The Body in the Attic

Faith Fairchild #14

by Katherine Hall Page

Caterer Faith Fairchild and family are living in one of historic Cambridge, Massachusetts', venerable Brattle Street houses while the Reverend Tom teaches a course at the Harvard Divinity School and does some soul searching -- is his Aleford parish his true calling? One night in downtown Boston, Faith is startled by a face from her past. It's Richard Morgan, a former boyfriend from her life as a single woman in Manhattan. Their heady, whirlwind affair in the waning days of the self-indulgent 1980s ended abruptly. Now he's back, as exciting as ever.

Then something occurs that turns a pleasant sabbatical into a nightmare -- Faith discovers a diary, written in 1946 and hidden in the attic, that reveals an unspeakable horror. Suddenly dark secrets seem to permeate every room. And with Richard guarding strange secrets of his own, Faith is soon caught up in solving more than one troubling mystery ... with a murderer lurking a little too close to home.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Cooking, Contemporary

308 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Katherine Hall Page is the author of twenty-five previous Faith Fairchild mysteries, the first of which received the Agatha Award for best first mystery. The Body in the Snowdrift was honored with the Agatha Award for best novel of 2006. Page also won an Agatha for her short story “The Would-Be Widower.” The recipient of the Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement, she has been nominated for the Edgar, the Mary Higgins Clark, the Maine Literary, and the Macavity Awards. She lives in Massachusetts and Maine with her husband.

Reviews

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

This, the 14th entry in the Faith Fairchild cozy series, reintroduces Richard Morgan, the one-time wealthy, one-time boyfriend of Faith Fairchild from before Faith married and still lived the fashionable life in New York City. (Richard first appeared in the forgettable tenth novel in the series, The Body in the Big Apple.) But then Faith encounters Richard in a Boston soup kitchen — not as a volunteer, but as a client! What’s happened in the past 13 years?

At the same time, Faith finds a diary in the attic of her rental house, where she, her husband and two children are living for a semester while Reverend Tom Fairchild is teaching at Harvard Divinity School on sabbatical. In the 1946 diary, a new bride is being held hostage in the attic by her sadistic husband. (So, yes, the title is a misnomer; Faith doesn’t find a body in the attic, just evidence of somebody being held against her will.) So Faith is snooping in two different cases.

The Body in the Attic is amongst the best in the series: a real page-turner I couldn’t go down. It may be cliché, but in this case it was five stars’ worth of truth.

[Urban Hermit · Rating 1 out of 5]

Plot, as such, overwhelmed by peripheral history lessons about Boston,Harvard and Cambridge,awkwardly and intrusively inserted. Main character dull,insipid. And-- worst of all-- nothing happens. Faith eats... And eats. Unpacks. Eats. Unpacks. Explains how to cook asparagus and finally finds a diary in the attic. Gee, that's never happened before.

Unoriginal. Dull. Predictable and not driven successfully by plot or character. Spare yourself. Give it a miss.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy this series from Katherine Hall Page. This book did not disappoint.

[Paula Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written and a great story about an old Cambridge campus setting.

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

#14 finds Tom taking a short sabbatical from his Aleford Parish to teach a term at Harvard Divinity School and Urban Ministry caring for and feeding the homeless. The family is transplanted from Aleford to the professor’s Battle Street Home in Cambridge, a preschool spot takes in Amy and Tom’s parish secretary takes Ben back and forth to school from Cambridge. This leaves Faith free to settle into the house which gives her bad vibes, she runs into a former, pre-marriage fling at a soup kitchen, son Ben finds a 1946 diary in a third floor armoire which sends Faith on a hunt for who Dora was and what happened to her. Not as scary as some, until the end. Well done again. Lots of info on Boston and Cambridge.

[Maureen O'Connor · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book should be titled NO Body in the Attic. The only thing found in the attic is a diary and the reader is forced to read along in a failed effort to create some suspense.

I had read one book in this series and found it less than engaging but in the spirit of fairness tried another one hoping to find out why this series has lasted for 20+ books. I did not find an answer. Although the characters are likable they are not well developed, the action is very slow, the interspersed history lessons, travel logs, recipes and restaurant and food reviews are awkwardly included as well as boring and worst of all the plot is thin.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Faith Fairchild's husband, The Rev. Tom Fairchild, has taken an interim position teaching at Harvard. When she goes to help serve meals at a homeless shelter, one of the men coming through the line is a friend from years past--Richard Morgan, journalist, novelist, traveler. They meet for coffee the following week only this time, Richard is impeccably dressed, has a platinum Visa card and explains that he is researching for a book on homelessness.
At home, Faith's son Ben discovers a small diary that tells of the abuse suffered by the writer. Faith is determined to discover who the author was and perhaps bring her some justice.

