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Pat Montella #3
Poison to Purge Melancholy
Pat Montello would never spend Christmas away from her huge clan if she didn't think her boyfriend Hugh Lee was "Mr. Right." A weekend in Williamsburg, Virginia, with Hugh's family should be fun, right? Beset with inexplicable aches, anxiety attacks, and invisible kisses under the mistletoe, Pat realizes Hugh's mom's old house is haunted. Hiding embarrassing bouts with spirits from her potential in-laws transforms Pat's holiday into a crazed damage control mission. Finding refuge in Williamsburg's post-Revolution past, Pat uncovers a two-centuries-old mystery ...and it seems murder may be on the horizon in the present, as well.
Alternating between 1783 and contemporary life, Elena Santangelo presents two tantalizing mysteries spanning the centuries. With a smidgen of ghostly antics in the mix, the result is a refreshing spin on the mystery genre.
Alternating between 1783 and contemporary life, Elena Santangelo presents two tantalizing mysteries spanning the centuries. With a smidgen of ghostly antics in the mix, the result is a refreshing spin on the mystery genre.
- GenresMystery
432 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2006
21 people want to read
About the author
Elena Santangelo
36 books51 followersELENA SANTANGELO pens the Possessed Mystery series, including Agatha Award finalist BY BLOOD POSSESSED. The series features laid-off office clerk turned ghostbuster, Pat Montella, and her 91 year-old sidekick, Miss Maggie. These novels combine murder, ghosts, history, and a protagonist brought up on Italian cooking and superstitions. Latest in the series is FEAR ITSELF, in which a ghost from the Great Depression helps Pat solve a present day murder in her hometown.
Elena's Twins Mystery Series begins with the novel TWO-FACED, which introduces Gen Ziegler, forensic psychologist, and her mirror-image twin, Sara. In THE TODD CHRONICLES, Todd MacBride, a geeky psych student, appoints himself as Gen Ziegler's "Dr. Watson" as he puts a hilarious spin on her Tucson cases. The series continues most recently with DOUBLE CROSS, when the sisters become stranded in a West Texas town, surrounded by secrets, outlaws, danger, and murder.
DAME AGATHA'S SHORTS is Elena's armchair companion to Christie's more than one hundred and fifty short stories. DAME AGATHA'S SHORTS won the 2009 Agatha Award for Best Non-Fiction and is an Anthony Award and Macavity Award finalist.
Elena's short stories have been published in the United States and Japan and most are available individually on Kindle. You can also find 16 of them in the SHORT CUTS TO MAYHEM anthology. She co-edited the short story anthologies, DEATH KNELL IV and DEATH KNELL V.
YESTERDAY, TODAY & FOREVER is a non-fiction book about Elena's uncle, Joseph B. Chicco, the journal he kept while serving aboard the U.S.S. Mobile in 1945 during World War II, and the PTSD that plagued him the rest of his life.
Contact her at www.elenasantangelo.com"
Elena's Twins Mystery Series begins with the novel TWO-FACED, which introduces Gen Ziegler, forensic psychologist, and her mirror-image twin, Sara. In THE TODD CHRONICLES, Todd MacBride, a geeky psych student, appoints himself as Gen Ziegler's "Dr. Watson" as he puts a hilarious spin on her Tucson cases. The series continues most recently with DOUBLE CROSS, when the sisters become stranded in a West Texas town, surrounded by secrets, outlaws, danger, and murder.
DAME AGATHA'S SHORTS is Elena's armchair companion to Christie's more than one hundred and fifty short stories. DAME AGATHA'S SHORTS won the 2009 Agatha Award for Best Non-Fiction and is an Anthony Award and Macavity Award finalist.
Elena's short stories have been published in the United States and Japan and most are available individually on Kindle. You can also find 16 of them in the SHORT CUTS TO MAYHEM anthology. She co-edited the short story anthologies, DEATH KNELL IV and DEATH KNELL V.
YESTERDAY, TODAY & FOREVER is a non-fiction book about Elena's uncle, Joseph B. Chicco, the journal he kept while serving aboard the U.S.S. Mobile in 1945 during World War II, and the PTSD that plagued him the rest of his life.
Contact her at www.elenasantangelo.com"
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 30, 2016
This is the third in a series featuring Pat Montella, a woman from a large Italian family from Philadelphia who moved to Virginia to inherit an old estate, since she is the only remaining member of an old Confederate family. It is in Virginia that she first encounters both history and ghosts.
It is Christmas Eve when our plucky Nancy Drew-like heroine travels to Williamsburg to meet her boyfriend's family for the first time and to spend a few days in one of the colonial houses that were part of the original dwellings present at the time of the Revolutionary War.
As soon as Pat enters the house, she begins getting strange sensations, which she tries to ignore, but this isn't like any haunting she had ever experienced before. Her prior spook sessions had never been frightening; at least she hadn't feared for her personal safety.
The narrative comes from two first-person characters, as the story skids to 1783, then back to the present. One of these is Pat and the other is Ben, a somewhat mysterious man who was in the war and is now making his way in Williamsburg, taking what work he can, as well as entertaining many with his excellent fiddle.
As in Santangelo's previous stories, Pat acts like a conduit from the past to the future. But she is also astute enough to help solve murders that happen around her and she solves past mysterious happening as well.
The background of the story was very entertaining as well, because Pat experiences in her own life certain traditions and customs of the past. Her hostess is an expert at historic recreations, such as the typical festive meals that would have been identical in the hard days of the new republic.
There is a fine balance between the two story lines of the past and the present, and one reason for this is that methods of murder don't seem to change much over the centuries, except that the actual implements have improved over time.
