Lord, and also in how she sees herself, her talents, and her future. She needs to believe in the existence and goodness of God. She also needs to see that without God, she can do nothing (see John 15:5). For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).
Dubiosity captured my attention from beginning to end. As the novel unfolded, I was able to cross a few candidates off from the "Guilty" list, but I still went back and forth for a while. There is a number of characters that I have not mentioned in this review who were possibilities as the mastermind behind the dark activities in Cape Thomas. I was pretty much kept in the dark until the end, and even then, because of what happened, I was unsure until the heroine was able to wrangle the confession out of the guilty party. This was a great romantic suspense story that I feel honoured to have had the opportunity to read.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of "Dubiosity" from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
