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The Light Keeper's Legacy (Chloe Ellefson Mystery #3)
by
Kathleen Ernst (Goodreads Author)
Past and Present Collide Beyond Death's Door
Solitude at last! Museum curator Chloe Ellefson leaps at the opportunity to be a consultant for the historic lighthouse restoration project on Rock Island, a state park in Wisconsin's scenic Door County. Hoping to leave her personal and professional problems at home, Chloe's tranquility is suddenly spoiled when a dead woman washe...more
Solitude at last! Museum curator Chloe Ellefson leaps at the opportunity to be a consultant for the historic lighthouse restoration project on Rock Island, a state park in Wisconsin's scenic Door County. Hoping to leave her personal and professional problems at home, Chloe's tranquility is suddenly spoiled when a dead woman washe...more
Paperback, 360 pages
Published
October 2012
by Midnight Ink
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Having walked the same steps of the antagonist, Chloe Ellefson, I too have sensed the calling of stories left untold. The history of Rock Island and the Pottawatomi light hold secrets left behind by those that fished the waters and tended the light; challenges, rules and regulations, traditions, hopes and dreams. Ernst elegantly weaves these secrets through the past and present with such visualization that one can almost smell the woodsmoke from the little cottages that dotted the shores of the...more
Jun 20, 2012
Karen morsecode
added it
Chloe Ellefson, curator of collections for Old World Wisconsin, is hoping for a respite from her overcomplicated work and personal life when she accepts a week-long consulting gig at another Wisconsin historic site. Rock Island State Park's rustic charm is just the thing Chloe needs to unwind. But, when she discovers a dead body on her first night on the island, it's clear that Chloe has more to worry about than just preparing a furnishing plan for the site's historic lighthouse.
The Light Keepe...more
The Light Keepe...more
Curator Chloe Ellefson is lent to a project on Rock Island where a volunteer group wants to rehab a lighthouse on a state park. She encounters few people on the quiet island, but does find a drowned woman. Even that does not deter Chloe, who longs for solitude and the chance to think about her life. But both her work and thought are disturbed by her growing perception that something strange happened among the fishermen who lived on the island in the 1880's, and by the discovery of another body....more
First Line: "This trip of yours is a very bad idea," Roelke said soberly.
It's 1982, and against her boyfriend Roelke McKenna's better judgment, Chloe Ellefson loads her Pinto (including the copy of A Is for Alibi that Roelke gave her) and heads for Rock Island State Park off the coast of Wisconsin in Lake Michigan. Her expertise as a collections curator is needed by the folks who want to bring Pottawatomie Lighthouse back to life for all its visitors.
It's good that she's needed elsewhere because...more
It's 1982, and against her boyfriend Roelke McKenna's better judgment, Chloe Ellefson loads her Pinto (including the copy of A Is for Alibi that Roelke gave her) and heads for Rock Island State Park off the coast of Wisconsin in Lake Michigan. Her expertise as a collections curator is needed by the folks who want to bring Pottawatomie Lighthouse back to life for all its visitors.
It's good that she's needed elsewhere because...more
Set on Rock Island, off the coast of Wisconsin on Lake Michigan, this novel (part of a series involving museum curator Chloe Ellefson?) successfully weaves mysteries of the early 1980’s to those of 100+ years ago. The reader will learn much about the painstaking research of the museum curator (and the need for extensive funding to support it) along with the commitment and work of those responsible for conserving land and natural resources. The stories, skillfully told, of the early immigrants re...more
Museum curator Chloe Ellefson leaps at the opportunity to be a consultant for the historical lighthouse restoration project on Rock Island. She needs a little time to herself and the tranquility of the Door County state park seems perfect. She will be able to sort through her personal and professionals problems while she attacks the assignment given to her by RISC, the Rock Island Support Circle.
