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Mother Lavinia Grey #5
Grave Misgivings
Kate Gallison is back with a new mystery featuring cello-playing, crime-solving Episcopal priest Lavinia Grey. When a man finds his father's remains inexplicably missing from the local cemetery, he enlists Mother Vinnie's help.
Kate Gallison's faithful fans and critics everywhere have long been singing her praises, calling her "inventive and funny" (Kirkus Reviews), "an original talent" (Publishers Weekly), and "a good choice for those who enjoy the...mysteries of Donald Westlake" (Chicago Sun-Times).
In her latest mystery, Gallison delves into the afterlife. Mark Smith, with his grown daughter, Shannon, in tow, has returned to Fishersville, New Jersey, all the way from Phoenix, Arizona. He's brought his mother's ashes with him hoping to place them next to his father's remains, but his father's headstone is not to be found anywhere. Confused, he turns to Mother Vinnie, the town's logical source for help.
Armed with her usual equanimity, Mother Vinnie takes on the case, but a host of complications ensues. Who's been stealing statuary from area cemeteries? What's the story behind the bones buried under the Acme Supermarket? Will Vinnie's on-again-off-again relationship with Fishersville police officer Dave Dogg ever succeed? With smart dialogue, keen plotting, and unmistakable wit, Kate Gallison provides all the answers her loyal readership seeks.
Kate Gallison's faithful fans and critics everywhere have long been singing her praises, calling her "inventive and funny" (Kirkus Reviews), "an original talent" (Publishers Weekly), and "a good choice for those who enjoy the...mysteries of Donald Westlake" (Chicago Sun-Times).
In her latest mystery, Gallison delves into the afterlife. Mark Smith, with his grown daughter, Shannon, in tow, has returned to Fishersville, New Jersey, all the way from Phoenix, Arizona. He's brought his mother's ashes with him hoping to place them next to his father's remains, but his father's headstone is not to be found anywhere. Confused, he turns to Mother Vinnie, the town's logical source for help.
Armed with her usual equanimity, Mother Vinnie takes on the case, but a host of complications ensues. Who's been stealing statuary from area cemeteries? What's the story behind the bones buried under the Acme Supermarket? Will Vinnie's on-again-off-again relationship with Fishersville police officer Dave Dogg ever succeed? With smart dialogue, keen plotting, and unmistakable wit, Kate Gallison provides all the answers her loyal readership seeks.
- GenresMystery
224 pages, Hardcover
First published September 8, 1998
14 people want to read
About the author
Kate Gallison
27 books8 followersaka Irene Fleming
Kate Gallison was born in Philadelphia and grew up reading mystery stories, from Nancy Drew to the lurid paperbacks her mother kept on the bottom shelf in the sunroom. Over the years she has worked for the Washington Post, John Wanamaker's department store, the State of New Jersey, and two large software houses in Princeton, New Jersey. When she started writing mysteries of her own, the characters and the politics in these workplaces were all grist to her mill.
Kate has three grown sons and a bachelor's degree in humanities from Thomas Edison College. She lives in Lambertville with her musician husband and their cat.
Kate Gallison was born in Philadelphia and grew up reading mystery stories, from Nancy Drew to the lurid paperbacks her mother kept on the bottom shelf in the sunroom. Over the years she has worked for the Washington Post, John Wanamaker's department store, the State of New Jersey, and two large software houses in Princeton, New Jersey. When she started writing mysteries of her own, the characters and the politics in these workplaces were all grist to her mill.
Kate has three grown sons and a bachelor's degree in humanities from Thomas Edison College. She lives in Lambertville with her musician husband and their cat.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 5, 2016
Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...
1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.
2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.
3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.
4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.
5 stars... I loved this book! It has earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.
August 24, 2020
A murder mystery. This book was not for me. It has potential but I just couldn't not get into it. I did finish but blessed it was a short read. Hope others can find something in this book.
September 28, 2014
"... a new mystery featuring the irrepressible Mother Lavinia Grey, the cello-playing, crime-solving vicar of St. Bede's Episcopal Church in Fishersville, New Jersey. Mother Vinnie, as she is affectionately known to her close-knit congregation, has tangled in the past with greddy land developers, a satanic cult, and murderous, furniture-stealing thugs. Now she's tryhing to cope with unscrupulous headstone-robbing thieves.
"And to think it all started so innocently, when former resident Mark Smith, with his grown daughter, Shannon, in tow, showed up in Fishersville -- all the way from Phoenix, Arizona -- with his mother's ashes. Gone since he was six, Mark now wants her remains to be buried near her husband's. The grave, they expect, is somewhere in town -- in the cemetery of the Church of St. Joseph the Worker, with the beautiful view, or perhaps in the Mount Outlook Cemetery, peaceful and pretty. But there's no headstone to be found anywhere. Could it be that they're mistaken? Mark is plagued by headaches and haunting visions -- memories, perhaps, of something terrible from long ago. Why are his father's remains nowhere to be found?
"Mother Vinnie takes on the case of the missing remains with her usual equanimity and common sense. But there are additional complications. For one thing, there's the matter of the stolen statuary -- all those missing angels and carved wreaths. And what about the mysterious bones buried under the Acme Supermarket ever since the great flood of 1955?
"With the patience and fortitude of all great sleuths, Mother Vinnie marches on to solve the crime and save the day."
~~front & back flaps
A very ordinary mystery, with a few nice surprises along the way. A "beach" mystery: light, engaging, quickly read and as quickly forgotten.
"And to think it all started so innocently, when former resident Mark Smith, with his grown daughter, Shannon, in tow, showed up in Fishersville -- all the way from Phoenix, Arizona -- with his mother's ashes. Gone since he was six, Mark now wants her remains to be buried near her husband's. The grave, they expect, is somewhere in town -- in the cemetery of the Church of St. Joseph the Worker, with the beautiful view, or perhaps in the Mount Outlook Cemetery, peaceful and pretty. But there's no headstone to be found anywhere. Could it be that they're mistaken? Mark is plagued by headaches and haunting visions -- memories, perhaps, of something terrible from long ago. Why are his father's remains nowhere to be found?
"Mother Vinnie takes on the case of the missing remains with her usual equanimity and common sense. But there are additional complications. For one thing, there's the matter of the stolen statuary -- all those missing angels and carved wreaths. And what about the mysterious bones buried under the Acme Supermarket ever since the great flood of 1955?
"With the patience and fortitude of all great sleuths, Mother Vinnie marches on to solve the crime and save the day."
~~front & back flaps
A very ordinary mystery, with a few nice surprises along the way. A "beach" mystery: light, engaging, quickly read and as quickly forgotten.
January 18, 2018
Shannon Smith has accompanied her father on a trip to the home town in New Jersey that he left as a boy of six, to bury her grandmother's ashes with Nana's long dead husband. But her father starts to remember things about his life in New Jersey, and even undergoes hypnosis, which raises more questions than it answers. If, as everybody believes, his father died in the monumental flood of 1955, why did his son see him covered with blood? They meet Mother Lavinia Grey in the cemetery, where they can't find a headstone for the man they seek. Of course, it seems that cemetery robbers are taking valuable property from the graves. Vinnie is worried about her own life, but of course wants to help the Smiths. The quest takes Shannon and Vinnie across the Delaware into Pennsylvania, where they find some answers and a lot of danger.
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August 12, 2011Liked the Mother Vinnie character but wanted a bit more info on her background - maybe more about her comes out in other books ... The story was an interesting mix of mysterious events in the past and a murder in the present, it was enjoyable reading.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews