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Willa Cather and Edith Lewis #2
Death Comes
Following On the Rocks, Sue Hallgarth's first Willa Cather and Edith Lewis mystery, Death Comes gives us another glimpse into the life and work of the Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist Willa Cather and her talented life partner. The year is 1926. Willa and Edith return to Mabel Dodge Luhan's pink adobe in Taos, New Mexico. Willa is writing Death Comes for the Archbishop. Edith is sketching Taos pueblo and hoping for a visit to the nearby D.H. Lawrence ranch. The previous summer they had stumbled on a woman's body. Now the headless bodies of two women add to the mystery. Sue Hallgarth presents an intimate portrait of Cather, Lewis, the spectacular New Mexico landscape, and the famous artists and writers Mabel Dodge Luhan gathered in Taos.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
268 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2017
About the author
Sue Hallgarth
2 books7 followersSue is a novelist and Willa Cather and Edith Lewis scholar. A former faculty member and administrator at Empire State College/State University of New York and William Woods University, she held a fellowship (1994-1995) from the American Council of Learned Societies to work on a biography of Willa Cather, and she was a visiting fellow at Princeton University and Rutgers University. From 1987-1996 she also served as a writing consultant and editor for the National Council for Research on Women. Since moving to New Mexico in 1997, she lives on an acre in Corrales, New Mexico, a small rural village outside of Albuquerque, with her partner of 30 years, and their household includes two horses, a miniature donkey, ten chickens, and five dogs. On the Rocks is her first published novel. The sequel, Death Comes, will be published October 1, 2017.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 30, 2018
I loved this book written by a local author. I've read several Willa Cather books (my favorite Death Comes for the Archbishop
)and liked them all. This book is a fictional account of Willa and her partner of 40 years, Edith Lewis, and their trip to visit Mabel Dodge Luhan in Taos, New Mexico, a town we visit many times per year, both in winter for skiing and summer for hiking.
Hallgarth nails her narrative of place in an accurate and beautiful way. She describes the people, the architecture, the food, the terrain, the time, 1926, just perfectly.
As a resident of New Mexico, she offered up a great history lesson in people. She used real people to set the stage, people like Erna Fergusson (my local library named for her), Long John Dunn (shopping center in Taos named for him), Mabel Dodge Luhan and her Taso Pueblo husband, Tony, Manby of Manby springs, and many others. It took me quite awhile to read this book because I kept putting it down to do further research into people and places. I never found anything about Steven Cutlass, a state representative that Mabel despises and reveals as corrupt.
Red River plays prominently and in a way I wasn't familiar with. The brothels and the gambling and human trafficking described in the book contradict what I know of the beautiful ski/hiking area. It's good to know of its origins.
Willa and Edith and their pursuit to get to the bottom of beheaded women found in Taos, seemed a bit far fetched, but I didn't care, I just loved seeing these people and the Taos mountains and mesa come to life.
Thank you Chris Wolak for sharing and sending this book to me.
)and liked them all. This book is a fictional account of Willa and her partner of 40 years, Edith Lewis, and their trip to visit Mabel Dodge Luhan in Taos, New Mexico, a town we visit many times per year, both in winter for skiing and summer for hiking.Hallgarth nails her narrative of place in an accurate and beautiful way. She describes the people, the architecture, the food, the terrain, the time, 1926, just perfectly.
As a resident of New Mexico, she offered up a great history lesson in people. She used real people to set the stage, people like Erna Fergusson (my local library named for her), Long John Dunn (shopping center in Taos named for him), Mabel Dodge Luhan and her Taso Pueblo husband, Tony, Manby of Manby springs, and many others. It took me quite awhile to read this book because I kept putting it down to do further research into people and places. I never found anything about Steven Cutlass, a state representative that Mabel despises and reveals as corrupt.
Red River plays prominently and in a way I wasn't familiar with. The brothels and the gambling and human trafficking described in the book contradict what I know of the beautiful ski/hiking area. It's good to know of its origins.
Willa and Edith and their pursuit to get to the bottom of beheaded women found in Taos, seemed a bit far fetched, but I didn't care, I just loved seeing these people and the Taos mountains and mesa come to life.
Thank you Chris Wolak for sharing and sending this book to me.
November 16, 2017
A fun, yet serious historical mystery novel that will appeal to both mystery lovers and Cather fans. The mystery has a steady progression and it is so much fun to see Cather and Lewis alive as characters in a very particular time and place. Hallgarth gracefully weaves in a fantastic amount of relevant historical information about Cather, Lewis, Taos, the time period, and other real people who populate the novel as characters AND offers insight into Cather’s writing.
Full review on my blog: https://wildmoobooks.com/2017/11/14/r...