[Ramona · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first book by this author. I really enjoyed it although I kept thinking a body actually would be found in the attic. It's a tale of Faith Fairchild a caterer and minister's wife who with her family temporarily take up residence in Cambridge. Her husband is teaching a course in divinity school and takes over the professor's house. While exploring the house one day, she finds a diary that reveals dark secrets of the prior owners. As Faith tries to find out what happened to the woman who wrote the diary, she uncovers an old flame and an old murder. Can't wait to read more in this series.

[Debby · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am on the fence with this particular book. I found the diary from the past an interesting part of the story and would have preferred the book focused entirely on this portion. I was not at all thrilled with the Richard Morgan story line. It just seemed to be a tangled mess. The secrecy was not Faith like and didn't make sense either. Sharing her story with Tom would have been more plausible. The ending also came on alittle too abruptly.

Like all series, you love some books, you don't love others, and some are just blah. This was a just blah.

[Emma E Frost · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this one difficult to follow, as there were no delineators between segments. In one line she is talking to Tom and the very next line she is talking to Richard. It might have been the ebook version I was reading, but it was quite confusing at times. I also felt that the plot was derivative. I have read so many versions of this story and was disappointed that there was nothing new added to this plot to make it different.

[Julie Trapp · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tom is becoming bored/routine in his job so he takes a semester leave of absence to teach at Harvard. They stay in an old, historic house. In the attic is not a body, but an old diary. She spends the book reading the diary wondering what happened to the writer. No body, just a boring book found in the attic.

[Cindy Grossi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a book I picked up. Good read, but don’t think I’ll get any more in the series. Didn’t know all the upscale brand names she was dropping and couldn’t figure out how someone with a catering business and two kids had so much free time-seemed unrealistic, but I have not followed her through 13 previous installments.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love mysteries, so I try out new authors a lot in that genre. Some I like, some I don't. Katherine Hall Page is a great author who keeps you entertained. The Faith Fairchild series is a great, light, entertaining, read!

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Old Friend

I haven't read a book from this series in a long time. It was like .eating an old friend. I quickly relaxed as I met all of Faith's family and friends as she went about a new adventure in Cambridge. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more of them.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book. However, I kept thinking that bones would be discovered in the attic. The plot is good, the ending not as good as I thought it would be.

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best part of this book was the Author's Note at the end of the book about comfort foods and comfort reads. I thought that was very well written, interesting and nostalgic.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

A different setting, an old friend, suspicious characters all make for an interesting story. I really enjoyed this book!

[Andi · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books never work as well outside Aleford or Sanpere. Reads too much like a travel log of Cambridge and Boston. Improbable plot

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each mystery seems to get better and better.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't really enjoy the structure of this one and the "mystery" is pretty non-existent. I did enjoy the characters.

[Jgravander]

It was fun to read about Cambridge and Lincoln, towns that I always visit.

[Meg Lynch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still committed to this series, which I really enjoy. That said, I felt the "solution" wasn't clearly developed or explained and the whole thing was wrapped up a little too abruptly.

[Dawn Fortenberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

a fascinating tale where the protagonist, Faith Fairchild, solves a decades-old mystery. Loved it!

[Red Fields · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5⭐️ rounded up.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Publication-date-wise, The Body in the Attic is fourteenth in the mystery series, Faith Fairchild; chronologically, it is thirteenth. This story is set in Cambridge as Tom is teaching at Harvard.

My Take
This story is rather different from the ones that have come before: Faith is "cheating" on Tom while Tom is not playing fair with Faith nor are there dead bodies in the usual sense. The tragedy of that young girl…thank god, we've come as far as we have in "letting it all hang out"!

I do think the penultimate act was rather lame. How could he have thought that Faith would betray him? Why would he think that he would get such short shrift from the authorities with that evidence to back him up?

It seems odd that, in previous books, Faith has been so busy with her catering, and when she moves to Cambridge, she has so very much time to be a "lady who lunches". Rather convenient for Page. When Richard's body is found, Faith does nothing except contact Richard's sister who tells her the truth about him. She doesn't contact the police to tell them about the book he's researching. She doesn't try to see his body. She has one useless conversation with another homeless man ages after Richard was found dead. Who is this woman? What has Page done with the real Faith? Or is Faith that shallow?

One of the few positives is Hope's upcoming wedding.

In spite of my whining, this story was very good and also very, very sad; I'm curious as to where Tom's needs lead him next, as I find that I like Aleford too.

The Story
Oh-ho, Tom is not thinking when he sets up an entire semester away from Aleford without Faith's knowledge. Tom is having a crisis of conscience, unsure if he wants to minister to a parish or a shelter. When the opportunity comes along to teach a course at Harvard, he jumps at it, dragging Faith and the children along where they stay in a colleague's old home on Brattle Street in Cambridge.

