Five-Week Discussion Guide
DETECTIVE PENNY
Some Evidence Leads to Justice
Some Whispers Your Name
Book 1
DETECTIVE PENNY
Some Evidence Leads to Justice
Some Whispers Your Name
Book 1
Welcome
This discussion guide is for book clubs, small groups, and individuals who want to explore themes of truth, faith, and purpose through story. Each week prompts honest conversation—about life, about the heart, and about what God might be saying through both. Use it freely. Share it widely. And may your time together spark laughter, friendship, and fresh discovery along the way.
How It Works
Remember, this isn't a book review. The goal isn't critique but connection.
Table of Contents:
Week 1 – The Case Before the Calling (Chapters 1–6)
Week 2 – When Fear Looks Like Logic (Chapters 7–12)
Week 3 – The Stranger Who Sees (Chapters 13–18)
Week 4 – Truth That Cuts and Heals (Chapters 19–24)
Week 5 – The Case Becomes a Calling (Chapter 25–Epilogue)
This discussion guide is for book clubs, small groups, and individuals who want to explore themes of truth, faith, and purpose through story. Each week prompts honest conversation—about life, about the heart, and about what God might be saying through both. Use it freely. Share it widely. And may your time together spark laughter, friendship, and fresh discovery along the way.
How It Works
- Meet once a week for five weeks. Make sure everyone has a copy of the book and has read Chapters 1–6 before your first discussion. If you’d prefer a softer start, host a “Week 0” gathering to hand out books, share why you’re excited about the journey, and enjoy some food (dessert) together. It’s a great way to build connection before the study begins.
- Read the assigned chapters before each meeting. This keeps the conversation lively, focused, and rooted in what everyone has just read.
- Avoid spoilers. Feel free to read ahead on your own, but keep group conversations centered on the assigned chapters.
- Choose a few questions from the list each week. You won’t get to everything—and that’s good. Great conversations breathe; they don’t rush.
- Give everyone a voice. Share honestly, listen well, and make space for quieter voices.
- Let others lead. You don’t need expertise to guide a discussion. Anyone can facilitate. Simply look over the questions ahead of time. Encourage everyone to download the free discussion guide at GreatCommission.com.
Remember, this isn't a book review. The goal isn't critique but connection.
Table of Contents:
Week 1 – The Case Before the Calling (Chapters 1–6)
Week 2 – When Fear Looks Like Logic (Chapters 7–12)
Week 3 – The Stranger Who Sees (Chapters 13–18)
Week 4 – Truth That Cuts and Heals (Chapters 19–24)
Week 5 – The Case Becomes a Calling (Chapter 25–Epilogue)
Week 1 Chapters 1-6
Week 1 – The Case Before the Calling
Theme: When patterns stir what pain has silenced.
Discussion Questions
Choose a few questions—you won’t have time to discuss them all.
This Week’s Takeaway
Pay attention to one small thing that repeats this week—a word, a moment, a nudge—and ask yourself: Is this a glitch… or guidance?
Theme: When patterns stir what pain has silenced.
Discussion Questions
Choose a few questions—you won’t have time to discuss them all.
- What stood out to you in this section—and why? Which emotion, detail, or character stayed with you?
- Penny’s shows a man carrying old grief. Where have past losses—big or small—reshaped the way you respond to life now?
- We glimpse Penny’s relationship with his father through fragments and memory. How has your own father—or father-figure—shaped the way you see yourself today?
- Penny keeps his emotional “drawbridge” up unless absolutely necessary. What raises yours, and what helps it come down with the people closest to you?
- The recurring $46 pattern nags at Penny, even when he tries to ignore it. Have you ever noticed a small detail, coincidence, or nudge that kept returning until you finally paid attention?
- A simple glitch doesn’t feel like “just a glitch” to Penny—it feels intentional. Where in your life has something that seemed random or inconvenient later revealed meaning?
- Detective Singh enters as a steadying presence—calm, clear, unshaken. Who brings that kind of stability and clarity into your life, and what makes their presence grounding?
