Old World Murder (A Chloe Ellefson Mystery, 1)
Old World Murder (A Chloe Ellefson Mystery, 1) book cover

Old World Murder (A Chloe Ellefson Mystery, 1)

Paperback – October 8, 2010

by
Price
$19.99
Format
Paperback
Pages
325
Publisher
Midnight Ink
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0738720876
Dimensions
5.5 x 1 x 8.25 inches
Weight
11.7 ounces

Description

From Publishers Weekly Ernst, the author of Clues in the Shadows and other YA American Girl novels, shows her ease in mining historical periods in her adult debut, set in Wisconsin in 1982. On Chloe Ellefson's first day as the new curator of collections at Old World Wisconsin, an outdoor museum that recreates the 1870s, elderly Berget Lundquist asks Chloe for the return of a family heirloom, a hand-painted Norwegian ale bowl that Berget donated to the State Historical Society of Wisconsin in 1962. Within minutes of Chloe promising to locate the bowl, Berget dies after driving her car off the road into a tree. The fatal bludgeoning of Berget's aged neighbor, Bill Solberg, by a person hunting for the elusive bowl leads Chloe to suspect the item has some special value. While details of the Old World museum can overwhelm at times, clever plot twists and credible characters make this a far from humdrum cozy. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist Chloe Ellefson, coming off a bout of clinical depression, has just started her new job as curator of collections at Old World Wisconsin, an outdoor historical museum, when Berget Lundquist asks her to return a hand-painted Norwegian ale bowl she donated more than 20 years ago. Chloe brushes Lundquist off, promising to locate the bowl, but when the woman dies in an auto accident, Chloe feels she must keep her word. However, the bowl seems to be missing, so Chloe delves into the museum’s acquisition documents, the state historical society’s records, and Mrs. Lundquist’s motivation for the return of the bowl, all of which lands her in the middle of a potentially deadly situation. Information on how to conduct historical research, background on Norwegian culture, and details about running an outdoor museum frame the engaging story of a woman devastated by a failed romantic relationship whose sleuthing helps her heal. --Sue O'Brien "Character-driven, with mystery aplenty, Old World Murder is a sensational read.xa0 Think Sue Grafton meets Earlene Fowler, with a dash of Elizabeth Peters." -- Julia Spencer-Fleming, Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author of the Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries "This series debut rolls out nicely for readers who like a cozy with a dab of antique lore." -- Library Journal "Information on how to conduct historical research, background on Norwegian culture, and details about running an outdoor museum frame the engaging story of a woman devastated by a failed romantic relationship whose sleuthing helps her heal." -- Booklist "Clever plot twists and credible characters make this a far from humdrum cozy." -- Publishers Weekly "In curator Chloe Ellefson, Ernst has created a captivating character with humor, grit, and a tangled history of her own that needs unraveling.xa0 Enchanting!" -- Sandi Ault , Mary Higgins Clark Award-winning author of the WILD Mysteries Old World Wisconsin is a real place, and one of the premier living history museums in the county. I was lucky enough to work there as an interpreter and curator. After twelve years I moved on, but found myself missing the place! So I decided to write an adult mystery that is largely set there. As a reader, I enjoy the mystery genre--in large part because I love going on a long multi-book journey with favorite characters. Writing Old World Murder let me create my own main characters, Chloe Ellefson and Roelke McKenna, which was great fun. I've got lots of plans for them! Kathleen Ernst is a novelist, social historian, and educator. Her seventeenth book is "The Heirloom Murders: A Chloe Ellefson Mystery," the second in a series of novels for adult readers that are set at historic sites. The first, "Old World Murder," was published in 2010. Both are available from Amazon as trade paperbacks and for the Kindle. The third, "The Lightkeeper's Legacy," is to be released in October 2012 and can be pre-ordered now.Kathleen's historical fiction for children and young adults include eight American Girl mysteries set between 1732 and 1945, and five novels for young readers set during the American Civil War. These titles have earned four Arthur Tofte Juvenile Fiction Awards, the Flora MacDonald Award, a WILLA Finalist Award, an Edgar Award nomination, and three Agatha Award nominations. In September 2012 Kathleen will have a major new release of American Girl books, which can be pre-ordered now on Amazon.Kathleen has also authored a nonfiction adult book about the Civil War, "Too Afraid to Cry: Maryland Civilians in the Antietam Campaign," which was an alternate selection of the History Book Club. It tells the stories of non-combatants who found themselves caught up in the bloodiest day in American history.Kathleen has a Masters Degree in History Education and Writing from Antioch University, where her self-designed program focused on nontraditional methods of teaching and learning history--with a special emphasis on historical fiction. She spent over a decade as a Curator of Interpretation and Collections with the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Historic Sites Division, which provided great material for her novels.She lives near Madison, Wisconsin with her husband Scott and Sophie the cat. Some of her greatest pleasures include gardening, learning folk crafts, traveling to research new books, and hearing from readers. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Please browse inside this title with the preview below. Read more