It is Christmas Eve when our plucky Nancy Drew-like heroine travels to Williamsburg to meet her boyfriend's family for the first time and to spend a few days in one of the colonial houses that were part of the original dwellings present at the time of the Revolutionary War.
As soon as Pat enters the house, she begins getting strange sensations, which she tries to ignore, but this isn't like any haunting she had ever experienced before. Her prior spook sessions had never been frightening; at least she hadn't feared for her personal safety.
The narrative comes from two first-person characters, as the story skids to 1783, then back to the present. One of these is Pat and the other is Ben, a somewhat mysterious man who was in the war and is now making his way in Williamsburg, taking what work he can, as well as entertaining many with his excellent fiddle.
As in Santangelo's previous stories, Pat acts like a conduit from the past to the future. But she is also astute enough to help solve murders that happen around her and she solves past mysterious happening as well.
The background of the story was very entertaining as well, because Pat experiences in her own life certain traditions and customs of the past. Her hostess is an expert at historic recreations, such as the typical festive meals that would have been identical in the hard days of the new republic.
There is a fine balance between the two story lines of the past and the present, and one reason for this is that methods of murder don't seem to change much over the centuries, except that the actual implements have improved over time.
June 18, 2017
Poison to Purge Melancholy by Elena Santangelo is book 3 of the Pat Montella mystery series, set in contemporary and 1783 Williamsburg VA. Pat spends the Christmas holidays with boyfriend Hugh, his daughter Beth Ann, and all his family (the romance is serious; time to meet family). Although she misses her own family celebrations steeped in Italian traditions, she is fascinated by the colonial traditions Hugh's mother Gladys "Glad" follows. Glad is thrilled to be living in a colonial dwelling, known as "the Carson house". Glad dresses in traditional clothing as Elizabeth Carson would have, and has hyphenated her last name with Carson. Pat immediately senses Glad's house is haunted, and over the course of the holiday she comes to recognize several ghosts are present. Different from her previous experiences with ghosts, these make Pat physically ill - until she touches Hugh or one of his family. She learns from the ghosts of past murders, and also solves the mystery of poisonings (attempted murders) in the present day during the house party.
In 1783 a group of former soldiers perform as masked mummers at their former commander's house. One of their party is shot. He had been suffering from heavy metal poisoning, which induced mental illness. A fellow lodger at the Carson house investigates the shooting, the poisoning, and the property itself, to resolve questions about events that occurred during the war.
Glad prepared her holiday meals using traditional recipes, using ingredients as close as possible to what was available in Williamsburg in colonial days, serving dozens of dishes in several courses. Glad and her significant other Ev dressed in traditional holiday garb and presented the meals with careful precision. All foods were artistically arranged, symmetrically placed on the tables, and served in a series of courses. The family had to leave the room between courses, so the next astonishing course could be laid out in splendor. I enjoyed the detailed descriptions of the lavish colonial meals and the traditional customs more than the parallel mystery plots.
In 1783 a group of former soldiers perform as masked mummers at their former commander's house. One of their party is shot. He had been suffering from heavy metal poisoning, which induced mental illness. A fellow lodger at the Carson house investigates the shooting, the poisoning, and the property itself, to resolve questions about events that occurred during the war.
Glad prepared her holiday meals using traditional recipes, using ingredients as close as possible to what was available in Williamsburg in colonial days, serving dozens of dishes in several courses. Glad and her significant other Ev dressed in traditional holiday garb and presented the meals with careful precision. All foods were artistically arranged, symmetrically placed on the tables, and served in a series of courses. The family had to leave the room between courses, so the next astonishing course could be laid out in splendor. I enjoyed the detailed descriptions of the lavish colonial meals and the traditional customs more than the parallel mystery plots.
June 8, 2022
Two and a half stars: An easy to read opus which I thought was too long. I'm not that interested in Colonial America, so all the details about Christmas dinners were boring. I also didn't love the jumping back and forth between 1783 and "present day." Although there is a map of Williamsburg, a floor plan of the house would have been more helpful. I thought there were too many characters, so a list of them at the beginning might have eased some confusion. Another minus for me was the heroine's going on and on about her "desire" about her fiance. Seemed more like a schoolgirl's diary then a mature woman's writing. Otherwise, I loved it.
August 27, 2007
I picked this book because it’s got a cool name. And the premise was alright, I suppose. Past and present unite with a murder. A house that has ghosts, historians telling their story, and one of the characters in the present gets poisoned, as the one in the past did.
But. It wasn’t good. The author has an incredibly old fashioned style. I didn’t get, or like, any of the characters. It was written in the present, but the characters were all forced and awkward and written in a kind of language that was very uninspired. The descriptions were the same.
Very bad.
But. It wasn’t good. The author has an incredibly old fashioned style. I didn’t get, or like, any of the characters. It was written in the present, but the characters were all forced and awkward and written in a kind of language that was very uninspired. The descriptions were the same.
Very bad.
September 20, 2012
I picked this book up at some point over the summer and added it to the pile. I was pleasantly surprised that the protagonist was a Philly native transplanted to VA. It took a few chapters to get into the style with one chapter set in the 1780's and the other in 2000's (?).
The book is fast paced and there are several chapters that pile on characters in rapid order but its a fun read.
I plan to look for more in this series
The book is fast paced and there are several chapters that pile on characters in rapid order but its a fun read.
I plan to look for more in this series
December 5, 2012
Just makes me want to read more Pat Montella stories.
Want to read
September 13, 2008rec via pbs
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews