Hot Water

Peter Bartholomew Mysteries #1

by Sally Cabot Gunning

Paperbacks

Genres: Mystery, Cozy

249 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1990

About the author

A lifelong resident of New England, Sally Cabot Gunning has immersed herself in its history from a young age. She is the author of six critically acclaimed historically themed novels: The Widow’s War, Bound, The Rebellion of Jane Clarke, Benjamin Franklin’s Bastard, Monticello: A Daughter and Her Father, and her latest novel, released June 2021, Painting the Light. Elected fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society and president of The Brewster Historical Society, she has created numerous historical tours of her village.

Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, and an assortment of short story anthologies.

She lives with her husband Tom in Brewster, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Priscilla Herrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sally Gunning’s Peter Bartholomew mystery series includes ten books, While each is a stand-alone story, I really enjoyed reading all ten in order. The main characters appear and re-appear, and relationships are formed. The “mystery” that riders atop all the separate cases is, will Peter and his ex-wife, Connie, get back together again? Should they? There are other questions that carry through more than one book, like Peter’s sister and her taste in men, and then there are various matters of small town life on Nashtoba Island, off Cape Hook – a locale that has a certain similarity to Cape Cod.

In this first book. Peter and the rest of the recurring characters are introduced, as is his odd-job business, Factotum. This one opens with the discovery of a dead wman in a bathtub full of hot water...

[Eugene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pete Bartholemew is a handyman on a small island off Massachusetts’ Cape Hook (think Cape Cod & all will be well.) In general this first effort is pretty good, certainly the mystery remains one until the Big Reveal (altho’ I’ll preen myself for having had my suspicions!), the story moves along pretty nicely and the characters, while sorta stock “small town denizen” types are fairly believable and easy to like. My only complaint is that Pete seemed to spend half the book mooning about old schoolmate Martha and his ex-wife Connie, both recently moved back onto the island. Jeez, give that hormonal stuff a break! Well, Martha is splitsville after the mystery is solved, so maybe the next book can concentrate its energy on the story itself.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this quirky bunch of imaginary islanders! This is such a fun series with the strangest cast of characters, but I love them all. The mysteries are complicated; therefore not easy to figure out and there is always a very exciting moment. This one was also poignant because the main character, Peter is rebounding from the loss of his wife who ran away with another man. This influences most of his thoughts and actions. This would make an excellent summer read!

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading Gunning's excellent historical fiction series, I picked up one of this series in a Salem bookshop. Started reading it, and realized that the series had a lot of potential, so I put it down until I could start from the beginning. A good mystery, set on a badly disguised Cape Cod, with a sympathetic protagonist.

Finding a new series and knowing that for a couple of weeks or so, there will be something to read is a great feeling!

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because I've enjoyed Gunning's carefully-researched, well-written historical novels, I was curious about her mystery series set on a Cape Cod-like island. I liked how she got into the heads of many of the island residents and wove past and present into a murder investigation by Pete Bartholomew, a likeable guy who turns sleuth out of love for the island and its people.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat different from the usual mystery. This was somewhat confusing in the beginning.

[Tinadeveny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. Sally Gunning mentioned this series in a post. This is a light read. I read it while returning from vacation. Fun play on Cape Cod places and names.

[Heidi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this when I was about 12. More than 30y later I still remember how bored I was by it. I will give this a second attempt this year (hopefully) to see if perhaps I was just too young. But considering at that age I was able to devour books of all kinds and reading levels without issue- I wouldn't be too quick to chalk it up to age.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pleasant murder mystery and a few other mysteries to solve, some things too obvious but one twist at the end I definitely DID NOT see coming. For fast readers, I'm sure could be read in a couple of hours. I had more things get in the way that my "purse read" was left unattended.

[Anwnh5 · Rating 2 out of 5]

bored, bored, bored

[Suzanne Skelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Murder mystery that takes place on a small island off of Massachusetts. Lots of twists and turns. Well written. Interesting characters.

[Amanda]

DNFing. I don’t like the changing perspectives and I don’t like how much of a bummer this is. I like the small island community, but I don’t want to stick with this.

[Debbie Hartzman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book - I've read it many times and just felt like diving into the world of a small east coast island with characters I like and a mystery to be solved. Comfort food.

[Noah Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dumb mystery book

[Rob Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun cozy island mystery.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read. This is a fun cozy mystery series. I love the characters and love the island. They take me to a light, happy place.

[Paula Butler · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first pocket book mystery... eh