Disturbing the Dead

A Rachel Goddard Mystery, Book 2

De: Sandra Parshall

Narrado por: Tavia Gilbert

Tom Bridger, who is half Melungeon, thought he had escaped his mountain community's lingering prejudice against the mixed-race group when he left to work for the Richmond, Virginia, Police Department. Tom was moving up the detective ranks when a family tragedy brought him back home and moved him into his father's job as a county sheriff's deputy.

Now the bones of a Melungeon woman who disappeared 10 years ago have surfaced on a remote mountaintop, and all evidence points to murder. Violence escalates as the victim's poor family and the wealthy white family she married into scramble to protect their secrets from Tom's probing. But as he looks into his father's investigation of the case, he finds his father was not the man he idolized.

The woman Tom is falling in love with, veterinarian Rachel Goddard, is struggling to start over in a place that holds no memories for her. Rachel puts herself in danger when she befriends Holly, niece of the dead Melungeon woman. As a child, the girl witnessed something that could implicate her aunt's killer, but she is too terrified to tell anyone what she knows. While Rachel is determined to keep Holly safe and help her piece together past events, the guilty are equally determined to silence the girl - and Rachel, too, if necessary.

Will this murder be Tom's and Rachel's undoing, or will it free them to look into the future?

©2011 Sandra Parshall (P)2014 Blackstone Audiobooks

Confused as to why this is a series

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

This audiobook kept me entertained for a few hours, but I'm not convinced it was time well spent when there are so many other better books I could have been listening too.

Would you recommend Disturbing the Dead to your friends? Why or why not?

No. I felt this was a pretty below standard mystery. Trite and predictable.

Any additional comments?

Despite the first book in the series being somewhat on the soapy side in places, I enjoyed the underlying psychological drama of the truth about Rachel's past. I had wondered where the story would go, but was interested to see it developed. I remain confused by the fact that this book is part of the same series. There was no development of the previous story at all. A couple of characters were in the last book, that's it. It feels as though there is a big chunk of story missing and a huge disconnect between that book and this one. Add to the fact that this story was implausible, soapy and below standard anyway, I wont be following this character any further.

Old Bones and Melungeons

This is the second in the series . . . and veterinarian, Rachel Goddard is busy running her animal hospital in Virginia . . . in a new place where nobody knows her, where she hopes she can be safe . . . and Tom Bridger, Deputy Sheriff, has moved back home, leaving a job he loved in the city . . . and a fiancee . . . following the tragic death of his parents and brother . . . to live at the family home . . . and then Tom finds the bones . . . the bones of a Melungeon woman who went missing 10 years earlier . . . a case that Tom's father, then sheriff, had worked doggedly on, but never solved . . . Tom's part Melungeon, too . . . as was his dad . . . looked down on by the rural folks of Virginia where they live . . . and now Rachel has hired the niece of the dead woman to work in the animal hospital . . . a sweet, young teenager, who wants to escape the drug-dealing, underhanded ways of her family . . . putting herself and Rachel in danger . . . but who does the bones of the second woman belong to? This is a great mystery series, with twists and turns, the evil and prejudices of country mountain folk, greed and untold horror . . . and a spark of goodness and right, that prevails.

Really, the drug addict tried to kill her....

Having listened to book 1 I found book 2 a bit confusing. I found it to be confusing because at the end of book 1 there was no drug addict coming in to get medication for the dog. In book 2, it took halfway through the book for the author to reveal why Rachel moved and is no longer with her boyfriend. Furthermore, it is two years later. I found this to be unfair to listeners or readers that enjoyed book 1 and if I had not read book 1 the logic of her moving made no sense. So unless in books 3 we pick back up with the drug addict from hell because the situation was not resolved in book 2. Which was the catalyst for her move and her talking back and forth with the district attorney and worrying about him getting out. Geez, give the chick a break. she just found out she and her sister were kidnapped in book 1. Her kidnapper/Momma tried to kill her and committed suicide in her face. Did she really need a crazy drug addict trying to kill her as well ? How much bad luck can one human being have. In my opinion there just seemed better ways to move Rachel from Northern Virginia to nowhere Virginia. Other than these issues the book was decent. The voice for all the characters was AWESOME! Digging the narrator.

Loved It!

This is the second book in the series. I am completely hooked. On to the next one.

Not as believable as 1st in series

Would you listen to Disturbing the Dead again? Why?

Probably not. I enjoy series as you get to know the characters more and more with each book. I enjoyed this book but the police and other characters jumped from theory to theory with each new piece of evidence. The police were too quick to believe seemingly to own a theory then try to prove themselves right. The sheriff came across as an out of touch incompetent who was over the hill and kept trying to sweep things under the rug. It made it appear he knew more and wanted to prevent the truth from coming out. In addition he condoned a drug ring in his jurisdiction because he felt worse people would take over the drug trade if he took action.

If you’ve listened to books by Sandra Parshall before, how does this one compare?

1st in series was more believable and riveting.

Which character – as performed by Tavia Gilbert – was your favorite?

Holly. She is a bright, naive, immature and undereducated young woman with a great sense of responsibility to her grandmother yet desire to be more independent.