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A friend recommended Sandra Parshall's first novel, THE HEAT OF THE MOON, and I found it to be a riveting, romantic, and beautifully told tale of suspense. I was therefore anxious to read her follow-up story, DISTURBING THE DEAD, in the hope of spending more time getting to know her lovely protagonist, Dr Rachel Goddard. In this second story, approximately two years have passed, and Rachel has moved away from her McLean, Virginia home to a small mountain community in North Carolina, leaving behind the man she loves and hoping to free herself from the memories of her past – as well as some rather terrifying recent events – and begin a new life. The second chapter begins with her receiving some disturbing news that could possibly alter her life yet again, although the author craftily leaves this subplot to be explored in a future book. DISTURBING THE DEAD opens with the Mason County Sheriff's Department, and Chief Deputy Tom Bridger, discovering the bones of a woman identified as Pauline Turner, a Melungeon beauty who disappeared a decade earlier. Tom, who is half Melungeon himself, had tried to escape his mountain community's prejudice against the mixed-race group – an Appalachian population widely believed to be part Native American, part African, and part European – when he left to work for the Richmond, Virginia Police Department. The death of his father, a county sheriff's deputy obsessed with solving Pauline's disappearance, brought him back home and into his father's position. Tom must solve the case that baffled his father while grappling with escalating violence as the victim's poor family and the rich white family she married into scramble to protect their secrets from Tom's probing. Rachel is drawn into the investigation when she befriends the dead woman's niece, Holly. As a child, the girl witnessed something that could implicate her aunt's killer, but she is too terrified to tell anyone what she knows. Tom, who is falling in love with Rachel, tries to keep her from becoming involved, but despite his protests and warnings, Rachel is determined to keep Holly safe and help her piece together past events. Unfortunately, keeping Holly safe puts Rachel herself in danger, as the family fighting to protect long-buried secrets will stop at nothing short of murder to keep those secrets buried. Once again, Parshall has woven an intricate mystery into a colorful tale of suspense laced with the slightest dash of romance. Her straightforward prose and vivid descriptions set a pace that's more than sufficient to keep the pages turning. The only thing that bothered me – though not nearly enough to jade my opinion of the book – was that the two-year gap between the end of the first book and the beginning of this one left me feeling that I had missed something in Rachel's life that would help me get to know her better. I'm hoping that the open-ended final chapter of DISTURBING THE DEAD will lead to a third, equally haunting and captivating installment featuring this engaging character.
Reviewed by J. B. Thompson, January 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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