Full review on my blog: https://wildmoobooks.com/2017/11/14/r...
October 12, 2017
I have to say, I’m a sucker for a historical mystery! Death Comes by Sue Halgrath pulls us into the lives of Willa Cather and her dear companion, artist Edith Lewis. They’ve returned to Taos, New Mexico for Willa to work on her next book (Death Comes for the Arch Bishop) while Edith ketches Taos and longs for a visit to DH Lawrence’s ranch.
The death of two women – found headless – calls Willa and Edith to dig into their investigatory experience… Death Comes plays with race relations, class relations, the Mabel Dodge Luhan Circle, and the need to ensure that justice is found.
I hadn’t read the first book, On the Rocks, yet I found the deep dive into the 1920s in New Mexico with Willa, Edith, and other friends to be a delightful escape.
A solid read for lovers of mystery, history, makers, and the curiosities of human nature.
The death of two women – found headless – calls Willa and Edith to dig into their investigatory experience… Death Comes plays with race relations, class relations, the Mabel Dodge Luhan Circle, and the need to ensure that justice is found.
I hadn’t read the first book, On the Rocks, yet I found the deep dive into the 1920s in New Mexico with Willa, Edith, and other friends to be a delightful escape.
A solid read for lovers of mystery, history, makers, and the curiosities of human nature.
December 19, 2017
This may contain spoilers
Author: Sue Hallgarth.
Title: Death comes: A Willa Cather and Edith Lewis mystery.
Genre: Historical, Historical Fiction, Fiction,
I signed up for poetic book tours and l were emailed off Serena Agusto-Cox about reviewing this book.
Book Dedication: For Hilda Raz poet, friend, editor extraordinaire.
First of all I would like to say a big thank you to Sue Hallgarth for sending me this book and giving me the chance to read it. I want to say a big thank you to Serena Agusto-Cox for contacting me and taking the time to email me.
I would tell people that you should step outside your comfort zone with books because it is good to add more authors and genres to your reading portfolio even if you do not read books like this.
I normally read books of this genre but l also stepped outside my comfort zone l am so glad l did because I have read so many great books and come across some great authors.
I highly recommend this book.
This book has 266 pages and 20 chapters in it.
Advance praise for death comes.
They are back! If you loved on the rocks, you will be thrilled to have this new adventure of Willa and Edith. This time they are in new mexico tracking down the unsolved murders of too many women. Sue Hallgarth has done it again. The combination of deep knowledge of the geographic terrain, it is history, Cather's literary preoccupations, and Hallgarth's feminist sensibility have bought us another suspenseful, terrific read. - Joan W. Scott, author of gender and the politics of history and the fantasy of feminist history.
My new favorite book is death comes! It made distant memories real and simpatico. What a delight to see them and the beautiful taos you let me walk through. I especially want to thank you for including Spud. He was always there, so it is nice to have him recognized. I only knew him as an old man who always stopped to listen to a child. You showed me a young man who would become the one l knew and loved. - Claudia Smith Miller, great-granddaughter of Mabel Dodge Luhan.
Death comes is a clever play on the novel that Willa Cather worked on in taos, new mexico, in the summers of 1925 and 1926, death comes for the archbishop, Hallgarth has done serious historical and cultural research, cleverly highlighting Willa Cather's virtues as a strong-willed sleuth.. this is a very good read, as a story of 1920's taos – including race and class relations, as a portrait of the Mabel Dodge Luhan circle, and, last but not least, as a murder mystery. - Lois Rudnick, author of Mabel Dodge Luhan: new woman, new worlds.
Willa Cather is travelling in northern new mexico while publishing her new manuscript death comes for the archbishop when she and her companion Edith Lewis are caught up in the mystery surrounding the deaths of three women near D.H. Lawrence's ranch. An intriguing story for those of us who always wished we had been there when Mabel Dodge Luhan held court in taos for luminaries of art and literature. - Judith Ryan Hendricks, author of Isabel's daughter and the laws of harmony.
The second book in Hallgarth's Willa Cather and Edith Lewis mystery series captures the vivid and compelling landscape of the taos, NM territorial west. A historical mystery with real people – think Mabel Dodge and Tony Luhan, long John Dunn, Arthur Manby – and everyday life in the settling west. Compelling and richly imagined by a masterful storyteller l did not want it to end. - Betty Palmer, events coordinator, op.cit. Books, taos NM.
Our favorite literary sleuths are back! And this time Willa Cather and Edith Lewis are summering in taos, new mexico. Guests of Mabel Dodge Luhan, the amiable pair are planning for nothing more taxing than a month's worth of writing and painting. Then an unsettling excursion to the D.H. Lawrence ranch changes everything. Entertaining and edifying, death comes is a compelling mystery set in new mexico, that place Cather described as a ' landscape one longed for when one was away'. - Sharon Oard Warner, co-director D.H. Lawrence ranch and author of Sophie's house of cards.