The idyllic place loses its luster though when a dead woman washes ashore below the lighthouse. Now i...more
The idyllic place loses its luster though when a dead woman washes ashore below the lighthouse. Now i...more
Chloe Ellefson, curator of collections for Old World Wisconsin, is asked to be a consultant for a possible restoration project for Pottawatomie Lighthouse in Rock Island, Wisconsin. Still unsure of her feelings for Officer Roelke McKenna and frustrated by her boss's constant meddling, Chloe jumps at the chance for week-long solitude at the lighthouse. Just as Chloe arrives, however, she finds a woman's corpse washed ashore. Chloe soon finds herself determined, especially when a second woman is f...more
This is the third book in the Chloe Ellefson mystery series and so far, I liked this one the best.
I loved learning about Rock Island! It makes me want to visit there someday.
I also loved how just about every other chapter was the story of two women on the island during the 1870's-1910. Emily Betts and Ragna Anderson's stories are very important connections to the present stories.
Of course Chloe can't go anywhere without finding a dead body or two!
I liked Chloe's character best in this book. The...more
I loved learning about Rock Island! It makes me want to visit there someday.
I also loved how just about every other chapter was the story of two women on the island during the 1870's-1910. Emily Betts and Ragna Anderson's stories are very important connections to the present stories.
Of course Chloe can't go anywhere without finding a dead body or two!
I liked Chloe's character best in this book. The...more
Chloe Ellefson has landed smack dab in the middle of another mystery, this time on a mostly deserted island. She was chosen to be a consulting curator at the lighthouse on Rock Island. While there, she stumbles over in-fighting, historical mysteries, and a couple of bodies.
Intertwined with the "modern" (1980's) story is one from the founding of the island. Another murder occured and the characters Harrison creates are just as vibrant and more compelling than those of the 80's.
(view spoiler)...more
Intertwined with the "modern" (1980's) story is one from the founding of the island. Another murder occured and the characters Harrison creates are just as vibrant and more compelling than those of the 80's.
(view spoiler)...more
I love how the author blends the past and present into a wonderfully written whodunit that captured my attention in this intriguing page-turner that I could not put down. When I open a book by Ms. Ernst, I know that the story is going to take me back to a period long time ago giving me insights in the past on a collision course with the present that will have Chloe searching for clues to a present day crime, and bonus is I get a little history lesson at the same time. This was very enjoyable rea...more
The 3rd in the Cloe mystery series, the Light Keeper's Legacy takes Cloe out of her beloved Old World Wisconsin historical village and to a remote island lighthouse to catalog and suggest how best to interpret the site as a museum. Like her other books, Kathleen takes the reader through a dual time period as we visit the late 19th century and the lives of two women who lived on the island, on the light keepers wife, and the other a poor fishermans wife. Cloe tries to solve a mystery during their...more
I've read the first two books in this series and this third book did not disappoint.
I was pulled into the story right away and read it in less than a week. I probably would have finished it sooner, but most of my spare time right now is going toward a different project.
The author has a wonderful way of weaving two stories into one book and when you are done reading the book you see how they tie together. It's an interesting way to learn a piece of history of Wisconsin as well.
The main characte...more
I was pulled into the story right away and read it in less than a week. I probably would have finished it sooner, but most of my spare time right now is going toward a different project.
The author has a wonderful way of weaving two stories into one book and when you are done reading the book you see how they tie together. It's an interesting way to learn a piece of history of Wisconsin as well.
The main characte...more
Well, this book has a little bit of everything - present day mystery, historical mystery, and just a little bit of ESP, so I labeled it with paranormal. :)
Chloe goes to Rock Island to stay at a lighthouse for a week to study it's history. As she becomes enmeshed in the history, the author runs a parallel story that takes place in the late 1800's, giving the book two mysteries unfolding throughout the course of the book.
The writing is excellent, and I found myself pulled into the past story line...more
Chloe goes to Rock Island to stay at a lighthouse for a week to study it's history. As she becomes enmeshed in the history, the author runs a parallel story that takes place in the late 1800's, giving the book two mysteries unfolding throughout the course of the book.
