The Dead Past

Felicity Grove #1

by Tom Piccirilli

Welcome to Felicity Grove. . .

This upstate New York village is as small as it is peaceful. But somehow Jonathan Kendrick's eccentric grandma Anna always manages to find trouble. Crime, scandal, you name it . . . this wheelchair-bound senior citizen is involved. So when the phone rings at 4 a.m. in Jonathan's New York City apartment, he knows to expect some kind of dilemma. But Anna's outdone herself this time. She's stumbled across a dead body . . . in her trash can!

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Suspense

200 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Thomas Piccirilli (May 27, 1965 – July 11, 2015) was an American novelist and short story writer.

Piccirilli sold over 150 stories in the mystery, thriller, horror, erotica, and science fiction fields. He was a two-time winner of the International Thriller Writers Award for "Best Paperback Original" (2008, 2010). He was a four-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award. He was also a finalist for the 2009 Edgar Allan Poe Award given by the Mystery Writers of America, a final nominee for the Fantasy Award, and the winner of the first Bram Stoker Award given in the category of "Best Poetry Collection".

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was told or read some where that Piccirilli wrote this on a dare, imitating the "cozy" genre of mysteries. If so, he both did and did not succeed. The opening chapters seem to be checking off a list of traits, based perhaps on Murder She Wrote: the smart and well-meaning but uncontrollably nosy and interfering old lady in a small, quaint town, her hapless grandson getting drawn into her schemes, the local yokels... in fact, it almost seems like a satire of a cozy. But on the other hand, the father one reads the darker it seems. The grandson is close to Anna because his parents are dead, murdered, as it turns out by a close friend. The sheriff didn't want Jon investigating and put him in jail for three months, unlike cozies where interfering civilians seem to never get more than a verbal warning to butt out. Three months in jail is no joke, and I think he was in jail other times also. Additionally, he's been stabbed and beaten various times. Savaged by attack dogs. Threatened with death. There was a weirdness to me in the way the grandmother seemed to ignore his risks, like she imagines she really is a character in a cozy and nothing can happen. This is emphasized by her continual rereading of Agatha Christie. And Jon, despite his mild-mannered employment as a bookseller and his good manners, clearly has some anger issues in addition to other emotional scars. The fake flatness of his "romance" with the florist contrasted almost disturbingly with the weirdness of his previous marriage, which retrospectively seems like he was suffering from PTSD. The "quaint small town" is no Cabot Cove: there is unemployment and drug abuse and infidelity and a rough bar where Jon gets assaulted on multiple occasions. The orphaned and mentally ill can rot for all other residents care.

This was my first Piccirilli but my impression is that he is generally fairly dark, and you can certainly see the underlying darkness here, like tar seeping up through a road surface.

[Gloria Piper · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a charming cozy that is part of a Felicity Grove mystery series. Jonathan Kendrick and his grandmother, Anna, are afflicted with a nosiness that is almost terminal when it comes to solving murder mysteries. We have plenty of witty repartees, which sometimes go on a bit too long. Jonathan is haunted by past traumas, which have worked to make him and his grandma famous in the little town. This rounds out the characters and it serves to invite the reader to investigate previous books in this series. Sort of a built in advertisement that is almost overdone. The read is clever and entertaining, with its odd actors. Names of characters are as numerous as trees in a forest, but somehow we manage to stay focused and occasionally surprised at the turn of events. This is a quick, light read.

[Debra Jeakins · Rating 5 out of 5]

ONATHAN KENDRICK, mild mannered bookstore owner that is until his grandmother Anna calls him back home to help her solve a murder. As the bodies keep piling up, Jonathan keeps searching for the murderer

Tom Piccirili,s THE DEAD PAST from page one right to the end of the book gives us a well structured mystery with characters right out of your home town.The plot kept me guessing right up to the moment when Jonathan confronts the killer.
As for narration , I was not as impressed. At the start of the book it seems like the narrator was slow and not very distinct in his narration,but as it went on he did much better.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free. I am voluntarily posting this review and any opinions expressed herein are my own.

I am actually closer to 3.5 than four stars so I gave this a four as I did not think it deserved a three-star rating.

This is a cozy mystery - having all of the elements of a cozy - small town, nosey main characters, incompetent law enforcement, etc. At times this cozy is downright charming, has some touching moments between the main characters [grandmother and grandson], with some very humorous/witty moments. However, the author also threw in a lot of events - and not just backstory on the characters but other cases which the MC and his grandmother previously solved - summed up in a few short sentences or a brief paragraph. It happened so often that I ended up checking several times whether this was actually the first book in the series as I felt that I was missing something - I wasn't, this is the first book.

The narrator, Daniel Dorse, does a good job but narrates slowly. I ended up speeding up the narration.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

There wasn't anything outstanding about this book. It was a basic cozy murder mystery story. I had a tough time following the beginning of the story. I think that was partially due to the narrator. Not bad, but certainly not a great mystery.

[Ellen White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Johnathan and his grandmother Anna solving a murder together. It is on her land, a trash can. A good cozy mystery with some humor. Given audio for my voluntary review and my honest opinion

[MD · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t like the protagonist. The motivation and actions of the characters didn’t make sense to me. It simply wasn’t at all what I expected based on the blurbs on the back of the book.

[Angie crosby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I've read other books by this author but never a mystery. I didn't even know he had written mysteries. This book had a Miss Marple quality to it in nosiness and an inability to let anything go. It gave me clues but nothing glaringly obvious and kept me guessing to the end. It started a bit slow then seemed to really wrap up fast, almost as if the author suddenly decided to quicken the pace of the book. Good library read but nothing i'd buy.

[Marleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original and enjoyable.

[Jan Folks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good. Surprise ending. Will read more of his.

[Dola · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another great book by Tom Piccirilli! I love his books!