Praise for on the rocks.
“one of ' ten titles to pick up now' … a fictionalized glimpse in to the partnership between the novelist and her artist companion, who team up to solve a murder on an island in the bay of funby”. - O, the Oprah magazine.
Cather fans will enjoy the atmosphere, and Hallgarth captures the local color well, providing a look at the eccentric island residents, the small-town politics, and the life of the (two) women's communities”. - American library association booklist.
The historic, literary mystery is the first of what could be a terrific new series. The settling – on the Canadian island of grand manan in 1929 – is captivating and the story engaging. On the rocks is a real treat!”. - rose city reader.
I enjoyed the run and energy of on the rocks “ - Lucia Woods Lindley, member of board of governors the Willa Cather foundation.
“on the rocks is a riveting addition to historical fiction collections and those with a love for the artistic life”. - the Midwest book review.
“utterly absorbing, compulsively readable. Hallgarth spins her tale with an artistry that allows us to imagine a time and place as compelling as a dream”. - Kathleen Hill, author of who occupies this house and still waters in Niger.
“Sue Hallgarth incorporates the spectacular settling of grand manan in to a mystery set among summer colonies of feminist artists, colorful island types, and suspicious visitors. Cather readers will detect her pronouncements on writing and life, and the island rock itself, a Cather symbol of survival, becomes here a solid contrast to the human foibles that play out on its surface”. - John Murphy, member of board of governors, the Willa Cather foundation.
“on the rocks is sophisticated and yet has a wonderful innocence. It conveys a convincing sense of the period. The characters are rounded, real. It is funny it is compelling. It is a good tale.” - Jake Page, author of the Mo Bowdre mystery series.
Cather afictionados will be especially interested in the author's new take on Willa Cather's personal history. The amible cottage colony on grand manan island in the bay of funby, where Edith and Willa built their summer retreat in the 1920's, is lovingly captured in this first book in a sparkling new literary mystery series”. - Nancy Rutland, founder of bookworks, Albuquerque, NM.
Love, love, love... highly recommended to those who enjoy this historical genre, and to fans of great women authors!. I will be curious to see if ms. Hallgarth has this as the start of a series or not. She is an expert on Cather and cleverly' knows her well”. - Beth's book-nook Blog.
“ The strength of the book is in Hallgarth's ability to paint a scene. Her research about grand manan, Cather and Lewis, and the time period are obviously top notch”. - wildmoobooks.
“Nice read with a beautiful portrait of a Canadian island in the 1920's, a strong feminist portrait of Willa Cather and her partner Edith, and a murder mystery to boot! Well-written with some beautifully painted' scenes and an intriguing insight to the way we all tend to think, wandering from one association to another before we catch ourselves! I've never seen that in a book before and thoroughly enjoyed it”. - David Roberts, M.D., author of practice makes perfect: how one doctor found the meaning of lives.
Synopsis: Following on the rocks, Sue Hallgarth's first Willa Cather and Edith Lewis mystery. Death comes gives us another glimpse in to the life and work of the Pulitzer prize-winning novelist and her talented life partner the year is 1926. Willa and Edith return to Mabel Dodge Luhan's pink adobe in tao's NM. Willa is writing death comes for the archbishop. Edith is sketching taos pueblo and hoping for a visit to the nearby D.H. Lawrence ranch, the previous summer they had stumbled on to a woman's body. Now the headless bodies of two women add to the mystery. Sue Hallgarth presents an intimate portrait of Cather, Lewis, the spectacular new mexico landscape, and the famous artists and writers. Mabel Dodge Luhan gathered in taos.
