Customer Reviews

The Bug Funeral (Simon Shaw Mysteries, No. 4)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I gave The Bug Funeral four stars because it delivers what it promises: a cozy with charming characters, not quite as clever as those in the MC Beaton series but definitely enjoyable.

Simon Shaw, award-winning history professor, gets drawn into a case proposed by an attractive woman. She remembers events that took place nearly a hundred years ago, imagining herself as a woman named Annie Evans. Reincarnation? False memories? But how does she get the data to create false memories? She's been tested by psychologists and found sane.

Simon discovers Annie Evans existed after all. She worked in an orphanage that's long gone, but there's ample evidence to corroborate her story. Together with Helen, he tracks down friends and relatives who remembered Annie. And working from careful observation, he solves the dual mystery of what happened to Annie and how Helen got caught up in Annie's memories.

The story held my interest to the end, with charming details of Simon Shaw's comfortable bachelor life, the North Carolina culture and forays into history. I would have liked an author's note to tell us what she researched: what's plausible about the ending, how realistic the historical touches are, and more. Yet for a cozy, this type of neat ending seems just right.

The robot was quite adequate to the task of giving a good reading of this sort of quaint entry in what has been quite an entertaining series. I can say little without revealing aspects of the mystery; suffice to say that it involves a "client" whom our hero, a history professor, takes on because of her fear that she was the reincarnated mother of a woman who had killed her child. In past episodes of the series, he has proven adept at being able to unravel the events surrounding long dead people; at a friend's behest he takes up the challenge of explaining the miraculous reliving of a previous life. Well, the author does indicate that the Professor, has just lost a close girl-friend and is in a state of social and sexual deprivation.

I can understand where this could be an appealing story for some or many; to me it was more a book in which the author didn't really find her way, leaving her hero looking more a silly ass than a scrupulous historian. One scene in a graveyard went over the edge into incredibility.

In sum, I found this to be a weak entry in a good series; it happens. It may be quite entertaining for readers who can take it seriously..

This is the fourth in the Professor Simon Shaw series, set in and around Raleigh, NC. Shaw is a young history professor at a small liberal arts college and his previous adventures have earned him a reputation as a forensic historian. In this story, a young woman approaches him with a request to help her figure out if she lived a previous life in turn-of-the-century Raleigh; she's been haunted with memories and nightmares of a woman's life for as long as she can remember, and visions of burying a baby. At first Simon is sure she must be mentally ill, but the mutual friend who introduces them convinces him to investigate.

I really enjoy the vibe of these novels, very much in the "cozy" mystery mold, but with some interesting twists: Simon has to endure the politics of academia, has a wide, diverse group of friends and relatives (many recurring characters), and an interesting family history, which has left him rather confused about religion and where he fits in. He's an orphan now, but mom was a New York City Jew who came to the North Carolina mountains to serve as a public health nurse and married dad, a classics professor at Appalachian State and a die-hard Southerner with a large Baptist family. Simon is only in his early thirties and single (one brief, failed marriage in his past, and just getting over a serious relationship as this story opens) so his quest for true love is also a recurring theme. All of this makes (for me) an enjoyable, quirky series, and for history lovers and frustrated nerds who thought being a history professor would be the coolest job EVER!, you get that extra dose of history and research as our hero works through the mysteries. What's not to love?

As far as mysteries go this was an excellent book and kept my attention and I read it in a few hours. It's hardly a cozy and in no way reminded me of a cozy let alone Agatha Raisin and I found it fairly weak to make the bad guy a republican but all in all if you take this book as a mystery you won't be disappointed.

Have read the series out of order, but it doesn't seem to matter too much, although I prefer to read chronilogically. I tend to read books I like more than once, and will definitely be reading these again. They are well-creafted and the characters are complex enough to seem real and very likeable.

THE BUG FUNERAL by Sarah R. Shaber is a fast-paced intriguing cozy mystery. The amateur sleuth Simon Shaw looks back into the past to solve a current day problem. The North Carolina setting, past and present creates a wonderful backdrop for this mystery. Doctor Wade Ferrell approaches his friend Simon Shaw, a history professor at a small college in Raleigh, North Carolina with an unusual request. Helen Williams has memories of the life of a woman who lived at the turn of the century. In all other areas, her life is normal and she has been to psychologists and psychologists alike. Nothing can rid her of these memories. She feels she cannot marry her fiance until she knows the truth about whether she killed a baby in a past life of a woman named Annie Evans. Will Simon investigate? Simon figures he will put in a couple of hours of work, say he cannot find anything and then be done with her while satisfying his friend's request. There is just one problem --- the more he investigates history, the more credibility her memories have.

