Haunted Ground

By: Erin Hart

Narrated by: Jennifer McMahon

Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

When farmers cutting turf in an Irish peat bog make a grisly discovery, the perfectly intact body of a young woman with long red hair, archaeologist Cormac O'Callaghan and pathologist Nora Gavin are thrown together by their shared scientific interest in human remains. Because of the preservative effect of the bog, it is difficult to tell whether the body has lain there for two decades, two centuries, or two millennia. As they dig into the mystery of the red-haired girl, they are drawn into the two-year-old disappearance of a landowner's wife and young son. The story delves through the many layers of Ireland's turbulent past, tracing the still-visible footprints of fortified tower houses and ancient burial mounds, ever mindful of the eternal, subliminal connections between past and present.

©2003 Erin M. Hart (P)2003 Books on Tape, Inc. Published by Arrangement with Random House Audio Publishing Group, A Division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"In every way, this is a debut to remember." (Booklist)
"In addition to a complex, multilayered plot that involves both contemporary and historical crimes, Hart's novel is rich in local color." (Publishers Weekly)

An entertaining read

This was a nice listen. I build custom cars and listen while I work. I might have liked a little more character development but it made it easy to follow the story while you are working or driving. The readers voice was really great. She shifted between characters with great expertise.

Interesting Mystery

This was an interesting mystery with the archeological/historical mystery thrown in. It was kind of a cozy( well not exactly a cozy more like M.C. Beaton or Louise Penny) except for the F-bombs that were so superfluous to the story they took me right out and actually took me awhile to get back in. Also this does move a bit slow, so if you are expecting a fast moving mystery this isn’t the book for that.

I was very interested to find out about the Bog body or should I say head of a red haired woman the mystery of how long the body has been in the bog is resolved pretty quickly but then the mystery of who she was starts, there is also a present day mystery of a woman and her child that have been missing for a few years. The crux of the book is these two mysteries and how they will interconnect because it’s a mystery with a present day & historical mystery so you know somehow they will come back around to each other. How they connected wasn’t done as well as I hoped they would be. Also I had pretty much figured out what happened to the missing woman.

This is the first in a series and first book for this author and I did like Nora so if she is the lead character in this series I would probably read the next book, but it won’t be one I will immediately run out and get.

Audio production: Jennifer McMahon was a new to me narrator who went back and forth from an Irish accent to an American seamlessly I was very impressed. However her male voices need a little work.

3 stars

Intriguing, Mesmerizing.

The story was good and the narrator was genius. Loved every minute of listening to this haunting tale of a body found in an Irish bog and the search to learn who's body it was.

This was not as good as I had hoped.

This book was not as good as I had hoped it would be. It was hard to understand the fast paced Irish accent, in the beginning. The story line was good, just hard to follow at times due to the accent.

Mysteries old and mysteries new

A beautiful weaving of past and present, Erin Hart leads you through several murders, one in present day Ireland and one in 1650's Ireland, and one unresolved one in Dr. Gavin's family. Examining all she shows how the past is so much a part of the present. The story is enhanced by the beautiful Irish lilt of narrator Jennifer McMahon, who is also up to the task of an American accent when needed. I'm not sure I would have enjoyed the printed version half as much as as this version read by Ms. McMahon. I have recommended this audio book to my friends.

Archeology, Folklore and Mystery in Ireland

Overall a beautifully written story about Ireland and Irish history. This is a book that entwines mysteries from both past and present which in the end fit together fairly well. It uses archeology, forensics, history and local lore together nicely.

However, I can understand the negative reviews that others have written. To me this was related to the lack of a clear voice telling the story. Instead the book was written from a variety of perspectives and this slowed the flow of the story and made the book seem scattered. The disjointed threads at times did not fit together making it difficult to follow a clear path. This wasn't because there was too much information, but instead because there were a few spots where things became implausible. To me, these unbelievable parts distracted from what was an engaging interweaving of past and present in the story.

Recommended if you don't mind a slower story and are able to overlook a few far fetched bits.

Haunted Ground

A good read with several intriguing plots to keep the listener listening carefully. Even though long, you don't want to put it down; even when you think you're getting resolution, there's more.

Lyrical and hauntingly beautiful

I was so taken with this book (so beautifully narrated by Jennifer McMahon) I had to follow the story of Nora Gavin. I found this story to be touching and insightful, and a darn good mystery. The author and narrator work total magic. Jennifer does her accents to perfection, thus making the whold story flow.

Kept me interested to the end

This wasn't a particularly fast-paced book, but it did keep me interested, despite the fact I had a pretty good idea of what happened about half-way through. If you like a novel with a little bit of history, a touch of legend, and even a small bit of science mixed in, this is a pretty good read.

A Beautiful Mystery

Intelligent, beautifully plotted, great characters, a clever use of archeology and forensic science in a mystery.