Here's The Church, Here's The Steeple
by Tempa Pagel
200 year old corpse uncovered in the church steeple!
Publisher: Five
Star (March 2006)
Tempa
Pagel weaves together modern day small town life with the early 19th
century American history in her debut mystery. When modern day
forensics reveal too little about a possible murder victim to even
establish the identity, only a careful examination of church historical
documents can uncover the truth. This mystery will delight mystery and
history enthusiasts alike.
Andy Gammon and her family return to her husband's hometown, the small
and historic town of Newburyport, Massachusetts, hoping to avoid the
big city life of Detroit. Naturally she joins the church committee in
an attempt to fit into the small town social life. When she is assigned
to the church's historical committee, she and the church get more
unsavory complications than they ever imagined! She is assigned to
research the the church's early historical records. Andy's search
uncovers more than dusty records. An almost 200 year old body had been
hidden in the steeple holding a missing church tankard. Determined to
solve the puzzle, Andy turns to current church members but she
encounters a problem. No one today will talk about the past. To make
matters worse, a new body is found right in the church! Why is it so
important to someone to keep such an old secret today? And who?
What a nice read! Here's the Church,
Here's the Steeple is an intriguing mystery set in the days
leading up to the War of 1812 which in and of itself is more of a
mystery than more frequently mentioned wars to those of us no longer
hunched over history textbooks. Tempa Pagel has a knack for drawing the
reader into obscure historical church records and an obscure moment of
history -- and wraps it in a present day mystery. The action is fast
paced and humorous.
The sleuth writes history text books. History itself becomes a theme in
this mystery. Some readers might balk at the time shifts in the
narrative when the reader actually hears the story of the 200 year old
past both as the sleuth uncovers the secret and as the past characters
live it. Personally I loved it. For me, this is what changed Here's the Church, Here's the Steeple
from a good read into a great read. In the end of this novel, as in
historical studies, there are always some discrepancies between our
current day understanding of history and how it was actually lived. The
narrative style allows the reader to see these slight discrepancies. I
love an intriguing resolution to a mystery puzzle but Pagel's technique
doubled my reading pleasure.
Reviewed by Merrimon,
Merrimon Book Reviews