THE BUG FUNERAL captivates. The mystery and the atmosphere intrigue. The look at North Carolina now and in 1910 was beautifully written and opened up an earlier era for me. I had just never really thought before how it must have been like to live in my home state at that time. Readers will appreciate the familiar current day North Carolina landmarks and way of life. Whether it be the K & W cafeteria or mention of NC BBQ or mention of the Jewish, Cherokee and Baptist communities, Sarah R. Shaber transports her readers to North Carolina, past and present.

The sleuth, Helen and Annie Evans are wonderful characters that inspire the reader to unravel the mystery and get to know them. The reincarnation theme was done extremely well. Each chapter starts with a quote about reincarnation from from people and characters like Sherlock Holmes, Benjamin Franklin, Carl Jung, Socrates, Mark Twain, Henry Ford. Religious texts and ideas from different faiths are examined -- not in an academic way but in chapter quotes and dialogue that flow naturally. The mystery itself is quite heart-moving with definitely a surprise or two at the end. The tone is sweet and tender with a unique puzzle to solve. Goodness emanates from the characters and yet the puzzle hints at a darker side. I would definitely include THE BUG FUNERAL in my top mystery reads. This mystery has a nice Christmas touch. The Raleigh are descriptions made me homesick for my native state and add an extra dimension for any North Carolinian fan.

A wonderful addition to the Professor Simon Shaw mystery stories.

Sarah Shaber has, as always, thoroughly researched her story background and fitted together a tight and believable plot.

I anxiously await her next book; she only gets better at her craft.

Pulitzer Prize winning author Simon Shaw is a tenured professor at Kenan College in the historic part of downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. He is famous for solving three cold cases and has become known as a forensic historian. Helen Williams is referred to Simon by a mutual friend because she has a very big problem. She has the memories of an Annie Evans who lived in Raleigh in 1910 and remembers burying an eighteen month baby girl in an unmarked grave.

Neither Simon nor Helen believes in reincarnation or past life memories but the traumas she dreams about as Annie are making her a nervous wreck. She wants a logical answer for these memories and she hopes Simon can help her. Although at first Simon thinks she's mentally disturbed he agrees to look into the matter and is shocked to find out that Annie Evans did exist. As he is researching her life, he questions many people who knew her and one of them is murdered leading Helen and Simon to believe that there is a secret involving Annie that someone doesn't want revealed.

The protagonist is a historian who uses primary and secondary sources to move forward his investigation and it is fascinating to watch him go from not believing in Annie to piecing together the important parts of her life. The relationship between Annie to Helen is as much a mystery as the murder of one of Simon's interviewees and readers will feel totally satisfied with the outcome to both puzzles. THE BUG FUNERAL is a charming amateur sleuth tale.

Harriet Klausner

If word got out that respected history Professor Simon Shaw was investigating a case of supposed reincarnation, his reputation and career would be cooked. But that is exactly the situation that Simon finds himself in when in response to a plea from a good friend, he agrees to see Helen Williams. Ever since she was a child, Helen has had memories of someone else's life -- a woman (Annie Evans) who lived at the turn of the century in Raleigh, North Carolina (the very town that Simon's university is in). In an ironic twist, what Helen wants is not for Simon to prove that she really is Annie Evans reincarnated as Helen Williams, but to prove that her "memories" of Annie's life are completely false, especially since part of Helen's memories include Annie's involvement in the burial of a baby. Wanting absolutely noting to do with this particular case, but compelled to help, Simon begins to investigate Helen's "memories" and finds himself being reluctantly and deeply drawn into the case. Far too many of Helen's "memories" are turning out to be fact -- could Helen be a case of true reincarnation after all?

"The Bug Funeral" was a very fast and engrossing read. Simon's latest case proved to be truly intriguing and very engaging one, and I found myself drawn into the mystery from the very first page. Sarah R. Shaber definitely knows how to write and present a good Malice Domestic mystery novel that will keep you guessing and riveted till the very last page. And while Simon Shaw may not have matured much over the past few years, and while I found his rigid approach to the whole reincarnation notion a bit trying, I'd still vote this as a good read.