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They Danced By The Light Of The Moon
Andy Gammon, a former Detroit social studies teacher living in (but not always fitting into) a quaint New England town with her Yankee husband and two children, can't help getting involved whenever history meets mystery. Add in a couple of prime specimens of 19th century architecture-Andy's other passion-and she can't resist sneaking through back hallways of a Victorian grand hotel and crawling through the underground tunnels of a derelict Gothic insane asylum as she seeks answers to why a woman was killed at the Grand Hotel of the Atlantic on the night of the reopening gala, why another woman disappeared from that same room a century ago, and what connection may exist between the two.
- GenresMystery
316 pages, Hardcover
First published February 19, 2014
1 person is currently reading
543 people want to read
About the author
Tempa Pagel
4 books5 followersTempa Pagel is a middle school teacher residing in the historic city of Newburyport, Massachusetts. It was her intrigue with all things historical (has been known to hang out in old burying grounds) that spawned the Andy Gammon mystery series. She has two grown children whose early antics often find their way onto the pages of her books.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 5, 2014
I was so happy to read the second Andy Gammon mystery. Pagel once again skillfully takes us back and forth between the past and the present. She uses two still-existing structures in the northeast, one of which is a thriving hotel, one a former mental institution, to frame the stories. But it's Andy and her mother-in-law who have the drive and intelligence to solve not one but two mysteries in a well-told novel that I didn't want to put down. Highly recommend.
May 16, 2014
I very much enjoyed this book, both the stories--- and there were multiple story lines--- and the writing--- which was excellent. "History meets mystery" and for me, there was the added attraction of the setting being LOCAL and in the area. No spoilers here, but the endings--- and there were multiple endings--- were unexpected. Always a plus for a mystery~!
August 30, 2024
Includes historical flashbacks and interesting historical facts. Found parts about mental health facilities in 1920s especially interesting as well as the institutionalization in the 80s would read more from this author. The protagonist Andy Gammon was well written and likable.
March 20, 2014
“Don’t do it, Andy!” As I read They Danced by the Light of the Moon, this thought constantly came to mind. But sleuth Andy Gammon throws caution to the wind in this second book by Tempa Pagel, and fearlessly does whatever it takes to unravel two interwoven mysteries. It all begins when Andy attends the opening of New Hampshire’s newly restored Grand Hotel of the Atlantic, where she witnesses the discovery of a murdered young woman in one of the hotel rooms. Our heroine quickly learns that this is the very same room from which Marguerite Miller, the victim’s supposed great grandmother, disappeared a century ago. Intrigued by the possible connection, she wastes no time in diving headlong into both the present and past mysteries.
A full-time mother of two, Andy does research and phone inquires at home, but the real fun happens when she and Mayta, her mother-in-law and trusty sidekick, hit the road together. They explore, inquire, snoop, hide and eavesdrop their way through the story, with Andy often jumping into risky situations to get the answers she wants. “Don’t do it, Andy!” will likely come to your mind, too, especially during a nighttime excursion through an old and very creepy “lunatic hospital.” All the while, we gradually learn the unlikely truth about Marguerite Miller, as Pagel skillfully intersperses poignant scenes from the young woman’s hotel stay during the summer of 1901. In the end, our mysteries are untangled, our detectives are safe and sound, and we’re all happy that Andy did “do it.”
They Danced by the Light of the Moon has everything a cozy mystery lover could want. It takes place in beautifully described small town settings, situated along a gorgeous New England coastline. Her characters are warm and human, not quite perfect, but the kind of folks you’d want to have as friends. Andy’s family is especially lovable, and we’re treated to sweet and funny snatches from her home life with her ever-patient husband, their two kids, and Mayta, who provides picture-perfect getaways at her comfy cottage on the beach. Pagel’s love of history is evident as she weaves it into her stories, relating long-ago events to her characters’ lives today, and illuminating each person’s importance in the grand plan.
Like Pagel’s first mystery, Here’s the Church, Here’s the Steeple, this book is well paced with plenty of action, humor, and enough twists to keep us wondering until the last few pages. I’m already looking forward to the next Andy Gammon Mystery, because reading one of Tempa Pagel’s books is like visiting a town that you just don’t want to leave.
