Hang My Head and Cry
By Elena Santangelo
REVIEWS
From
COZIES,
CAPERS & CRIMES:
An Email Newsletter for Booklovers
galentre@mail.airmail.net
by Maria Y. Lima of Alexandria, VA
Pat Montella's life has settled down
into a routine, having given up her horrid day job and moved in with
Miss Maggie Shelby in a lovely Civil War-era home. Pat, who is Miss
Maggie's heir, by being the last blood descendant of the original
owners, can see visions of the past. When she first came to Bell Run,
she uncovered a centuries-old mystery, having been contacted by one of
the former owners. Now, a short time later, the visions begin again,
only this time, Pat keeps seeing a small boy who turns out to be the
young son of a former slave. Born just one week after Lincoln freed
slaves, the boy, named Emancipation, seems to hover on the edges of
Pat's consciousness. Soon, Pat finds a human jawbone in her garden, and
realizes that the boy may be trying to communicate something much darker
and more dangerous than before. The fabric of time keeps ripping open as
Pat tries to find out the identity of the long-dead skeleton, involving
her in much more than a historical puzzle. In fact, this puzzle could
endanger Pat's own life.
As unforgettable as her debut mystery,
HANG MY HEAD AND CRY, lives up to the implied promise of BY BLOOD
POSSESSED. Sharing her modern-day narrative with a concurrent historical
storyline, Santangelo skillfully meshes the two stories together,
winding up to a startling conclusion that satisfies all around. Having
created eminently believable characters that practically step out of the
pages and knock on your front door, this author continues the
relationships begun in her first book, developing the characters as
naturally as if she'd just been hanging out with them
for the last few weeks. I found
myself completely engrossed in this story (as with the first one), and
unable to put the book down until finished. There are few authors who
can write this compellingly and I
rejoice that I discovered this one.
Santangelo's love of history, of the
region and of a good ghost story is evident on all the pages, as is her
talent for telling a tale. I can only hope that this is the beginning of
a beautiful readership. The highest kudos to Elena Santangelo!
From
Publisher's Weekly:
"Ghosts,
murder, romance, Old South, New South, an aristocratic old lady, a
gaggle of good ol' boys and an intrepid heroine add up to a fine and
cozy entertainment."
The past
continues to catch up with Pat Montella both literally and figuratively
in this captivating sequel to Santangelo's well-received debut, By Blood
Possessed, in 1999). Pat's gift for seeing and hearing ghosts continues
to manifest itself with vivid snippets of the past, as if from old
newsreels. Miss Maggie Shelby, scion of the Virginia Civil War estate
owned by the Bell family, who discovered that Pat is the last descendant
of the Bells, continues to preside over Pat's metamorphosis from office
worker to heir to a Southern tradition. Pat's finding an unknown
gravesite and the disturbing appearance of the ghost of a former slave
boy named "Mance" (short for Emancipation) begins a story of
old wrongs whose roots reach into the present.
The discovery
of the grave brings welcome help in the form of Emmv Brewster and her
handsome assistant, Theo Clayborne. It also brings unwanted help in the
form of police and politicians eager to make hay from the excitement.
After Pat's visions of the past intensify, she discovers she's not the
onlv one who has such visions. When Theo becomes the prime suspect in
the death of his best friend, Pat is driven to solve both old deaths and
new with surprising results. Ghosts, murder, romance, Old South, New
South, an aristocratic old lady, a gaggle of good of boys and an
intrepid heroine add up to fine and cozy entertainment.
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