Past & Present

A Marketville Mystery, Book 2

By: Judy Penz Sheluk

Narrated by: Kelli Lindsay

Sometimes the past reaches out to the present. It’s been 13 months since Calamity (Callie) Barnstable inherited a house in Marketville under the condition that she search for the person who murdered her mother 30 years earlier. She solves the mystery, but what's next? Unemployment? Another nine-to-five job in Toronto?

Callie decides to set down roots in Marketville, take the skills and knowledge she acquired over the past year, and start her own business: Past & Present Investigations.

It’s not long before Callie and her new business partner, best friend Chantelle Marchand, get their first client: a woman who wants to find out everything she can about her grandmother, Anneliese Prei, and how she came to a “bad end” in 1956. It sounds like a perfect first assignment. Except for one thing: Anneliese’s past winds its way into Callie’s present, and not in a manner anyone - least of all Callie - could have predicted.

©2018 Judy Penz Sheluk (P)2019 Judy Penz Sheluk

Earns 5/5 Ancestry Mysteries…Clever Journey!

This second book in Judy Penz Sheluk’s Marketville Mystery series is an engaging journey into the past rippling into the present with unforeseen consequences. With personal experience researching her own family’s past and working with people who had helpful skill sets have led to the confidence that others may hire her to do the same thing. So Past and Present Investigations has been created. Now Callie Barnstable and her team of talented women need a client…Enter Louisa Frankow! Louisa Frankow is seeking information about her maternal grandmother who had emigrated from England to Canada in the 1950s, and it was suggested she approach Callie and her team who might be able find some answers. While researching the common online databases and archives, each photo, bit of memorabilia, news article, and more begins to reveal an intriguing picture of love, family secrets, and murder. However, what Callie discovers is much more than she ever anticipated.

Judy Penz Sheluk’s well-written mystery with rich characters engaging in informative, witty, and often emotional banter is greatly enriched by Kelli Lindsay’s talented narration in the audiobook version. With a fascinating look into tarot and psychometry and more dramatic experiences with her maternal family which began in book one, “Skeletons in the Attic,” the drama is exciting, clever, and unique. Adding Kelli’s pleasant voice to portray the emotions, tone, and varied personalities can be heard in her reading, and she makes a great effort at gender differences. Well done!

A great mystery

It was so good to follow up on Callie's story. Her new business got its first case, and what a gem it was. Full of intrigue and unexpected family connections, the story picked up a year after Callie's father died, asking her to find out what had happened to her mother thirty years before. Now, a new case opened some more old wounds as Callie and her team (also characters from book one) set out to investigate the murder of Annaliese on behalf of her granddaughter. Plenty of twists and turns follow as Callie dives straight in to solve the case. Alongside her investigation, there's more development of her relationship with Royce, friendship with Chantal, Misty and Shirley (her team) and more insight into the world of tarot and psychometry. All in all, fascinating. Looking forward to the next case.

Moving on from the past

Past & Present is a well written book that continues on from book one. I love the different people in the community it feels like a real small town. The descriptive language that the author used drawn the reader in and never lets them go. The storyline and plot were strong. I received this review copy at my request and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review here. I really loved this book.

Cozy mystery that reveals more than expected

Callie Barnstable, after solving the mystery of her mother’s murder, has decided to settle down in Marketville. She and her friend Chantelle join together to open a private investigation/genealogy service. Their first customer asks them to delve into her history, specifically that of her grandmother and mother. This inquiry brings Callie into contact with her own, heretofore, estranged great grandmother, who holds information important to the case. Callie will find that some things fall closer to home than anticipated, and while some of her discoveries are unpleasant, others prove much more palatable. Throw in a little romance with her hot former neighbor, and Callie has a busy agenda. Slowly, methodically, and with the help of a psychometrist, an object reader, who holds and analyzes vibes from objects presently or previously owned by various people, Callie works through the mysteries that appear.

I really liked Callie and her supporting cast. This is the first book in this series that I’ve read, and I thought it positively lovely and well done. The author provided all the information I needed for the book make sense, even without having read the first in the series. The writing is excellent as is the narration. I had no complaints on either, which made enjoying the book that much easier. The narrator voices the characters in clear and distinct ways, and she brings life to much of the book that is internal thought, where Callie remembers what happened in the first book or thinks about how she can go about learning more about the case. I will say that the vocalized footnotes in the middle of the book’s narration were a bit jarring. I’d have rather they be read at the end of the chapter or the book with perhaps a bit more information that was included in this version.

I listened to this book while packing and cleaning my kid’s apartment at school, and the book made those mundane and boring tasks whiz by. It’s definitely an enjoyable book to listen to; although, on more than one occasion there’s a touch of sadness necessarily brought into the story.

If I have one small complaint about the book, it’s the cover. While the story does involve people traveling by steamship in the 1950s, the story primarily takes place in the here and now. The cover gives the false impression that the story is far more historical than it is. This is a contemporary story that takes place in Canada with some flashbacks to what happened in the 1950s after the people involved arrived. Once they’ve arrived, the story is firmly set in Canada. Just a small thing, but covers influence readers’ choices.

A delightful book in all ways.

I received this audiobook for free from the author. I thank her for her generosity, but it had no effect upon my review. All opinions expressed in this review reflect my true and honest opinions about audiobook to which I listened.

Interesting and Enjoyable Cozy Mystery

I received this book for free. I am voluntarily leaving this review and all opinions expressed herein are my own.

This is the second book in the Marketville Mystery series. I have not read the first book in the series and felt that this was a stand alone story [no cliffhanger ending]. I did not feel lost or fail to understand the character's motivations as the author kindly provided quick summaries of references to events which likely occurred in the first book to catch you up [or remind you, if it's been a while since reading the first book.]

Here, Callie, fresh from her investigation into her mother's death, decides she has what it takes to open her own investigation company called Past and Present. She assembles a team, including a reference librarian, an antiques dealer and a psychic. She gets her first client to solve a cold case murder and the case hits closer to home than she imagined.

I really liked the character of Callie - she is down-to-earth, likes to cook [recipes included] and is smart. The real enjoyment of the mystery was in studying the past through pictures and momentos. I was fascinated by some of the historical aspects of the story. There are plenty of twists and turns as the case develops plus a little romance which kept my interest throughout.

The narrator did a good job and made it an enjoyable listen.