Hang My Head and Cry

With By Blood Possessed, Santangelo introduced an unusual mystery heroine, a woman with one foot in today and one foot in history: Quite literally, Pat Montella can "see" into the past. Now Pat has given up her city life and moved onto Miss Maggie Shelby's Civil War-era estate, an estate which Pat will someday inherit. Suddenly her visions return, and Pat begins to see 1870s Virginia through the eyes of a young slave. The personality of this 10-year-old boy, Emancipation, known as "Mance", seems harmless enough, but when Pat and Miss Maggie uncover a skeleton on the estate grounds, once again past and present collide and Pat must use her unusual talents to solve this intricate, intriguing mystery.

Amazon.com Review

Pat Montella, heroine of Elena Santangelo's previous romantic mystery By Blood Possessed, is back in another adventure. As the unpaid director of the Julia Bell Foundation, Pat's collecting unemployment and living on...Magnolia Shelby's Civil War-era estate in Virginia while she waits for her own future to reveal itself. But it's the past that comes clear first when the amateur archaeological efforts of Aunt Maggie and her friends unearth a long-dead body on the property Pat will someday inherit. And it's Pat's unique ability to "see" back to 1870 (and reconstruct through the eyes of a 10-year-old boy named Emancipation the circumstances under which the skeleton met its end) that turns the somewhat creaky wheels of the plot. More interesting than the contemporary action (which includes a couple of murders connected to secrets that some of Aunt Maggie's neighbors would just as soon stay buried) are the flashbacks to Reconstruction, the racial politics of the post-slavery years, and the fascinating cast of characters who populated Bell Run back then and whose ghosts still haunt the Virginia countryside. This slow-moving but nicely written ghost story should win Santangelo and her heroine new fans. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly

The past continues to catch up with Pat Montella both literally and figuratively in this captivating sequel to Santangelo's well-received debut, By Blood Possessed (1999). Pat's gift for seeing and hearing ghosts continues to manifest itself with vivid snippets of the past, as if from old newsreels. Miss Maggie Shelby, scion of the Virginia Civil War estate owned by the Bell family, who discovered that Pat is the last descendant of the Bells, continues to preside over Pat's metamorphosis from office worker to heir to a Southern tradition. Pat's finding an unknown gravesite and the disturbing appearance of the ghost of a former slave boy named "Mance" (short for Emancipation) begins a story of old wrongs whose roots reach into the present. The discovery of the grave brings welcome help in the form of Emmy Brewster and her handsome assistant, Theo Clayborne. It also brings unwanted help in the form of police and politicians eager to make hay from the excitement. After Pat's visions of the past intensify, she discovers she's not the only one who has such visions. When Theo becomes the prime suspect in the death of his best friend, Pat is driven to solve both old deaths and new with surprising results. Ghosts, murder, romance, Old South, New South, an aristocratic old lady, a gaggle of good ol' boys and an intrepid heroine add up to fine and cozy entertainment. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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