Fire Water

Peter Bartholomew Mysteries #10

by Sally Cabot Gunning

Peter and Connie Bartholomew are stunned when their young ward, Lucy, stumbles upon a human skull that turns out to belong to Peter's former flame, Susan Jameson, who vanished fifteen years earlier, a case that becomes complicated by the discovery of another body and dark suspicions about Peter's motives

Genres: Mystery

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1999

About the author

A lifelong resident of New England, Sally Cabot Gunning has immersed herself in its history from a young age. She is the author of six critically acclaimed historically themed novels: The Widow’s War, Bound, The Rebellion of Jane Clarke, Benjamin Franklin’s Bastard, Monticello: A Daughter and Her Father, and her latest novel, released June 2021, Painting the Light. Elected fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society and president of The Brewster Historical Society, she has created numerous historical tours of her village.

Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, and an assortment of short story anthologies.

She lives with her husband Tom in Brewster, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Priscilla Herrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sally Gunning’s Peter Bartholomew mystery series includes ten books, While each is a stand-alone story, I really enjoyed reading all ten in order. The main characters appear and re-appear, and relationships are formed. The “mystery” that riders atop all the separate cases is, will Peter and his ex-wife, Connie, get back together again? Should they? There are other questions that carry through more than one book, like Peter’s sister and her taste in men, and then there are various matters of small town life on Nashtoba Island, off Cape Hook – a locale that has a certain similarity to Cape Cod.

A skull is found in Peter and Connie's marsh, identified as a former flame of Peter's who disappeared fifteen years ago. And then another skull turns up in the marsh, this one identified as a bootlegger from the 1920s. Peter embarks on an investigation to clear his and Connie's names...

[Fay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am accustomed to reading this author's historical novels and like them very much. I thought I would try her mysteries written earlier in her career. This is the book I located. It gained strength as the story developed, but I would label it as 'mystery light.' It was enjoyable, but not gripping, the sort of story one might want if they want to relax and get involved .... sort of. Hence, the 3 stars!

[Sharon Bezrutczyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was slow going for me in the beginning but then got very interesting.

[Indie Book Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sally Gunning is amazing! She should be writing scripts for CSI!

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, easy read.