The coffins by Deborah Dunn.
Drawing on her love of archaeology and the legends surrounding the Lost Colonists of Roanoke Island, author Deborah Dunn has woven a spell-binding murder mystery about a young archaeologist, Andrea Warren, who goes in search of why her father committed suicide as a young man while looking for the infamous coffins of Beechland, coffins the locals claim belong to remnants of the 117 men, women, and children who vanished without a trace in 1590. But what she discovers soon puts her life in danger. Who wants to stop her? And how far would they go to keep her from making one of the most important archaeological discoveries of all time: What happened to the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island? Where did Virginia Dare go?
An ok read. Slow but readable. 3*.

The Coffins can be described as a mystery with a bit of historical fiction thrown in the mix. It follows Andrea, a young archeologist trying to figure out her next path in life while unlocking the mystery of her family's past. Readers are provided with a history lesson of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. I found the book to be very drawn out. Too many words with not a whole lot to say at times. I had a hard time keeping interest and focus. Because i was curious about where the author was going with the mysterious coffins that supposedly harbor some of the Lost Colony's biggest secrets, i stuck with the story to the end. I felt like the end was a little rushed compared to the rest of the book. Interesting concept, but could have been carried out a bit better.

I managed to force myself through to the end of this book but it took a while because I found it boring and stupid. Frankly it reads like a pretty bad lifetime movie.

I wouldn't call The Coffins a thriller at all as I didn't come across any suspense or intrigue and the pacing of the book is far too slow and dull. It also has a lot of filler that I had to skim through.

The grammar seems to be deliberately bad like in those true-life magazines in which the journalists write the way they perceive their readers to talk. I found it condescending and irritating having to correct the sentence structure in my head every time I came across a particularly bad piece of writing, which was often.

I enjoyed the set up of the present day events and the flash backs told from the English settlers points of view but the visions the protagonist has of brief moments in ancient history which provide nothing to the plot, and the visions she has of present day events that could otherwise not be realistically explained to the reader felt like cheap and lazy writing. A magical element is written into an otherwise non-fantastical book because without it, the book wouldn't make sense.

There is so much plot convenience, I don't even know where to start listing it all. Pretty much everything that happens is plot convenience and not forced by the protagonist's actions. The plot itself is not credible. The ending is especially cheesy and there are too many continuity errors.

The protagonist is very whiny, immature and rude. She does nothing but react to events (without being proactive), make idiotic decisions and blame others for her poor choices.

The love interest is boring and meek. None of the other characters stand out enough to have any impact on me at all apart from the one character I actually cared about; Henry the dog.

I predicted who the antagonists would turn out to be upon their very introduction. The antagonist's motive is just silly and not at all credible and as a character, he is inexplicably stupid when the plot calls for it. For example (spoiler) he has all the time and opportunity in the world to kill the protagonist but for no explained reason (plot convenience, so the protagonist has time to plan an escape), he stalls and stalls and stalls.

Overall, I was excited to read The Coffins as I am very interested in the mystery of the Roanoke settlers and I love thrillers but this book fell extremely short on both mystery and thrills. I hated the main character, the plot was boring, unrealistic and cheesy and I was very glad to finally get to the end of it so I could move on to something better.

2.5/5 stars

Thank you to netgalley and The Killion Group for sending me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a book for people with the appreciation of historical facts and or theories.
The mystery surrounding The Lost Colony is approached with a different view and with new data collected in resents findings.
With a lot of references to native american tribes there is something to be learned in this pages.

A great historical/mystery novel! It was the first time I read about the story of the Lost Colony of Roanoke and it captivated me from the very beginning.

Andrea Warren is haunted by the suicide of her father while searching for the coffins of Beechland a group of 117 people that went mysteriously missing in 1590. Being a young archaeologist, Andrea takes on her father’s path only to discover that her attention is very much unwanted. Someone is trying to stop her from discovering one of the biggest mysteries of the American culture but with what purpose? Can she finish what she started without losing her life?

