Tempa Pagel, Here’s the Church Here’s the Steeple

Here's the Church, Here's the Steeple

Tempa Pagel

Five Star, Mar 2006, $25.95

ISBN 1594143749

Former Motor City social studies teacher Andy Gammon wants to be part of life in her husband's small Massachusetts hometown of Newburyport, so the mother of two children joins every committee looking for volunteers. Her latest joining is on a historical committee to update the information on the First Parish Church in time for a tricentennial gala. Andy is to research and write up between the years 1801 and 1850. Her mother-in-law Mayta provides her with some books to help her.

A storm damages the church's steeple, but also reveals a corpse buried inside for about two centuries. As she links the body to the Great Fire of 1811 that destroyed much of the business section, Andy continues to dig into the records of that time over the objections of almost everyone. That is until a second recently murdered corpse is found inside the church, and a fire is set to Andy's home. While the police investigate the current homicide, Andy continues her quest for the truth in the early nineteenth century that she believes is tied to today's murder.

This interesting amateur sleuth introduces the reader to the residents of Newburyport, so that the audience understands the motives of Andy to learn the truth and many leading citizens to shut her down, especially with the 1811 investigation. About one third into the fine plot, the mystery begins and never slows down, as the audience, through intrepid Andy, obtains a look at a Massachusetts port city just before the War of 1812. Tempa Pagel provides a fine whodunit, past and present, that readers will enjoy.