J. Soupcoff
A full-time mother of two, Andy does research and phone inquires at home, but the real fun happens when she and Mayta, her mother-in-law and trusty sidekick, hit the road together. They explore, inquire, snoop, hide and eavesdrop their way through the story, with Andy often jumping into risky situations to get the answers she wants. “Don’t do it, Andy!” will likely come to your mind, too, especially during a nighttime excursion through an old and very creepy “lunatic hospital.” All the while, we gradually learn the unlikely truth about Marguerite Miller, as Pagel skillfully intersperses poignant scenes from the young woman’s hotel stay during the summer of 1901. In the end, our mysteries are untangled, our detectives are safe and sound, and we’re all happy that Andy did “do it.”
They Danced by the Light of the Moon has everything a cozy mystery lover could want. It takes place in beautifully described small town settings, situated along a gorgeous New England coastline. Her characters are warm and human, not quite perfect, but the kind of folks you’d want to have as friends. Andy’s family is especially lovable, and we’re treated to sweet and funny snatches from her home life with her ever-patient husband, their two kids, and Mayta, who provides picture-perfect getaways at her comfy cottage on the beach. Pagel’s love of history is evident as she weaves it into her stories, relating long-ago events to her characters’ lives today, and illuminating each person’s importance in the grand plan.
Like Pagel’s first mystery, Here’s the Church, Here’s the Steeple, this book is well paced with plenty of action, humor, and enough twists to keep us wondering until the last few pages. I’m already looking forward to the next Andy Gammon Mystery, because reading one of Tempa Pagel’s books is like visiting a town that you just don’t want to leave.
J. Soupcoff
February 24, 2017
The opening of the newly renovated Grand Hotel of the Atlantic, on the New Hampshire coast, promises to be a memorable event, and Andy Gammon is eagerly looking forward to it. Accompanied by her mother-in-law, Mayta, who knows the history of the old hotel, Andy takes in the refurbished rooms and restored architecture and imagines the guests from an earlier time. At the dinner, Andy and Mayta share a table with a young woman who is as cheerful as her partner is surly. When Claudia leaves before the end of the dinner, to keep an appointment, Andy doesn’t give her another thought until she discovers her stabbed and bleeding body in an upstairs bedroom.
Andy recalls a snatch of conversation overheard on the porch before dinner. Soon she is tracing the dead woman’s past, and finds a surprising link with a young woman who disappeared from the Grand Hotel over a hundred years ago. Marguerite Miller left in the middle of the night, taking nothing with her, from the same room where Claudia was found murdered. Andy calls on two other guests sharing their dinner table that night, bringing into the investigation a man who remembers the hotel from his childhood and a local journalist looking for a good story. The investigation moves at steady clip, with thrills coming from Andy’s clandestine exploration of a closed and abandoned insane asylum with a group of ghost hunters. Those who know the North Shore will be pleased at the author’s accurate and detailed depiction of famed local sites.
Andy is a mother with two young children, with passions that run to history and architecture. The story includes watching her manage her home and family, and her close relationship with her mother-in-law.
With carefully chosen historical detail, the author takes the reader into the world of the past century with its elegant summer hotels and its embrace of the new science of Sigmund Freud in treating the insane. This is a multifaceted exploration of women in two centuries, and what it means to live an independent life in a society that offers restrictions in the guise of security, and limitations in the name of love.
Andy recalls a snatch of conversation overheard on the porch before dinner. Soon she is tracing the dead woman’s past, and finds a surprising link with a young woman who disappeared from the Grand Hotel over a hundred years ago. Marguerite Miller left in the middle of the night, taking nothing with her, from the same room where Claudia was found murdered. Andy calls on two other guests sharing their dinner table that night, bringing into the investigation a man who remembers the hotel from his childhood and a local journalist looking for a good story. The investigation moves at steady clip, with thrills coming from Andy’s clandestine exploration of a closed and abandoned insane asylum with a group of ghost hunters. Those who know the North Shore will be pleased at the author’s accurate and detailed depiction of famed local sites.
Andy is a mother with two young children, with passions that run to history and architecture. The story includes watching her manage her home and family, and her close relationship with her mother-in-law.
With carefully chosen historical detail, the author takes the reader into the world of the past century with its elegant summer hotels and its embrace of the new science of Sigmund Freud in treating the insane. This is a multifaceted exploration of women in two centuries, and what it means to live an independent life in a society that offers restrictions in the guise of security, and limitations in the name of love.
November 11, 2013
This book is the second installment in the Andy Gammon series. Like the first one, this book is set in Newburyport, Ma and has a story line about historic buildings, although this time they are not in town, but are more iconic buildings; the Wentworth by the Sea Hotel in New Hampshire, and the Danvers State Hospital. It also deals with mental illness, the treatment of institutionalized populations, family connections and of course a murder mystery.
