Relatively Dead

This was an incredibly clever little mystery set in the Lexington / Concord area of Massachusetts. If you aren’t familiar with this little corner of New England, you really can’t spit without hitting something of historical import.  Sheila Connolly cleverly integrates small history lessons, descriptive passages of the area surrounding Boston, and a genealogical search into the story, providing readers with an array of references and visualization options.  Abby is a recent transplant to this area of New England with her boyfriend, Brad, and rather at loose ends without a job, or familiarity with her location.  After tiring of Brad’s incessant badgering, she decided to venture out on one of the many historic house tours to pass her afternoon. Her last stop resulted in a curious phenomenon; she was seeing highly charged emotional events that took place nearly 100 years earlier. When she looks for a way to solve this mysterious chain of events, Ned, the witness to her first ‘episode’ becomes advisor and tour guide, and soon trusted friend, providing her with ideas, suggestions and a sounding board for her concerns.  I liked Abby, although I was surprised at her lack of response, at least verbal, to Brad’s behavior.  When she started to develop her own interests, and was hired at the museum, her self-esteem got a healthy boost, and she was able to see him for what he was, and walk away. I enjoyed the interplay with Ned, bordering on the flirtatious, and his openness to the paranormal experiences despite his need for some sort of proof.   The story unfolded in a logical way, taking time to outline the steps Abby took in her research, and the reader is able to unfold the clues as Abby does, giving a true sense of traveling the path with her.  While the ending did seem to arrive quickly and leave some unanswered questions, fans of history and mystery will truly enjoy this story: and it provides a nice insight into the area and historical treasures to be found there.  I received an eBook from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility. 

*Copy provided by Netgalley for an unbiased review.* I liked this book - didn't love it, but it was enjoyable. There was some mystery and some history, some ghosts and some romance. Not particularly suspenseful or scary, more of a cozy mystery with some romance and benevolent spirits thrown in. The ending was...imperfect. But it was good to see Abby, the protagonist, grow into herself as the story progressed and she began to understand what was happening to her in her new surroundings. Overall I'd recommend it as a light, cozy read.

First time with this author, was really enjoying the story line while there was the mystery of Abby's episodes. Toward the end of the book when Ned revealed his secret the story fell apart for me. I was so disappointed in the ending of what started out to be a good read.

This book left me wanting more. It was interesting and moved along at a fascinating pace. The characters were well developed. I found it hard to put down. This story is perfect for the family historian who searches for a connections with the past that goes beyond the bare facts. I am looking forward to reading more by this author. Some readers may be put off by the apparently psychic tone. I was not one of those readers.

Easy read. Good story. I enjoyed it.

Overall, a nice light "escape" novel. While the seed of the plot is planted immediately, drawing your interest, there are times the storyline gets bogged down with the mundane steps of genealogical research. The main character, Abby, develops as a character & a woman (thankfully!). The author does a very nice job explaining in understandable terms what Abby & Ned experience...don't want to say too much!

Not sure if this new book, by Sheila Connolly, will turn into a new series or not, but I certainly hope it does. I have enjoyed each series written by Ms. Connolly, and although this was a slight departure from her usual books I loved this one. Set near Boston, it offered the readers new settings and new history in every chapter. I loved the way Ms. Connolly took us through history, without ever leaving the here and now. Abby and the other character were definitely believable, and for the most part likable, (there always has to be one that no one likes) I hope we get to join them again soon, and take another walk in their shoes, through our countries history.

This is my first read of this author and it was a very easy read, a fair plot and interesting subject. A little predictable at times, but still worth reading. The ending was disappointing to me, I got to the end and thought, that's it?

This book started off good, it was easy to read and interesting. Until the end, then I felt like I wasted all that time reading the book for nothing. The author could have put together a good ending for this book and instead it was like she gave up writing all of a sudden. Don't read unless you want to be mad when you finish the book!

A sweet story, and a decent genealogical mystery. It was just what the doctor ordered when I was having a bad day.

* I received a copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I thought the character of Abby started off weak but later on found her backbone and I enjoyed her more, I also liked the character of Ned. I also liked how the author weaved Massachusetts history into the plot. I thought the book dragged toward the beginning but began to pick up towards the middle and I started enjoying it more. I liked it overall, but not as well as her other books.

Great for history or geneology fans. Well written and you could really like Abby, the main character. I wish the author had fleshed out Ned's character a little better, but you did get to see that he was a good guy and good friend, at least. There were two different incidents in reciting geneology where the author needs to edit better- it was very confusing until I figured out that she had switched the names of two characters from different generations with each other. Easy to do, I suppose, when you have two predescessors named Samuel, but with two different last names. Still, she also switched Ruth and her daughter for each other, and they didn't share a name. I'm surprised no one else caught this. The story was fascinating enough that this was just a confusing annoyance, as I loved the history and the storyline. Unlike another reviewer stated, I thought the author made it perfectly clear why these things kept happening to Abby, and I found her reasoning made a strange sort of sense. I can think of many times that I have walked into an old place or building and felt there was an energy there or something, like there were things beyond what my eyes could see. Great storyline, fascinating, and intriguing. For me it didn't drag at all, as there were many things to ponder and figure out along the way. Not the book for anyone with a short attention span, though. I look forward to reading more from this author.

If you enjoy a little genealogy with a pinch of paranormal,this book is for you. Hope this is the start of a new series. : )

Not a .murder mystery. A geneology mystery. Some editing errors. Author left some geneolgy questions unanswered. Another story.

If you are into seeing 'ghosts' this is a good one. I bought the next one as soon as I finished this one. I also like Connolly's Orchard series.

I read this about a year ago and enjoyed it very much. I just finished the follow-up and hope there will be more with Abby, Ned and Ellie.

Fun to read.....good story line. I want the ghost issue a bit more developed, which is probably going to happen in the next book. Enjoying the historic background.

A good book, especially if you like genealogy.

A simple story, predictable yet enjoyable until the last page. It was as if the author didnt know how to end it so she just stopped writting!