Book review: Sue Hallgarth: Death Comes: A Willa Cather And Edith Lewis Mystery

Death Comes: A Willa Cather and Edith Lewis Mystery

This may contain spoilers

Author: Sue Hallgarth.

Title: Death comes: A Willa Cather and Edith Lewis mystery.

Genre: Historical, Historical Fiction, Fiction,

I signed up for poetic book tours and l were emailed off Serena Agusto-Cox about reviewing this book.

Book Dedication: For Hilda Raz poet, friend, editor extraordinaire.

First of all I would like to say a big thank you to Sue Hallgarth for sending me this book and giving me the chance to read it. I want to say a big thank you to Serena Agusto-Cox for contacting me and taking the time to email me.

I would tell people that you should step outside your comfort zone with books because it is good to add more authors and genres to your reading portfolio even if you do not read books like this.

I normally read books of this genre but l also stepped outside my comfort zone l am so glad l did because I have read so many great books and come across some great authors.

I highly recommend this book.

This book has 266 pages and 20 chapters in it.

Advance praise for death comes.

They are back! If you loved on the rocks, you will be thrilled to have this new adventure of Willa and Edith. This time they are in new mexico tracking down the unsolved murders of too many women. Sue Hallgarth has done it again. The combination of deep knowledge of the geographic terrain, it is history, Cather's literary preoccupations, and Hallgarth's feminist sensibility have bought us another suspenseful, terrific read. - Joan W. Scott, author of gender and the politics of history and the fantasy of feminist history.

My new favorite book is death comes! It made distant memories real and simpatico. What a delight to see them and the beautiful taos you let me walk through. I especially want to thank you for including Spud. He was always there, so it is nice to have him recognized. I only knew him as an old man who always stopped to listen to a child. You showed me a young man who would become the one l knew and loved. - Claudia Smith Miller, great-granddaughter of Mabel Dodge Luhan.

Death comes is a clever play on the novel that Willa Cather worked on in taos, new mexico, in the summers of 1925 and 1926, death comes for the archbishop, Hallgarth has done serious historical and cultural research, cleverly highlighting Willa Cather's virtues as a strong-willed sleuth.. this is a very good read, as a story of 1920's taos – including race and class relations, as a portrait of the Mabel Dodge Luhan circle, and, last but not least, as a murder mystery. - Lois Rudnick, author of Mabel Dodge Luhan: new woman, new worlds.

Willa Cather is travelling in northern new mexico while publishing her new manuscript death comes for the archbishop when she and her companion Edith Lewis are caught up in the mystery surrounding the deaths of three women near D.H. Lawrence's ranch. An intriguing story for those of us who always wished we had been there when Mabel Dodge Luhan held court in taos for luminaries of art and literature. - Judith Ryan Hendricks, author of Isabel's daughter and the laws of harmony.

The second book in Hallgarth's Willa Cather and Edith Lewis mystery series captures the vivid and compelling landscape of the taos, NM territorial west. A historical mystery with real people – think Mabel Dodge and Tony Luhan, long John Dunn, Arthur Manby – and everyday life in the settling west. Compelling and richly imagined by a masterful storyteller l did not want it to end. - Betty Palmer, events coordinator, op.cit. Books, taos NM.

Our favorite literary sleuths are back! And this time Willa Cather and Edith Lewis are summering in taos, new mexico. Guests of Mabel Dodge Luhan, the amiable pair are planning for nothing more taxing than a month's worth of writing and painting. Then an unsettling excursion to the D.H. Lawrence ranch changes everything. Entertaining and edifying, death comes is a compelling mystery set in new mexico, that place Cather described as a ' landscape one longed for when one was away'. - Sharon Oard Warner, co-director D.H. Lawrence ranch and author of Sophie's house of cards.

Praise for on the rocks.

“one of ' ten titles to pick up now' … a fictionalized glimpse in to the partnership between the novelist and her artist companion, who team up to solve a murder on an island in the bay of funby”. - O, the Oprah magazine.

Cather fans will enjoy the atmosphere, and Hallgarth captures the local color well, providing a look at the eccentric island residents, the small-town politics, and the life of the (two) women's communities”. - American library association booklist.

The historic, literary mystery is the first of what could be a terrific new series. The settling – on the Canadian island of grand manan in 1929 – is captivating and the story engaging. On the rocks is a real treat!”. - rose city reader.

I enjoyed the run and energy of on the rocks “ - Lucia Woods Lindley, member of board of governors the Willa Cather foundation.

“on the rocks is a riveting addition to historical fiction collections and those with a love for the artistic life”. - the Midwest book review.

“utterly absorbing, compulsively readable. Hallgarth spins her tale with an artistry that allows us to imagine a time and place as compelling as a dream”. - Kathleen Hill, author of who occupies this house and still waters in Niger.

“Sue Hallgarth incorporates the spectacular settling of grand manan in to a mystery set among summer colonies of feminist artists, colorful island types, and suspicious visitors. Cather readers will detect her pronouncements on writing and life, and the island rock itself, a Cather symbol of survival, becomes here a solid contrast to the human foibles that play out on its surface”. - John Murphy, member of board of governors, the Willa Cather foundation.

“on the rocks is sophisticated and yet has a wonderful innocence. It conveys a convincing sense of the period. The characters are rounded, real. It is funny it is compelling. It is a good tale.” - Jake Page, author of the Mo Bowdre mystery series.