- Beneath the investigation, there are hints of something deeper—truth, purpose, maybe even the divine. Where in your own life do you sense something beneath the surface, even if you can’t explain it yet?
- Penny’s silence says as much as his words—what he avoids reveals what he fears. Where does silence show up in your life—not avoidance, but a place where feelings sit unspoken?
- These early chapters show Penny searching for truth while avoiding certain truths about himself. Is there an area of your life where you’re seeking clarity while also hesitating to look too closely?
This Week’s Takeaway
Pay attention to one small thing that repeats this week—a word, a moment, a nudge—and ask yourself: Is this a glitch… or guidance?
week 2 chapters 7-12
Week 2 – When Fear Looks Like Logic
Theme: When control slips, clarity often begins.
Choose just a few—you won’t have time for all ten.
Discussion Questions
1. In these chapters, a single scene or detail likely stood out to you—what was it?
What moment in your own week caught your attention in a way you didn’t expect?
2. Penny’s visit to Liberty Credit Union raises more questions than answers.
When have you gone looking for clarity and ended up with even more uncertainty?
3. West Philadelphia becomes heavier, more textured, almost like a character itself.
How has the place you live (or grew up) shaped your perspective more than you realized?
4. At Western Federal Bank, pressure hides beneath professionalism—fear wrapped in procedure.
Where have you felt tension beneath the surface of a situation that looked “fine” from the outside?
5. “The Nineteen” shows a tight, complicated community—loyal, wounded, protective.
Who in your life forms that kind of circle for you, and how has that community shaped you?
6. Cathedral Savings & Loan exposes contradictions that make Penny uneasy.
Can you think of a time when something in your life didn’t quite line up, even if you couldn’t fully explain why?
7. Penny’s need for control grows stronger as the case grows stranger.
Where do you feel yourself tightening your grip right now, and what might be underneath that?
8. Clues in these chapters look promising but lead to dead ends—false starts, misdirection, silence.
When have you followed a path, idea, or assumption that didn’t take you where you hoped?
9. Detective Singh brings calm, steadiness, and perspective when Penny begins to fray.
Who helps steady you when life feels overwhelming—and what makes that person’s presence grounding?
10. Chapter 12 gives us a clearer window into Ruth—her quiet strength, her concern, her emotional distance.
Which relationship in your life quietly holds more depth, tension, or tenderness than most people would ever know?
Theme: When control slips, clarity often begins.
Choose just a few—you won’t have time for all ten.
Discussion Questions
1. In these chapters, a single scene or detail likely stood out to you—what was it?
What moment in your own week caught your attention in a way you didn’t expect?
2. Penny’s visit to Liberty Credit Union raises more questions than answers.
When have you gone looking for clarity and ended up with even more uncertainty?
3. West Philadelphia becomes heavier, more textured, almost like a character itself.
How has the place you live (or grew up) shaped your perspective more than you realized?
4. At Western Federal Bank, pressure hides beneath professionalism—fear wrapped in procedure.
Where have you felt tension beneath the surface of a situation that looked “fine” from the outside?
5. “The Nineteen” shows a tight, complicated community—loyal, wounded, protective.
Who in your life forms that kind of circle for you, and how has that community shaped you?
6. Cathedral Savings & Loan exposes contradictions that make Penny uneasy.
Can you think of a time when something in your life didn’t quite line up, even if you couldn’t fully explain why?
7. Penny’s need for control grows stronger as the case grows stranger.
Where do you feel yourself tightening your grip right now, and what might be underneath that?
8. Clues in these chapters look promising but lead to dead ends—false starts, misdirection, silence.
When have you followed a path, idea, or assumption that didn’t take you where you hoped?
9. Detective Singh brings calm, steadiness, and perspective when Penny begins to fray.
Who helps steady you when life feels overwhelming—and what makes that person’s presence grounding?
10. Chapter 12 gives us a clearer window into Ruth—her quiet strength, her concern, her emotional distance.
Which relationship in your life quietly holds more depth, tension, or tenderness than most people would ever know?
title 4