Review: I found this book really easy to get in to and harder to put down once l started reading it. I would put some essential oils in my humidifier and put the lights on my humidifier on and chill on my bed and listen to music or something on TV. I sometimes light a candle when l am writing this book. It is good to chill reading a good book. My cat sometimes joins me on my bed or one of the other three cats that live me join me. I also took a picture of this book and shared it to my Instagram that l made just for pictures of my books it is called Donnareviewsbooks. My cat Oreo was lying next to me as l write this book review. I sometimes write book reviews on my bed or at my desk in my bedroom that is also my living room, library and my office. I was sad to read that three women was murdered and that people did not know who the women was or who killed them. I hope they find who killed them. I love the pictures in this book. I like that Willa Cather has a life partner Edith Lewis. Willa and Edith sounds like great women and friends. I would love to read more about everybody in this book. Blade sounds like a nasty pieces of work. I think the women who was murdered have something to do with him. Adam sounds like a really nice guy l am glad Maria is with Adam and not Blade because l think if she was still with him she would be dead like the other women. The people who come looking for Blade sound so horrible l am so glad that they did not hurt Adam or Maria. I was sad to finish reading this book. I would love to buy more books from Sue Hallgarth as l got this book for free. I can not put in to words how great this book is l would tell people to read it for themselves to know how great it really is. I was hooked after reading the synopsis. I am so glad that Adam and Maria are going to find Spud and tell him what is going on at his ranch and that the person who was staying there was keeping women that did not speak English and he had threaten to kill them and cut their throats and showed the heads to the others to scare them. It is a shame Maria can not speak English but when they get to where Spud is. Somebody speaks the same language as Maria. So she will be able to tell them what Blade was like and about the other women. I was sad to read that agent Dan was shot but glad he survived. The sheriff of taos sounds so lazy and does not care about the three women because they are unknown and he clearly that somebody shot agent Dan. I was scared to read that Adam and Maria come face to face with Blade for the first time since he sold Maria to Adam. I am glad the shots missed Maria. It was funny to read that Blade's horse ran away after Adam's horse and the mule that Maria was riding. Leaving him jumping up and down in the middle of the road shouting about his horse. I am so glad Adam found it funny. I hope Maria is still on the mule when Adam finds them and she is not hurt. I do not blame Adam and Maria being scared of Blade because he is a nasty piece of work. I hope Maria and Adam make it to Spud before the weather starts because they could get poorly and the horse and mule need to be put in a barn away from the nasty weather. This book is totally addicting and I and I wish l could stay up all night to read and review this book but l get migraines. I am in love with this book. These women are being held against their will. I was sad to read that Florence and Angelica was kidnapped and think they do not have a choose but to stay where they are because they must think that if they leave they will have no money or be homeless but they could end up like the three murdered women. I am glad Dick and Nick give up easy because some of them could end up dead if there was a shoot out. Plus Adam was still injured and Spud did not know how to use a gun.I am glad with the help of Amelia Maria could tell them about Blade and the other women and it was nice that Maria was given one of the other women's bracelet. I also reviewed this book on goodreads, amazon UK and amazon US.
About the Author: Sue Hallgarth is a former English professor she has written scholarly articles on Willa Cather and Edith Lewis, and this is her second book of fiction featuring the two of them. Her first book in the series is on the rocks, set in 1929 on the island of grand manan in new Brunswick, Canada. She lives in corrales, NM.
Follow Sue on Facebook at Suehallgarthauthor, on twitter @suehallgarth, and on goodreads.com and follow Sue's blog, reviews, and other news about her books and writing at Suehallgarth.com.
About This Book: I really like this book cover and the picture of the mountains on the front cover and l love that the writing is in black because it stands out more.
Star Rating: Five Out Of Five Stars.
I wish l could rate this book more then five stars because it is worth more than the five stars l rated it.
Author: Sue Hallgarth.
Title: Death comes: A Willa Cather and Edith Lewis mystery.
Genre: Historical, Historical Fiction, Fiction,
I signed up for poetic book tours and l were emailed off Serena Agusto-Cox about reviewing this book.
Book Dedication: For Hilda Raz poet, friend, editor extraordinaire.
First of all I would like to say a big thank you to Sue Hallgarth for sending me this book and giving me the chance to read it. I want to say a big thank you to Serena Agusto-Cox for contacting me and taking the time to email me.
I would tell people that you should step outside your comfort zone with books because it is good to add more authors and genres to your reading portfolio even if you do not read books like this.
I normally read books of this genre but l also stepped outside my comfort zone l am so glad l did because I have read so many great books and come across some great authors.
I highly recommend this book.
This book has 266 pages and 20 chapters in it.
Advance praise for death comes.
They are back! If you loved on the rocks, you will be thrilled to have this new adventure of Willa and Edith. This time they are in new mexico tracking down the unsolved murders of too many women. Sue Hallgarth has done it again. The combination of deep knowledge of the geographic terrain, it is history, Cather's literary preoccupations, and Hallgarth's feminist sensibility have bought us another suspenseful, terrific read. - Joan W. Scott, author of gender and the politics of history and the fantasy of feminist history.
My new favorite book is death comes! It made distant memories real and simpatico. What a delight to see them and the beautiful taos you let me walk through. I especially want to thank you for including Spud. He was always there, so it is nice to have him recognized. I only knew him as an old man who always stopped to listen to a child. You showed me a young man who would become the one l knew and loved. - Claudia Smith Miller, great-granddaughter of Mabel Dodge Luhan.
