Blackwater Spirits

Ms. Monfredo's Glynis Tryon historical mystery series is a winner. I am so happy to have discovered it. This is the third book in the series. The series is set in upstate New York in the mid-eighteen hundreds. This series is best read in order as the historical sequencing is very important. In this book there appears to be a particularly intelligent murderer in Seneca Falls as one after another of some of the founding fathers is found dead by apparent accident or natural causes. Glynis and her friends, Sherriff Stuart, the lawyer Merrycroft and a new lady doctor find they have to dig back ten years or so to try to make some sense of it all. There is marvellous historical detail in these books and some real historical figures. This third book is the strongest so far in an unusually strong series. I cannot recommend this wonderful series enough.

A rip-roaring good mystery set in the mid-nineteenth century. Gives a good picture of life then, a fair treatment of native Americans, and an eye-opening look at some of the absurd ways women were disrespected in those times. This is NOT a book written for juveniles or young adults, but anyone in those age groups could read and enjoy it. I would highly recommend it for high school students as an adjunct to an American History course. They might also want to read Monfredo's other Glynis Tryon novels and Kenneth Roberts' Rabble in Arms, Arundel, and others. [email protected]

This one took a little longer to get into than the first two, but it turned out to be the best of the series so far. Monfredo has mastered the art of foreshadowing without giving away the whole story, and is skilled at throwing in a red herring or two, as well. Her treatment of the tensions between Native Americans serves to illuminate the complexity of Glynis' and Jacques' friendship, and imparts some interesting historical context as well. This is a book that's worth reading again and again.