Andy is a married mother of 2 young children who has an above average amount of curiosity and a carelessness for her own safety that is rare in young mothers. She has a mother in law who eggs her on and a husband who is available to watch the children for hours at a time. These factors allow the story to move along quickly once Andy finds the murdered young lady at the hotel re-opening and becomes involved in her apparent connection to a young Boston debutante from the late 19th century who once disappeared from the same hotel.
This book had a lot of different strands and managed to tie them all together by the end without feeling forced or contrived. The characters were largely sympathetic, even some of the "bad guys" were multi-dimensional and well drawn. The story setting drew the reader up the coast from Boston's North shore, through Portsmouth, New Hampshire and out to the Isles of Shoals. Many readers will surely be interested in following this trail on their own.
Another strong positive was the character,Sandy, a contemporary former patient of the Danvers hospital who brought to life all the difficulties and conflicting feelings that former institutionalized patients deal with in the outside world. This was a compelling read and I did sit up late to finish it.
Andy is a married mother of 2 young children who has an above average amount of curiosity and a carelessness for her own safety that is rare in young mothers. She has a mother in law who eggs her on and a husband who is available to watch the children for hours at a time. These factors allow the story to move along quickly once Andy finds the murdered young lady at the hotel re-opening and becomes involved in her apparent connection to a young Boston debutante from the late 19th century who once disappeared from the same hotel.
This book had a lot of different strands and managed to tie them all together by the end without feeling forced or contrived. The characters were largely sympathetic, even some of the "bad guys" were multi-dimensional and well drawn. The story setting drew the reader up the coast from Boston's North shore, through Portsmouth, New Hampshire and out to the Isles of Shoals. Many readers will surely be interested in following this trail on their own.
Another strong positive was the character,Sandy, a contemporary former patient of the Danvers hospital who brought to life all the difficulties and conflicting feelings that former institutionalized patients deal with in the outside world. This was a compelling read and I did sit up late to finish it.
January 24, 2014
They Danced by the Light of the Moon is Tempa Pagel’s second book in the Andy Gammon series. If you enjoyed Here’s the Church, Here’s the Steeple, you will love this one. The story, brimming with haunting intrigue, memorable characters, and a wealth of expressive detail, travels back and forth between the familiar, modern world and an early 20th Century coastal New England brought uniquely to life. Pagel takes the reader back to 1901 when Marguerite Miller, torn between family duty and a keen desire for independence, is sneaking out of her room in an elite New Hampshire hotel. A quick shift to the present sees Andy attending the grand re-opening of the hotel over a hundred years later. Echoes of Marguerite’s legendary disappearance begin to haunt Andy, a onetime social studies teacher and now frequent sleuth, and her mother-in-law sidekick. In no time these two stumble onto a murder that takes place in the very room from which Marguerite disappeared. Too much of a coincidence? The sleuthing duo thinks so – and quickly become haunted by the past and its now disputed cultural beliefs, as they struggle to understand its imprint on the present day murder. The plot is stimulating; the writing, perky and well-paced in the present, is almost dream-like in the past making for enigmatic transitions. Pagel effectively weaves the mysterious past with an old fashioned, present day whodunit for a very satisfying read as perfect for a dreary winter day as it is for a visit to the beach.
May 22, 2014
I received this selection as part of a Goodreads first read give away. While the description is quite accurate, it by no means does the story justice.
A current murder and a disappearance take place at the Grand Hotel of the Atlantic... a century apart. Andy Gammon is the kind of mother of two we recognize, and a part time sleuth, who's unlikely side kick is also her mother in law. This unlikely pair unravel both mysteries, and how they are connected, while foiling a murder attempt in the process.
We follow one woman as she tries to escape society's ideals and find independence and instead finds herself in an asylum. And another tries to tie herself to a romantic past that wasn't always so romantic. While a third finds a link to the past she knew nothing of.
The characters all felt real as I became enraptured by Marguerite and her story. At one point I was surprised to realize I'd forgotten about the contemporary murder! Nothing felt forced, or unbelievable and still managed to keep me trying to read faster to find out how it all turns out.
After finishing this, the second in Tempa Pagel's Andy Gamoon series, I find myself wanting to read the first.
A current murder and a disappearance take place at the Grand Hotel of the Atlantic... a century apart. Andy Gammon is the kind of mother of two we recognize, and a part time sleuth, who's unlikely side kick is also her mother in law. This unlikely pair unravel both mysteries, and how they are connected, while foiling a murder attempt in the process.