Death comes is a clever play on the novel that Willa Cather worked on in taos, new mexico, in the summers of 1925 and 1926, death comes for the archbishop, Hallgarth has done serious historical and cultural research, cleverly highlighting Willa Cather's virtues as a strong-willed sleuth.. this is a very good read, as a story of 1920's taos – including race and class relations, as a portrait of the Mabel Dodge Luhan circle, and, last but not least, as a murder mystery. - Lois Rudnick, author of Mabel Dodge Luhan: new woman, new worlds.
Willa Cather is travelling in northern new mexico while publishing her new manuscript death comes for the archbishop when she and her companion Edith Lewis are caught up in the mystery surrounding the deaths of three women near D.H. Lawrence's ranch. An intriguing story for those of us who always wished we had been there when Mabel Dodge Luhan held court in taos for luminaries of art and literature. - Judith Ryan Hendricks, author of Isabel's daughter and the laws of harmony.
The second book in Hallgarth's Willa Cather and Edith Lewis mystery series captures the vivid and compelling landscape of the taos, NM territorial west. A historical mystery with real people – think Mabel Dodge and Tony Luhan, long John Dunn, Arthur Manby – and everyday life in the settling west. Compelling and richly imagined by a masterful storyteller l did not want it to end. - Betty Palmer, events coordinator, op.cit. Books, taos NM.
Our favorite literary sleuths are back! And this time Willa Cather and Edith Lewis are summering in taos, new mexico. Guests of Mabel Dodge Luhan, the amiable pair are planning for nothing more taxing than a month's worth of writing and painting. Then an unsettling excursion to the D.H. Lawrence ranch changes everything. Entertaining and edifying, death comes is a compelling mystery set in new mexico, that place Cather described as a ' landscape one longed for when one was away'. - Sharon Oard Warner, co-director D.H. Lawrence ranch and author of Sophie's house of cards.
Praise for on the rocks.
“one of ' ten titles to pick up now' … a fictionalized glimpse in to the partnership between the novelist and her artist companion, who team up to solve a murder on an island in the bay of funby”. - O, the Oprah magazine.
Cather fans will enjoy the atmosphere, and Hallgarth captures the local color well, providing a look at the eccentric island residents, the small-town politics, and the life of the (two) women's communities”. - American library association booklist.
The historic, literary mystery is the first of what could be a terrific new series. The settling – on the Canadian island of grand manan in 1929 – is captivating and the story engaging. On the rocks is a real treat!”. - rose city reader.
I enjoyed the run and energy of on the rocks “ - Lucia Woods Lindley, member of board of governors the Willa Cather foundation.
“on the rocks is a riveting addition to historical fiction collections and those with a love for the artistic life”. - the Midwest book review.
“utterly absorbing, compulsively readable. Hallgarth spins her tale with an artistry that allows us to imagine a time and place as compelling as a dream”. - Kathleen Hill, author of who occupies this house and still waters in Niger.
“Sue Hallgarth incorporates the spectacular settling of grand manan in to a mystery set among summer colonies of feminist artists, colorful island types, and suspicious visitors. Cather readers will detect her pronouncements on writing and life, and the island rock itself, a Cather symbol of survival, becomes here a solid contrast to the human foibles that play out on its surface”. - John Murphy, member of board of governors, the Willa Cather foundation.
“on the rocks is sophisticated and yet has a wonderful innocence. It conveys a convincing sense of the period. The characters are rounded, real. It is funny it is compelling. It is a good tale.” - Jake Page, author of the Mo Bowdre mystery series.
Cather afictionados will be especially interested in the author's new take on Willa Cather's personal history. The amible cottage colony on grand manan island in the bay of funby, where Edith and Willa built their summer retreat in the 1920's, is lovingly captured in this first book in a sparkling new literary mystery series”. - Nancy Rutland, founder of bookworks, Albuquerque, NM.
Love, love, love... highly recommended to those who enjoy this historical genre, and to fans of great women authors!. I will be curious to see if ms. Hallgarth has this as the start of a series or not. She is an expert on Cather and cleverly' knows her well”. - Beth's book-nook Blog.
“ The strength of the book is in Hallgarth's ability to paint a scene. Her research about grand manan, Cather and Lewis, and the time period are obviously top notch”. - wildmoobooks.
“Nice read with a beautiful portrait of a Canadian island in the 1920's, a strong feminist portrait of Willa Cather and her partner Edith, and a murder mystery to boot! Well-written with some beautifully painted' scenes and an intriguing insight to the way we all tend to think, wandering from one association to another before we catch ourselves! I've never seen that in a book before and thoroughly enjoyed it”. - David Roberts, M.D., author of practice makes perfect: how one doctor found the meaning of lives.