Cather afictionados will be especially interested in the author's new take on Willa Cather's personal history. The amible cottage colony on grand manan island in the bay of funby, where Edith and Willa built their summer retreat in the 1920's, is lovingly captured in this first book in a sparkling new literary mystery series”. - Nancy Rutland, founder of bookworks, Albuquerque, NM.

Love, love, love... highly recommended to those who enjoy this historical genre, and to fans of great women authors!. I will be curious to see if ms. Hallgarth has this as the start of a series or not. She is an expert on Cather and cleverly' knows her well”. - Beth's book-nook Blog.

“ The strength of the book is in Hallgarth's ability to paint a scene. Her research about grand manan, Cather and Lewis, and the time period are obviously top notch”. - wildmoobooks.

“Nice read with a beautiful portrait of a Canadian island in the 1920's, a strong feminist portrait of Willa Cather and her partner Edith, and a murder mystery to boot! Well-written with some beautifully painted' scenes and an intriguing insight to the way we all tend to think, wandering from one association to another before we catch ourselves! I've never seen that in a book before and thoroughly enjoyed it”. - David Roberts, M.D., author of practice makes perfect: how one doctor found the meaning of lives.

Synopsis: Following on the rocks, Sue Hallgarth's first Willa Cather and Edith Lewis mystery. Death comes gives us another glimpse in to the life and work of the Pulitzer prize-winning novelist and her talented life partner the year is 1926. Willa and Edith return to Mabel Dodge Luhan's pink adobe in tao's NM. Willa is writing death comes for the archbishop. Edith is sketching taos pueblo and hoping for a visit to the nearby D.H. Lawrence ranch, the previous summer they had stumbled on to a woman's body. Now the headless bodies of two women add to the mystery. Sue Hallgarth presents an intimate portrait of Cather, Lewis, the spectacular new mexico landscape, and the famous artists and writers. Mabel Dodge Luhan gathered in taos.

Review: I found this book really easy to get in to and harder to put down once l started reading it. I would put some essential oils in my humidifier and put the lights on my humidifier on and chill on my bed and listen to music or something on TV. I sometimes light a candle when l am writing this book. It is good to chill reading a good book. My cat sometimes joins me on my bed or one of the other three cats that live me join me. I also took a picture of this book and shared it to my Instagram that l made just for pictures of my books it is called Donnareviewsbooks. My cat Oreo was lying next to me as l write this book review. I sometimes write book reviews on my bed or at my desk in my bedroom that is also my living room, library and my office. I was sad to read that three women was murdered and that people did not know who the women was or who killed them. I hope they find who killed them. I love the pictures in this book. I like that Willa Cather has a life partner Edith Lewis. Willa and Edith sounds like great women and friends. I would love to read more about everybody in this book. Blade sounds like a nasty pieces of work. I think the women who was murdered have something to do with him. Adam sounds like a really nice guy l am glad Maria is with Adam and not Blade because l think if she was still with him she would be dead like the other women. The people who come looking for Blade sound so horrible l am so glad that they did not hurt Adam or Maria. I was sad to finish reading this book. I would love to buy more books from Sue Hallgarth as l got this book for free. I can not put in to words how great this book is l would tell people to read it for themselves to know how great it really is. I was hooked after reading the synopsis. I am so glad that Adam and Maria are going to find Spud and tell him what is going on at his ranch and that the person who was staying there was keeping women that did not speak English and he had threaten to kill them and cut their throats and showed the heads to the others to scare them. It is a shame Maria can not speak English but when they get to where Spud is. Somebody speaks the same language as Maria. So she will be able to tell them what Blade was like and about the other women. I was sad to read that agent Dan was shot but glad he survived. The sheriff of taos sounds so lazy and does not care about the three women because they are unknown and he clearly that somebody shot agent Dan. I was scared to read that Adam and Maria come face to face with Blade for the first time since he sold Maria to Adam. I am glad the shots missed Maria. It was funny to read that Blade's horse ran away after Adam's horse and the mule that Maria was riding. Leaving him jumping up and down in the middle of the road shouting about his horse. I am so glad Adam found it funny. I hope Maria is still on the mule when Adam finds them and she is not hurt. I do not blame Adam and Maria being scared of Blade because he is a nasty piece of work. I hope Maria and Adam make it to Spud before the weather starts because they could get poorly and the horse and mule need to be put in a barn away from the nasty weather. This book is totally addicting and I and I wish l could stay up all night to read and review this book but l get migraines. I am in love with this book. These women are being held against their will. I was sad to read that Florence and Angelica was kidnapped and think they do not have a choose but to stay where they are because they must think that if they leave they will have no money or be homeless but they could end up like the three murdered women. I am glad Dick and Nick give up easy because some of them could end up dead if there was a shoot out. Plus Adam was still injured and Spud did not know how to use a gun.I am glad with the help of Amelia Maria could tell them about Blade and the other women and it was nice that Maria was given one of the other women's bracelet. I also reviewed this book on goodreads, amazon UK and amazon US.

About the Author: Sue Hallgarth is a former English professor she has written scholarly articles on Willa Cather and Edith Lewis, and this is her second book of fiction featuring the two of them. Her first book in the series is on the rocks, set in 1929 on the island of grand manan in new Brunswick, Canada. She lives in corrales, NM.

Follow Sue on Facebook at Suehallgarthauthor, on twitter @suehallgarth, and on goodreads.com and follow Sue's blog, reviews, and other news about her books and writing at Suehallgarth.com.

About This Book: I really like this book cover and the picture of the mountains on the front cover and l love that the writing is in black because it stands out more.

Star Rating: Five Out Of Five Stars.

I wish l could rate this book more then five stars because it is worth more than the five stars l rated it.