The Dead Past

The Felicity Grove Mysteries, Book 1

By: Tom Piccirilli

Narrated by: Daniel Dorse

Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Welcome to Felicity Grove....

This upstate New York village is as small as it is peaceful. But somehow, Jonathan Kendrick's eccentric grandma, Anna, always manages to find trouble. Crime, scandal, you name it...this wheel-chair-bound senior citizen is involved. So, when the phone rings at four a. m. in Jonathan's New York City apartment, he knows to expect some kind of dilemma. But Anna's outdone herself this time. She's stumbled across a dead body in her trash can.

©1999 Tom Piccirilli (P)2018 David N. Wilson

Charming

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

I am actually closer to 3.5 than four stars so I gave this a four as I did not think it deserved a three-star rating.

This is a cozy mystery - having all of the elements of a cozy - small town, nosey main characters, incompetent law enforcement, etc. At times this cozy is downright charming, has some touching moments between the main characters [grandmother and grandson], with some very humorous/witty moments. However, the author also threw in a lot of events - and not just backstory on the characters but other cases which the MC and his grandmother previously solved - summed up in a few short sentences or a brief paragraph. It happened so often that I ended up checking several times whether this was actually the first book in the series as I felt that I was missing something - I wasn't, this is the first book.

The narrator, Daniel Dorse, does a good job but narrates slowly. I ended up speeding up the narration.

Cozy Mystery

The protagonist comes home because his only living relative, his granny, Ann, asked him to come. A dead body was found on her land and she wants him to assist in finding out what happened. He complies, he returns to his home town where he gets along with the deputy and despises the sheriff. He meets both new people & old school chums as he attempts to resolve the mystery.

Tom Piccirilli has a very distinct writing style. He is humorous. His protagonist do a lot of ruminating. His dialogue is quite natural. Combine all these and his characters become well fleshed out.

The narrator is skilled & gifted. He does a nice granny’s (Ann’s) voice. However, his voice sounds older than the protagonist who is around 29yrs. old.

Also, if hearing impaired, Daniel Dorse’s voice is slightly difficult to hear on the highways. The frequency is close to highway sounds so raising the volume on hearing aids or speakers doesn’t help much. His voice is very relaxing, warm & velvety. Quite nice in a quite environment.

It Was Good

I enjoyed this little cozy mystery, it had good characters and story line, I especially liked the dialogue between Anna [Jonathan's Grandma] and the sheriff. Daniel Dorse did a fine job narrating. I received this audio book free for my voluntary review, Thank You!

Does the past influence the future?

This is the first book I have listened or read by this author and I found it quite interesting. Anna is the wheel chair bound 68 year old grandmother of Jonathan. Jonathan is a big city book store owner specializing in old first editions of books. When Jonathan gets a call from his grandmother in the early morning hours he knows something is wrong. With lots of suspense and second guessing of who the guilty party is, leads to a great beginning to a new series. I enjoy the rapport between Jonathan and Anna, they are much closer than family members sometimes are as they have gone through horrible things together. I will be looking up more books by Tom Piccirilli. I received a free code for this book from Audiobooks Unleashed to listen to on Audible. This review is my own honest opinion.

Good Story

Johnathan and his grandmother Anna solving a murder together. It is on her land, a trash can. A good cozy mystery with some humor. Given audio for my voluntary review and my honest opinion

Basic murder mystery

There wasn't anything outstanding about this book. It was a basic cozy murder mystery story. I had a tough time following the beginning of the story. I think that was partially due to the narrator. Not bad, but certainly not a great mystery.

Twists and turns!

Dead bodies and a twist at the end hold your attention throughout.

Daniel Dorse did a good job narrating and bring the characters to life.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Pic does it again

I got into Piccirilli’s writing from the horror side of things and The Dead Past isn’t like any of that at all! I’m constantly amazed by how much skill this guy had, amazing book. Just wish there was more.

GOOD START TO WHAT I HOPE IS A LONG SERIES

JONATHAN KENDRICK, mild mannered bookstore owner that is until his grandmother Anna calls him back home to help her solve a murder. As the bodies keep piling up, Jonathan keeps searching for the murderer

Tom Piccirili,s THE DEAD PAST from page one right to the end of the book gives us a well structured mystery with characters right out of your home town.The plot kept me guessing right up to the moment when Jonathan confronts the killer.
As for narration , I was not as impressed. At the start of the book it seems like the narrator was slow and not very distinct in his narration,but as it went on he did much better.

Secrets and Murder in Felicity Grove

Tom Piccirilli has done it again with this book of intricate tales of secrets and lies that lead to murder. The storyline was well written that has a twisted mystery with an ending that was to say the least shocking. Daniel Dorse is an absolutely phenomenal narrator always bringing life and emotions into the characters. I highly recommend this book to all mystery lovers.