Synopsis: Following on the rocks, Sue Hallgarth's first Willa Cather and Edith Lewis mystery. Death comes gives us another glimpse in to the life and work of the Pulitzer prize-winning novelist and her talented life partner the year is 1926. Willa and Edith return to Mabel Dodge Luhan's pink adobe in tao's NM. Willa is writing death comes for the archbishop. Edith is sketching taos pueblo and hoping for a visit to the nearby D.H. Lawrence ranch, the previous summer they had stumbled on to a woman's body. Now the headless bodies of two women add to the mystery. Sue Hallgarth presents an intimate portrait of Cather, Lewis, the spectacular new mexico landscape, and the famous artists and writers. Mabel Dodge Luhan gathered in taos.
Review: I found this book really easy to get in to and harder to put down once l started reading it. I would put some essential oils in my humidifier and put the lights on my humidifier on and chill on my bed and listen to music or something on TV. I sometimes light a candle when l am writing this book. It is good to chill reading a good book. My cat sometimes joins me on my bed or one of the other three cats that live me join me. I also took a picture of this book and shared it to my Instagram that l made just for pictures of my books it is called Donnareviewsbooks. My cat Oreo was lying next to me as l write this book review. I sometimes write book reviews on my bed or at my desk in my bedroom that is also my living room, library and my office. I was sad to read that three women was murdered and that people did not know who the women was or who killed them. I hope they find who killed them. I love the pictures in this book. I like that Willa Cather has a life partner Edith Lewis. Willa and Edith sounds like great women and friends. I would love to read more about everybody in this book. Blade sounds like a nasty pieces of work. I think the women who was murdered have something to do with him. Adam sounds like a really nice guy l am glad Maria is with Adam and not Blade because l think if she was still with him she would be dead like the other women. The people who come looking for Blade sound so horrible l am so glad that they did not hurt Adam or Maria. I was sad to finish reading this book. I would love to buy more books from Sue Hallgarth as l got this book for free. I can not put in to words how great this book is l would tell people to read it for themselves to know how great it really is. I was hooked after reading the synopsis. I am so glad that Adam and Maria are going to find Spud and tell him what is going on at his ranch and that the person who was staying there was keeping women that did not speak English and he had threaten to kill them and cut their throats and showed the heads to the others to scare them. It is a shame Maria can not speak English but when they get to where Spud is. Somebody speaks the same language as Maria. So she will be able to tell them what Blade was like and about the other women. I was sad to read that agent Dan was shot but glad he survived. The sheriff of taos sounds so lazy and does not care about the three women because they are unknown and he clearly that somebody shot agent Dan. I was scared to read that Adam and Maria come face to face with Blade for the first time since he sold Maria to Adam. I am glad the shots missed Maria. It was funny to read that Blade's horse ran away after Adam's horse and the mule that Maria was riding. Leaving him jumping up and down in the middle of the road shouting about his horse. I am so glad Adam found it funny. I hope Maria is still on the mule when Adam finds them and she is not hurt. I do not blame Adam and Maria being scared of Blade because he is a nasty piece of work. I hope Maria and Adam make it to Spud before the weather starts because they could get poorly and the horse and mule need to be put in a barn away from the nasty weather. This book is totally addicting and I and I wish l could stay up all night to read and review this book but l get migraines. I am in love with this book. These women are being held against their will. I was sad to read that Florence and Angelica was kidnapped and think they do not have a choose but to stay where they are because they must think that if they leave they will have no money or be homeless but they could end up like the three murdered women. I am glad Dick and Nick give up easy because some of them could end up dead if there was a shoot out. Plus Adam was still injured and Spud did not know how to use a gun.I am glad with the help of Amelia Maria could tell them about Blade and the other women and it was nice that Maria was given one of the other women's bracelet. I also reviewed this book on goodreads, amazon UK and amazon US.
About the Author: Sue Hallgarth is a former English professor she has written scholarly articles on Willa Cather and Edith Lewis, and this is her second book of fiction featuring the two of them. Her first book in the series is on the rocks, set in 1929 on the island of grand manan in new Brunswick, Canada. She lives in corrales, NM.
Follow Sue on Facebook at Suehallgarthauthor, on twitter @suehallgarth, and on goodreads.com and follow Sue's blog, reviews, and other news about her books and writing at Suehallgarth.com.
About This Book: I really like this book cover and the picture of the mountains on the front cover and l love that the writing is in black because it stands out more.
Star Rating: Five Out Of Five Stars.
I wish l could rate this book more then five stars because it is worth more than the five stars l rated it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 16, 2020
Willa Cather interacting with other famous artists in an historic time in New Mexico history blended with a mystery? I think I liked the IDEA of this book more than the book itself.