We follow one woman as she tries to escape society's ideals and find independence and instead finds herself in an asylum. And another tries to tie herself to a romantic past that wasn't always so romantic. While a third finds a link to the past she knew nothing of.
The characters all felt real as I became enraptured by Marguerite and her story. At one point I was surprised to realize I'd forgotten about the contemporary murder! Nothing felt forced, or unbelievable and still managed to keep me trying to read faster to find out how it all turns out.
After finishing this, the second in Tempa Pagel's Andy Gamoon series, I find myself wanting to read the first.
January 5, 2014
" Andy Gammon, a former Detroit social studies teacher living in (but not always fitting into) a quaint New England town with her Yankee husband and two children, can't help getting involved whenever history meets mystery. Add in a couple of prime specimens of 19th century architecture-Andy's other passion-and she can't resist sneaking through back hallways of a Victorian grand hotel and crawling through the underground tunnels of a derelict Gothic insane asylum as she seeks answers to why a woman was killed at the Grand Hotel of the Atlantic on the night of the reopening gala, why another woman disappeared from that same room a century ago, and what connection may exist between the two."
This was an intriguing, interesting read! The action begins within the first chapter and just keeps going! The characters in the story made the whole book just move with an adventurous story ---- will look for more books by this author! And living in Michigan with our Grand Hotel on Mackinaw Island, makes me believe every state must have a hotel like this! Quick, good fast read! Most enjoyable!
This was an intriguing, interesting read! The action begins within the first chapter and just keeps going! The characters in the story made the whole book just move with an adventurous story ---- will look for more books by this author! And living in Michigan with our Grand Hotel on Mackinaw Island, makes me believe every state must have a hotel like this! Quick, good fast read! Most enjoyable!
April 6, 2014
I won this book through the Goodreads giveaway program. It's somewhat of a murder mystery novel, but also a family tale as well. It reminded me of a tv show I may have watched as a kid. It does jump back and forth between times/stories, but I personally love that in a book. I find it keeps things fresh and I don't get bored. This story follows Andy, your regular mom and wife, with a detective streak in her. While at an older hotel with her mother in law, a new acquaintance ends up dead. Andy makes it her mission to find out how she died, and in the process digs up a whole new story. I think adults and the younger crew alike would enjoy this book. I got the impression this is a series, or at least there's other books centered around Andy and I could definitely see myself reading them!
May 1, 2014
Andy and her mother-in-law Mayta splurge on a dinner at a newly renovated grand hotel, but when they tour the building, they find one of their dinner companions murdered. Mayta tells midwesterner Andy the locally famous story of a beautiful young girl who vanished from the hotel shortly after the opening, and italicized chapters tell her story, too. The legend and the current murder investigation mesh, and Andy gets herself in considerable trouble trying to find out the links between them. I vaguely remember reading the first Andy Gammon book, but the details are sketchy--I'll have to re-read.
October 9, 2014
*received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads
I found this book very well written and the story smoothly told. I would categorize it as a mystery with historical and crime solving elements. I did find the main character Andy to be extremely nosy, but then that does fit with the plot. I also found the ending to be somewhat sad/depressing but it was realistic and fit the plot. Would definitely recommend it to mystery lovers or those interested in 1900's history.
I found this book very well written and the story smoothly told. I would categorize it as a mystery with historical and crime solving elements. I did find the main character Andy to be extremely nosy, but then that does fit with the plot. I also found the ending to be somewhat sad/depressing but it was realistic and fit the plot. Would definitely recommend it to mystery lovers or those interested in 1900's history.
July 28, 2014
Tempa Pagel has written a wonderfully creepy book in They Danced by the Light of the Moon—An Andy Gammon Mystery. The author touches some of our deepest fears while drawing us in with the beauty and intrigue of an iconic New England town on the Atlantic coast. Time and place have a hold on a mystery that brings two eras together with visits to times past and present.
August 5, 2014
This was a good mystery story. I felt that it got a bit complicated with 3 different mysteries going on at the same time but at least it kept me thinking. The flashbacks were put in at decent intervals but could have been a bit shorter. Overall though I liked the characters and the story line.
April 12, 2014
Not a bad book, but a little implausible for some of the things that the protagonist decided were good ideas. Some of the characters were not very fleshed out.
May 4, 2014
Really enjoyed the writing & the story!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews