Disturbing the Dead

After enjoying Sandra Parshall's BROKEN PLACES earlier in the year, I realized I'd skipped the second book in her series.
DISTURBING THE DEAD finds veterinarian Rachel Goddard rebuilding her
life in a small town in southern Virginia, having left a lot of trauma
behind along with an overly-controlling boyfriend. Sheriff's deputy
Tom Bridger is also dealing with a tragic past, and he's beginning to
fall in love with Rachel. The discovery of a long-buried body on a
local mountain begins to solve the mystery that plagued Bridger's late
father, but still more mystery is to come. This is a richly-textured
story with great characters and a realistic setting (I come from
Northeast Appalachia, myself, so I should know!) I also liked the
Melungeon aspect show more -- don't think I've read much about them since Manly
Wade Wellman's books. I'll be eagerly awaiting the continuation of
this series or whatever else Sandra Parshall wants to write. show less

Sandra Parshall's debut novel, The Heat of the Moon, has been nominated for an Agatha Award for First Novel and her talent shows no sign of stopping. Her follow up novel, Disturbing the Dead, continues the story of veterinarian Rachel Goddard.

Rachel has bought a veterinary clinic and is happily settling into her new life. She is content with her status as single woman, business owner, and friend. Her hopes for peace and quiet in her daily life are dashed by a local scandal from the past. A skull discovered in the near by hills turns out to be that of a woman missing for many years. Rachel gets dragged into the mystery by the investigative policeman, Tom Bridges. And she is not prepared for the feelings that arise when she becomes show more involved with the young girl, Holly. Holly is a relative of the missing woman, from a family living in the back woods of the area. When Rachel hires her to work at the vet clinic she also lets her live at her house and must protect then both from the efforts of Holly’s family to make her move back home. She also is fighting off her feeling for Tom Bridges, who has made clear his interest in her. They are both dealing with demons from their past, fighting off the effects from their pasts that threaten to overwhelm their present. As the mystery becomes more complicated and personal, the feelings of all come to a boiling point.

The plot runs along smoothly, the mystery itself is carefully mapped out to keep the reader enthralled to the end. The characters are strong enough to stand on their own- each one is finely drawn, detailed to hold their roles in the story strongly and consistently. Rachel, in this book as in the first, is a woman learning to stay strong but yet let others into her life. Sandra Parshall has done an interesting plot device by weaving in a traumatic storyline of Rachel's past that occurs between the first book and this one. Instead of relying on the events of The Heat of the Moon she created another past episode that affects Rachel strongly. Since so often a second book with the same characters just refers back to the original plot, this technique was fine for new readers and a treat for returning fans.

The storyline revolves around Tom Bridges and many of the characters being of Melungeon descent. The story of the Melungeon people was a fascinating glimpse into a part of US history that is not well known. It is the effort of the author to add this setting with such detail and background that supplies the extra care to this mystery. The suspicion and prejudice that surround these people drives the mystery and its resolution.
This is another exceptional entry by Sandra Parshall into the mystery genre. She is able to write a suspenseful story that does give way until the last page. The mix of tension, of potential, impending violence, from past violence and romantic confusion, creates a knot of anticipation from beginning to end. It will be interesting to see what else Parshall has planned for her characters. It is hopeful that she will not leave them or her readers dangling for long. show less

In Parshall’s mystery novel, Dr. Rachel Goddard is all too familiar with the desire to start over. She hires Holly Turner to work at her new Appalachian veterinary clinic and hopes that each of them will be able to have a fresh start. One day the skeleton of Holly’s wealthy Aunt Pauline is found along with another unidentified body. Holly’s family is abusive and manipulative and they try everything to encourage her to return home. As the crime is investigated, numerous suspects are identified all with excellent reasons to want the old woman dead. Rachel suspects Holly is hiding something but with years of abuse build up, both their lives will be put in danger as the necessary time unfolds all the past horror. Time is of the show more essence as a ruthless killer moves closer with murder on his mind.

A fast-paced addition to the A Rachel Goddard Mystery series. show less

After reading the first novel in the Rachel Goddard Mystery series, I knew I wanted to continue reading this series. Through the next steps in Rachel Goddard's life, the author incorporates the story of the Melungeon people and shares a glimpse of history that I was not aware. As the author states in her opening Acknowledgements, "Disturbing the Dead" is a work of fiction, set in a fictional Virginia mountain community, but the Melungeon people of Appalachia are real and their history as "tri-racial isolates'-a mixture of white, Native American and black-is as I describe it.

The Melungeon Heritage Association is a non-profit organization documenting and preserving the history and cultural legacy of mixed ancestry peoples of the southern show more and eastern United States. For more information, visit the website for the Melungeon Heritage Association, http://melungeon.org/ show less

lots of twists and turns in this one...very enjoyable