By the end of the book, I felt dissatisfied. All the real suspense and action occurs off stage, and despite an omniscient narrator, the reader doesn't get to be involved in any of it. Instead, his/she is limited to the house at Los Gallos, and although charming, it felt like a long read for very little actual action. There IS violence/suspense/tension, but all of it happens prior to the opening of the book or in a scene the reader is not privy to or it's merely in the characters' responses to what they are hearing about. And about all the Willa Cather character does is go on a horse back ride, see a hunter's campground with no people in it, sit in a car, sleep, eat, and read/do art. And the resolution is a resolution for the characters, but there isn't really any final resolution for the central conflict that occurs in the plot itself--again, what the reader DOES get is off stage, and we get to read about it during one of the endless meals the characters enjoy through the plot.
There really wasn't ever a mystery--the author reveals the bad guy(s) in the early chapters: indeed, they are the only "bad" guys available in the entire book. They end up being rather stupid characters who don't really "do" anything particularly evil in real time--they ride horses, knock on doors, and one time, discharge a weapon...into their own foot. Their evil, scary actions apparently happened prior to the opening of the book, when they were much more evil-y guys. I'm not sure I'd categorize it as mystery or suspense because of this. It does fit the definition of historical fiction very well though.
Generally, I enjoy historical fiction, and that's where the 3 stars is from. The concept here is clever and unusual. The writer CAN write--the descriptions are delightful and the character's dialogue doesn't feel forced or fake.
But the book fell apart for me toward the ending as the author starts inserting a personal agenda about woman power and LGBTQ rights with characters starting to reveal prejudices or to respond to them in a very pedantic way (I just don't believe that a law enforcement officer wouldn't interview a prime--and sole--witness because she's a woman, even in that period of time.). I also found the constant daydreams of characters wondering about their own and others' pasts, connections with other writers, and novels very distracting from the storyline. In a way, it felt like I was reading a history textbook and viewing a social action documentary while trying to keep track of a story line that wasn't very well developed.
I really WANTED to like this book. I really WANTED to engage in a mystery. But this one just didn't have enough meat to its bones to warrant a feast--it was more like a school-sponsored lunch.
By the end of the book, I felt dissatisfied. All the real suspense and action occurs off stage, and despite an omniscient narrator, the reader doesn't get to be involved in any of it. Instead, his/she is limited to the house at Los Gallos, and although charming, it felt like a long read for very little actual action. There IS violence/suspense/tension, but all of it happens prior to the opening of the book or in a scene the reader is not privy to or it's merely in the characters' responses to what they are hearing about. And about all the Willa Cather character does is go on a horse back ride, see a hunter's campground with no people in it, sit in a car, sleep, eat, and read/do art. And the resolution is a resolution for the characters, but there isn't really any final resolution for the central conflict that occurs in the plot itself--again, what the reader DOES get is off stage, and we get to read about it during one of the endless meals the characters enjoy through the plot.
There really wasn't ever a mystery--the author reveals the bad guy(s) in the early chapters: indeed, they are the only "bad" guys available in the entire book. They end up being rather stupid characters who don't really "do" anything particularly evil in real time--they ride horses, knock on doors, and one time, discharge a weapon...into their own foot. Their evil, scary actions apparently happened prior to the opening of the book, when they were much more evil-y guys. I'm not sure I'd categorize it as mystery or suspense because of this. It does fit the definition of historical fiction very well though.
Generally, I enjoy historical fiction, and that's where the 3 stars is from. The concept here is clever and unusual. The writer CAN write--the descriptions are delightful and the character's dialogue doesn't feel forced or fake.
But the book fell apart for me toward the ending as the author starts inserting a personal agenda about woman power and LGBTQ rights with characters starting to reveal prejudices or to respond to them in a very pedantic way (I just don't believe that a law enforcement officer wouldn't interview a prime--and sole--witness because she's a woman, even in that period of time.). I also found the constant daydreams of characters wondering about their own and others' pasts, connections with other writers, and novels very distracting from the storyline. In a way, it felt like I was reading a history textbook and viewing a social action documentary while trying to keep track of a story line that wasn't very well developed.
I really WANTED to like this book. I really WANTED to engage in a mystery. But this one just didn't have enough meat to its bones to warrant a feast--it was more like a school-sponsored lunch.
January 14, 2018
Sue Hallgarth's Death Comes is a multi-faceted read, full of place, interesting characters, and historical facts, with a dash of mystery to tie it all together.
The place is Taos, New Mexico, which sits in the heart of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It is a town and area I passed through many times while driving back and forth between Texas, where family lived, and Utah, where I lived and worked for 25 years. A visit to this Northern New Mexico location meant taking the long way around to get where I was going, but I always found the scenery worth the extra miles.
The author's use of the setting in her book brought back many good memories for me. I thought she captured the heart of this landscape as well as any travel writer.