There is something evil about the house, an evil that is confirmed when young Ben finds a diary after he and Amy try to find Narnia through an old armoire up in the attic. Faith becomes riveted in its reading and attempts to learn more about the identity of those who lived in the house before. At the same time, she comes across an old lover while helping Tom serve dinner at a homeless shelter.

The Characters
Faith Fairchild is married to the Reverend Tom Fairchild. Their children are Ben and Amy. Hope is Faith's younger sister about to marry Quentin.

Richard Morgan is a former lover Faith hasn't seen in 13 years (see The Body in the Big Apple , 0.5).

The Cover and Title
I really don't know what the cover is supposed to represent. Okay, the dormer could well be the attic but the streetlight with its cracked glass is what's prominent, and I don't recall any such reference in the story.

The title is what it is, The Body in the Attic, although it's more of a "body of evidence".

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is full of awkwardly-inserted mentions of real places in Harvard Square, Cambridge, and downtown Boston and environs. It almost feels sometimes like the story is a vehicle for describing the locale and showing off local knowledge. A lot of it is accurate (I work in Harvard Square, and did live in Cambridge at the time this book was written.) I did laugh at the mention of the "Fresh Pond Bread and Circus" - I'm pretty sure that's been a Whole Foods since before 2003(?). There are also lots of awkwardly-inserted descriptions of food and recipes. Aside from that, the writing is OK and engaging enough.

I actually like that this was not a traditional murder mystery - in fact there is not a murder to "solve" in this book.

However, both the main character and the woman in the diary she finds behave in ways I do not find plausible or even justifiable. In many cases, they have better options, but their actions are presented as the only possible thing to do.

The main character does seem a bit snobby, especially about food and cooking. There seemed to be some unintentional irony because she is such a snob about other people's cooking but she also volunteers in a soup kitchen where needy people have to eat food of no particular quality.

I have to admit, I don't completely understand the conclusion of the book. (How did the professor know that Faith Fairchild had found the diary? He seemed to know about the diary, but not to have read it or know what it's about.) Ultimately I don't think these kinds of details matter, and most mystery books' solutions fall apart if you think about them too much, so I'm not deducting any points for that.

Quick read, could have been a lot worse. ***

[Theresa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Liked the story with the diary--that was really cool; hated the stuff with Mindy *totally irrelevant,* the stuff with Richard *the reintroduction of his character was just as pointless as the first time we met him, and Faith's whining and messed up relationship with him was annoying,* and I hated how Faith was back to just considering her kids a nuisance again and avoiding them as much as possible. She and Tom really need to fix their relationship and definitely should not be parents, and that goes for Hope too. Just frustrating and annoying, with bits of the good and interesting diary thrown in.

Note: I've read this entire series up to The Body in the Attic, and the best rating I've given any of them is 2 stars, which is sad and says a lot about the series. I kept reading because it really has potential but it never lives up to it, so save yourself the trouble and agony and try a a different series, such as Carolyn Hart's Death On Demand series, most of which are fun and enjoyable, or stop after The Body in the Cast, which was probably the best of the series. That's my recommendation, anyway.

[Laura Rodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Be forewarned that this book is dark. In the form of a diary a young woman's imprisonment, rape, brutalization and humiliation is documented and left hidden for over 50 years. Faith Fairchild, mother of two and wife to a pastor, finds herself temporarily relocated to Cambridge, MA so that her husband can teach for a semester at Harvard's Divinity College. They are offered the opportunity to housesit for a colleague on sabbatical in the beautiful and affluent Bostonian neighborhood of Brattle Street (or Tory Row). Faith discovers the personal journal and is sickened by the dark secrets that permeate the house and vows to discover what has become of the writer. The description of Boston landmarks, neighborhoods and current social woes are interesting to read about. I liked this book greatly.

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Body in The Attic (Katherine Hall Page)
Murder/Mystery. Faith Fairchild is a caterer married to a minister. Her husband take a sabbatical from the church to teach classes in Cambridge. While Faith is reluctant to leave her home, even just temporarily she dose. They stay in the historical home of a fellow professor and there while exploring the attic she finds an old diary. She delves into the diary of this woman and is determined to find out who she is. One day she helps her husband in a soup kitchen and runs into and old Beau. It is perplexing for Faith to see him as a homeless man. Soon she finds out what brought him to this point.

Interesting plots which intertwine and end up in a perfect ending. A nice cozy cold weather read. I intend to read more in the Faith Fairchild series.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read the Faith Fairchild mysteries since they were first published, although somewhere along the line I had stopped looking for new ones. I was pleased to win a copy in the Goodreads drawing. The Body in the Attic is a departure in place for this married couple and, interestingly, gives Faith a bit of a break from her business while creating logistical problems for her in their temporary Cambridge home. The finding of a diary and the revelation of its contents portend a somewhat unexpected denouement. Since I didn't have to return it to a library, I read this book in a leisurely manner and enjoyed it immensely, glad to reunite with a favorite character from earlier years.