Deborah Dunn did a great work in presenting so much historical details and research throughout the novel. It fits perfectly with the story and it made it believable, especially when put together with her own opinion of what might have happened. The mystery that is built around the legend is solid and it kept me captivated all the way through. The approach the author takes in presenting past events through dreams and visions is brilliant. No questions are left unanswered and no strings are left loose.

The descriptions are amazing. The details are so realistic that I could actually see, feel and smell what Andrea sees in her visions. Furthermore, there are the descriptions of the landscape. North Caroline both in the present and the past were described in a way that made me want to visit. The images of the small towns along the coast are mesmerizing.

In the beginning, the reader is given a timeline with the known events and their dates of Roanoke; it gave me a first introduction to the theme of the novel. In the end of the novel, the author gives a clear image to the reader of what is real, what is fictional and a small bibliography if there is further interest, details that truly make the difference for me.

It’s an incredible, captivating and thrilling novel that I highly recommend to the fans of a good historical mystery.

The Coffins by Deborah Dunn was in a word...captivating. I did not want to put it down and finished it in two days. It is set in North Carolina, the outer banks' area and surrounds the archeology of The Lost Colony of Roanoke. Having grown up in Charlotte, my knowledge of the area and fascination with North Carolina history, I believe the author did a great job detailing the landscape and depicting the tone of the small towns along the coast.

It is the story of a girl, Andrea Warren, trying to make sense of the circumstances surrounding her father's suicide when she was only four years old. It is only after her ostracism from graduate school after making a career ending decision to expose unethical behavior, that Andrea decides now is the time to finally come to terms with his suicide and, in doing so, begins to uncover the mysterious events surrounding his death.

The author provides a plausible story combining the facts of the Lost Colony with the author's own speculation of what ultimately happened to them. Yes, this is historical fiction but I did not expect so much mystery and suspense. The vivid description of Andrea walking around the Montrose house had me on the edge of my seat. Truly difficult to put down. The author's note at the end of the book delineating the facts from the details she took liberty with, summed up the book nicely. And there's a sequel...a definite bonus!

Loved it.
Kept me reading long into the night.
Highly recommend it to anyone, regardless of your personal preferences.

Practically everyone has heard of the Lost Colony of Roanoke; one of the first and great myths in America’s historical journey to become its own country. Dunn has taken that well known mystery and built a novel around the what ifs and what might haves. Most of the novel is set in a modern day setting but there are a few chapters set back during the time of the Colony to help set her backstory.

Dunn did a great job with the research which showed not only throughout the story but at the very beginning and end. She starts off with a timeline of Roanoke’s history so you can see the evolution then after the story is over she provides a letter to her readers outlining what is known, the best books to get if you want more information and how she incorporated or altered historical facts into her story.

Her settings are so visceral you can practically smell the unwashed bodies, food and mold she describes along with feeling the mud splash against your legs as you follow her along on this journey through the past.

Dunn offers a reasonable plot explanation for what happened to the colonists of Roanoke. Some of what she’s done I’m not real sure how I feel about for example a character is essentially traded to be a sex slave yet somehow the character is okay with and even speaks lovingly of what was done to her. I know all of that should be taken within historical context but it’s still messed up.

The mystery aspect of it, trying to figure out what really happened to her father was interesting. That was slowly unwound and I really never saw that ending coming.

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I hate to say this, but I didn't enjoy this book as much as I'd hoped I would. From the blurb the concept sounds awesome--and it is. It's just that all that potential gets lost in a whole lotta words. Words that are boring and are far too much information. Words that distract from the point, following tangents, instead of building on one another to create a story with a punch that is truly great. The point is that all that potential for a great story gets turned into something that all too quickly resembled a textbook. In a nutshell, the bones of this book are great, it just needs to be whittled down quite a bit.

With that in mind, I am not quite sure who to recommend this book to. Lovers of American history perhaps, or American Studies scholars? Whoever you are, you must enjoy reading text with a lot of information without the punch and pizam that you might hope it has.

I couldn't put this book down and finished it in about 6 hours. As an American I grew up with the history of the Roanoke mystery. Using this as a basis plus using actual people and then fleshing out the story, well, I can't wait for the sequel. This novel has everything you'd want in a good read. Twists, turns, betrayal, romance, and second sight. A brilliant read.