A Peace In Time

Peace in Time by Herschel Waller. Published by First Edition

August 29, 2014 by cayocosta72 Leave a comment

Teresa Walker never expected anything to come of the walk she took in an old Texas graveyard. But while strolling through the grounds, she’s overcome with visions of a girl named Sarah Bollinger who died 150 years earlier. Teresa feels compelled to find out more about the girl even though her husband is skeptical. She soon finds herself in the company of Jack McAlester, a man visiting Texas from San Francisco because of a series of bizarre letters he’s received. Together they ask Phyllis Runyon, the current owner of Sarah’s plantation home for help. Here they discover the truth about Sarah’s death, her killer and a missing treasure.

Southern Gothic at it’s best. Graveyards, old plantations, buried secrets and lost treasure – a compulsive read

A Peace In Time by Herschel Waller is a well written historical mystery suspense novel. I am very surprised that this is his first full length work.

Teresa and her husband Granger are visiting an old cemetery in Texas when Teresa has a vision about Sarah, a girl that died 150 years ago. In the vision Teresa feels that Sarah is reaching out to her to help solve the mystery of her death. After convincing her husband that they need to help the dead girl, they begin to try to unravel the ancient mystery. With the help of other characters that they meet during the investigation will they be able to figure out what happened so long ago or will they be joining Sarah in death?

This book is a mystery and a ghost book blended together nicely. There is a lot of suspense and tension that I felt while reading this book. The author is able to evoke these feelings just with his written word. The writing is descriptive and pulled me in at the beginning and pulled me along to the wild finish.

The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. I found myself turning the pages as fast as I could to find out what was going to happen next. The characters are well developed and realistic, including the ghosts, ( I know ghosts are not real but if they were, these ghosts would be realistic). I found myself caring about what was going to happen to all of them and worrying about them.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mysteries or ghost stories.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. I would like to thank NetGalley and First Edition Design Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Teresa Granger and her husband Granger and Jack McAlester meet because of an strange connection to Sarah Bollinger, a young girl murdered some 150 years ago in Balfour. Teresa has visions and Jack was sent very old letters signed by Sarah B. Together they give their shot in sleuthing the old mystery. But what is more mysterious is that they feel some strange energy between them, as if they were not just sleuthing, but also re-enacting the old mystery...

The topic is very interesting - like solving an old murder based on supernatural - let's say - input? You got me on the first sentence. The dynamics between Granger and Teresa is interesting, too, as they have some unsolved issues between them. I also love the topic of justice finally done.
But my interest started to fade a bit as the author started to play it safely. I would love to have more questions, more intellectual game, more real sleuthing. Here the heroes are a bit passive, the information come easily to them, or their wildest deductions just come true.
I also don't like the dynamics between the trio, mainly because of Teresa, who is behaving quite immaturely for a woman in her forties. But I like Granger's behaviour in this situation, he is a rock of trust and a very solid guy.

All in all, there is a potential in this author. I hope he will work on it! I would gladly read his next book in this hoping.