By Blood Possessed

I should know better than to start a mystery novel before bedtime. Especially one as gripping and well-written as BY BLOOD POSSESSED. After several sleepless hours, completely engrossed in the novel, I realized that Elena Santangelo is definitely a force to be reckoned with. And no, I did not get to sleep until I finished the book.This, her first mystery novel, not only delivers one of the best stories I've read, but skillfully weaves both the historical "back" story with the contemporary primary storyline with seamless integration, combining them into a finished, polished tale that will hold its own among the best of the genre. Santangelo bears watching - she may just sneak up and snatch an award or two. Brava!

Wisecracking Patricia "Pat" Montella is in a dead-end job and in a nowhere life when out-of-the-blue this Pennsylvania native is notified that a stranger is considering bequeathing property in Virginia to her.The stranger is retired school teacher, Civil War historian and present owner, Magnolia "Miss Maggie" Shelby. Her one stipulation is that Pat spend one week in May at Bell Run, the estate in question, to learn about the land, the Bell Family and ultimately about Pat, herself.Laying claim to Bell Run is no easy task for Pat Montella. Not only is there a long-lost descendant of the Bell clan competing for the family homestead, but there are also land developers itching to get their hands on this prime real estate property. Threats, murder and eerie happenings move the plot to a predictable but very satisfying climax, with plenty of suspense to spare.This book is a real find. Not only do you fall in love with Pat Montella in the first chapter as she humorously fantasizes the demise of her obnoxious boss in a barrage of rifle fire, but you can really empathize with a petite but broad-hipped, short woman in white slacks crawling through Virginia woodland.Elena Santangelo has created very real characters that are warm, funny, flawed and tragic. She has blended character with the passage of time into an engrossing and atmospheric plot that toggles between presend day Virginia and the ravaged Virginia of the Civil War. I'm looking forward to the sequel!

Elena Santangelo's first novel is a winner. This book is about a woman who unexpectedly gets a reprieve from her dead-end job and mundane life by learning of an opportunity to inherit some land in northern Virginia. City-bred Pat Montella learns to love the Virginia woods where elderly Magnolia Shelby lives, and who plans to leave Pat the land in her will. Pat decides to check it out by spending a week with Miss Maggie, which is a condition of getting the land. Pat is inexplicably drawn to the land in ways she cannot fathom at first. Later, it becomes clear to her. The author uses a most interesting technique of having 2 first-person characters in the book, one from the current day (Pat) and another from Civil War times. The reader is drawn into the connection between the two, with a few surprises along the way. I love Civil War fiction, so I expected to like this book. I didn't just like it, I devoured it. This book has humor, Civil War history, romance, and suspense. Thank goodness the flyleaf tells us Santangelo is already working on a sequel.

I don't like historical mysteries. I don't like mysteries about time travel. I don't like flash backs and forwards. I'm not a Civil War buff. But I LOVED By Blood Possessed by Elena Santangelo. If you like the aforementioned items, you might love this book even more.The main protagonist is from the Philadelphia area and, while she's surprised to discover Civil War era Virginia ancestors, she's well aware of her Philly Italian heritage from the Montella's, Giamo's etc. Pat is refreshingly real. She hates her job. Her life is going nowhere. Her description of the outcome of her five dating relationships (only two getting beyond date #1) is worth the price of the book. This is a story short on terrifying suspense, yet I couldn't put it down. I think there's a big future for Pat.

Pat Montella works in an office in Southeast Pennsylvania. She plans to vacation in a Bell Run, Virginia where a civil war estate exists in a rural part of the state. Though she does not know the current owner, if she stays for one week she inherits the property when Magnolia Shelby dies. Pat plans to sell the land until she meets its owner and sees the property.Pat begins to sense events that occurred during the Civil War. Apparently, the estate resides on a window to the past and Pat can see through the opening to the 1860s. Someone else prefers Pat to not inherit Bell Run. That unknown individual tries to kill Pat. When a murder happens, Pat, accompanied by a smart teen, seeks to learn the truth.BY BLOOD POSSESSED is a combination family saga wrapped inside an interesting mystery. Elena Santangelo provides readers with different views of Bell Run by alternating chapters between the past and the present. The author also furnishes the audience with the horror of battle. If this debut tale is any indication, Ms. Santangelo will gift readers with many future novels.Harriet Klausner