Reviewed By: Pam Jacoby - RAM
Haunted Ground
Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Erin Hart
Class/Genre: Mystery Thriller
Pocket Books / Simon & Schuster, 2003, 512 pp.
Meet our protagonists
Cormac Maquire, PhD, faculty member, archaeology department, University College Dublin and Irish
Nora Gavin, MD, temporary lecturer in anatomy, Trinity College Medical School and American (Twin Cities, MN---U of MN), with a particular interest in bog bodies
Although their collegues try to get them together, these prickly souls have no interest in each other. They get a call, however, for a "bog body", dug up by an individualist in the West Country of Ireland. While they are assessing the site, the local "squire" appears, trying to ascertain if this "body" is his wife---his wife and very young son having disappeared 2 1/2 years previous, without a trace. The medical examiner has already designated the find "history". And so, our hapless pair get caught up in the double mystery of who is the "red girl" (the bog body) and whatever happened to the squire's family.
OK, I vented a bit of sarcasm. It was, however, a tiny bit---and only relating to the "hapless pair".
Ms Hart has a truly fine writing style, one with which both Ed and I are comfortable. She writes great dialogue and narrative---what more can one ask?! Her character development is superb, and her pace is steady and compelling. Her plotting is wonderful, and she ties the two threads beautifully.
Haunted Ground was a nominee for the Agatha for Best First Novel, among other nominations and awards. The next book in this series, Lake of Sorrows (Scribner), is now available in hard cover.
Pam Jacoby - RAM
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Pam Jacoby - RAM
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