While Hallgarth's story is fiction, the characters in her book are real people. They include Pulitzer Prize winning author Willa Cather, and her life partner Edith Lewis. The book takes place in 1926 when the two women actually visited Taos—Cather to work on her novel, Death Comes to the Archbishop, and Lewis to paint the bold scenery in watercolor. Taos was also visited during the 1920s by D. H. Lawrence, author of the infamous Lady Chatterley's Lover, and his name frequently is mentioned in Death Comes.
Reading the book often felt like reading a history book about both Taos and the characters, who also included Mable Dodge Luhan, a wealthy patron of the arts who supported Taos art endeavors. Her home in Taos, which today is a historic inn and conference center catering to the artistic community, was where Hallgarth's characters gathered. While I was familiar with Cather and Lawrence, I was not familiar with Luhan. My curiosity led me to some research about this interesting woman, which I considered a plus for Hallgarth's writing.
Where Death Comes involves the discovery of the bodies of three Mexican women, whose murders the local sheriff is not eager to solve. This lack of interest was not to be tolerated by Cather and Lewis, and solving the mystery of who murdered the women is the book's plot.
Death Comes (the title is a glance at Cather's novel, Death Comes to the Archbishop) is the second Cather and Lewis book written by Hallgarth. The first book is On the Rocks, and covers the period when Cather was writing Shadows on the Rock. They're not your typical mysteries—and I enjoyed Death Comes so much that On the Rocks has now been added to my reading list.
by Pat Bean
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
The place is Taos, New Mexico, which sits in the heart of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It is a town and area I passed through many times while driving back and forth between Texas, where family lived, and Utah, where I lived and worked for 25 years. A visit to this Northern New Mexico location meant taking the long way around to get where I was going, but I always found the scenery worth the extra miles.
The author's use of the setting in her book brought back many good memories for me. I thought she captured the heart of this landscape as well as any travel writer.
While Hallgarth's story is fiction, the characters in her book are real people. They include Pulitzer Prize winning author Willa Cather, and her life partner Edith Lewis. The book takes place in 1926 when the two women actually visited Taos—Cather to work on her novel, Death Comes to the Archbishop, and Lewis to paint the bold scenery in watercolor. Taos was also visited during the 1920s by D. H. Lawrence, author of the infamous Lady Chatterley's Lover, and his name frequently is mentioned in Death Comes.
Reading the book often felt like reading a history book about both Taos and the characters, who also included Mable Dodge Luhan, a wealthy patron of the arts who supported Taos art endeavors. Her home in Taos, which today is a historic inn and conference center catering to the artistic community, was where Hallgarth's characters gathered. While I was familiar with Cather and Lawrence, I was not familiar with Luhan. My curiosity led me to some research about this interesting woman, which I considered a plus for Hallgarth's writing.
Where Death Comes involves the discovery of the bodies of three Mexican women, whose murders the local sheriff is not eager to solve. This lack of interest was not to be tolerated by Cather and Lewis, and solving the mystery of who murdered the women is the book's plot.
Death Comes (the title is a glance at Cather's novel, Death Comes to the Archbishop) is the second Cather and Lewis book written by Hallgarth. The first book is On the Rocks, and covers the period when Cather was writing Shadows on the Rock. They're not your typical mysteries—and I enjoyed Death Comes so much that On the Rocks has now been added to my reading list.
by Pat Bean
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
July 25, 2019
Historical suspense novel featuring author Willa Cather and companion Edith Lewis as the amateur sleuths. It takes place in New Mexico where Cather and Lewis spent a good deal of time. Cather set her novel “Death Comes for the Archbishop” in this location. (Although in a different time period). I met the author of this mystery at a Willa Cather Road Scholar program in Red Cloud, Nebraska last year. I hope she was doing some research for another novel. In the meantime I will find the predecessor to this one and read it.
December 16, 2017
Great northern New Mexico historical fiction that chronicles the summer that Willa Cather and her partner Edith Lewis spent in Taos, New Mexico. Plenty of mystery and intrigue - I read the book almost straight through.
Hallgarth continues to develop the characters of the two protagonists, in continuation from her first book. Her talent at writing the interior dialogue from multiple viewpoints is honed even sharper in this book.
Hallgarth continues to develop the characters of the two protagonists, in continuation from her first book. Her talent at writing the interior dialogue from multiple viewpoints is honed even sharper in this book.
December 31, 2020
This was a really difficult book to read: slow, way too many words, and just dry. There is a lot of history, and it was interesting in the setting - but the only reason I finished it was for the Book Club.
May 23, 2019
Even better than the first book in the series--of course, the Taos locations and history help! Here's hoping there will be a third book!
March 27, 2024
An extremely slow-moving book, and not much of a mystery. Good setting details and details about real people and artists.
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