The writing is excellent, and I found myself pulled into the past story line...more
I'd love to give this 6 stars! I loved this book and am enjoying the series. I could not put this book down. The plot was amazing. I loved flipping back and forth between what happened in the past vs what was going on in real time. The series is set in the 1980s and there are no cell phones or computers to help the sleuth and I find that so refreshing. For those who like historical fiction with their cozy - this series is highly recommended!
I read the first in this series a couple of years ago and really didn't like it. But the description of this one sounded good, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I really enjoyed the historical mystery part of the book, not so much the 1980's part of it. I still just really don't like Chloe. She's just not likeable.....at all. If another in this series had a description as good as this one I'd probably try another one, but if it was like the first one I'd not bother.
Just read all 3 Chloe Ellefson books in quick succession. For the most part the books are engaging and draw you in. I can't give them 4 stars, though, because there are too many instances of loose ends. And, yes, it's fiction, but honestly, the whole sub-plot line of Chloe always being in trouble over her job and calling Ethan and thinking about her ex is getting very old. Enough already!
If you are a lighthouse franatic like me, then this is a must-read for summer. Chloe is a history researcher invited to work for one week at the Pottawattomie lighthouse. Her plan is to develop a plan for its restoration. What she gets are 3 century-old murders followed by three new ones. Will the lighthouse survive? Will Chloe? Only Rock Island can give up it secrets.
Nevada Barr has national parks; Kathleen Ernst has Wisconsin state parks. I actually liked this more than 3 stars, but that's because I like soft-ball mysteries. This author is based in WI and has written many of the American Girl Doll books. She also writes children/young adult books.
I liked this third in the series so far the best. I really enjoyed the interweaving of the two historical women into the contemporary story. I enjoy the Wisconsin history theme, played out by a curator at one of my favorite open air living history museums.
Could've done without the slightly Damsel in Distress ending and I found the romantic bits intrusive (although maybe it makes sense in the context of the series?) but overall enjoyable. Enough that I'll read the first two. One of these days.
Nov 01, 2012
Sharon Skellie
added it
Murder and mystery in Wisconsin. New author for me. Good details and easy to visualize the scenes she is describing. Love the Chloe character. I want to read her other books "Old World Murder" and "The Heirloom Murders".
Chloe Ellefson leaves Old World Wisconsin in this story and heads to Wisconsin's Door County to live as a consultant for a week at an historic lighthouse on Rock Island. Accessible only by boat, Chloe is cut off from the real world and able to immerse herself in the historical nature of her job by reading former lighthouse keeper's journals. A dead body in the present leads to Ernst's interspersing the tale of new immigrants to the fishing world of the island in the 1800's, with secrets of their...more
It started out slow and I was not sure I would like how it was written. Very hard going back and forth from past to present effectively and not feel lost. Very few can really pull it off well. I did end up liking the story. Ended up being a nice read.
A nice mystery. Not as good as the first two, but her historical information is always fascinating and accurate. Some language, but otherwise clean.
Loved the history aspects of the story, didn't mind the flipping back from the 1800's to present like I usually do.
Jan 11, 2013
Linda
added it
Local color because it's set in Apostle Islands. Good mix of current and history. Enjoyable.
The subject matter was the best part of the book. I enjoyed the historical mystery and the info on the present day lighthouse. The rest was a bit of a snooze. I made myself finish it. Also, the para normal vibes that Chloe picks up on, hmmm....
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Interesting story and I enjoyed the parallel historical story
Set in Wisconsin. Wisconsin history wrapped with mystery.
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I grew up in Maryland, in a house full of books! Both of my parents were avid readers, thank goodness. Before we traveled to a new area, my librarian-mom used to bring home historical novels set in that place. It was a great way to get excited about history.
I began writing stories when I was maybe 10 or 11. At 15 I wrote my first novel; I sold my first novel to a publisher 20 years later! Writing...more
More about Kathleen Ernst...
I began writing stories when I was maybe 10 or 11. At 15 I wrote my first novel; I sold my first novel to a publisher 20 years later! Writing...more
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