Features & Highlights

  • Trying to leave painful memories behind her, Chloe Ellefson is making a fresh start. She's the new collections curator at Old World Wisconsin, an outdoor ethnic museum showcasing 1870s settlement life. On her first day, Chloe meets with an elderly woman who begs her to find a priceless eighteenth-century Norwegian ale bowl that had been donated to the museum years ago. But before Chloe can find the heirloom and return it to her, the woman dies in a suspicious car crash.
  • Digging up the history and whereabouts of the rare artifact quickly turns dangerous. Chloe discovers that someone is desperately trying to cover up all traces of the bowl's existence―by any means necessary. Assisting Chloe is police officer Roelke McKenna, whose own haunting past compels him to protect her. To catch the covetous killer, Chloe must solve a decades-old puzzle...before she becomes a part of history herself.
  • Praise:
  • "Clever plot twists and credible characters make this a far from humdrum cozy."―
  • Publishers Weekly
  • "This series debut by an author of children's mysteries rolls out nicely for readers who like a cozy with a dab of antique lore. Jeanne M. Dams fans will like the ethnic background."―
  • Library Journal
  • "Information on how to conduct historical research, background on Norwegian culture, and details about running an outdoor museum frame the engaging story of a woman devastated by a failed romantic relationship whose sleuthing helps her heal."―
  • Booklist
  • "
  • Old World Murder
  • is strongest in its charming local color and genuine love for Wisconsin's rolling hills, pastures, and woodlands...a delightful distraction for an evening or two."―
  • New York Journal of Books
  • "A wonderfully-woven tale that winds in and out of modern and historical Wisconsin with plenty of mysteries―both past and present. In curator Chloe Ellefson, Ernst has created a captivating character with humor, grit, and a tangled history of her own that needs unraveling. Enchanting!"―Sandi Ault, author of the WILD Mystery Series and recipient of the Mary Higgins Clark Award
  • "Propulsive and superbly written, this first entry in a dynamite new series from accomplished author Kathleen Ernst seamlessly melds the 1980's and the 19th century. Character-driven, with mystery aplenty,
  • Old World Murder
  • is a sensational read. Think Sue Grafton meets Earlene Fowler, with a dash of Elizabeth Peters."―Julia Spencer-Fleming, Anthony and Agatha Award-winning author of
  • I Shall Not Want
  • and
  • One Was A Soldier
  • "Museum masterpiece."―
  • Rosebud Book Reviews
  • "A real find...5 stars."―
  • Once Upon a Romance

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(133)
★★★★
25%
(111)
★★★
15%
(67)
★★
7%
(31)
★
23%
(102)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

Museum Masterpiece

This is a masterly presented mystery of seemingly unconnected elements. Chloe Ellefson, a woman trying to leave painful memories behind, her begins work as collections curator at an ethnic museum. An elderly lady begs her to find an item the she has donated 20 years earlier but before the heirloom can be returned the lady dies suspiciously. That's when guilt, suspicion and surprising revelations begin.

This book entices the reader into some unexpected depths, and it is these complications rather than the answer to a "who done it" plot that is so memorable. What is Chloe's past? Why does the lady need to have her artifact back? How are we shaped by the choices we make? The setting, characters and Midwest values are as authentic as could be (author Kathleen Ernst, herself, worked as a curator at Old Wisconsin). Our expectations are high, but she delivers.

I love the stuff about new job anxiety, relationships, parents, and even the mention of a bakery down the road from where I live. Like other treasures--Chinatown, The Long Good-bye, The Maltese Falcon--we are in the dark most of the journey. The dénouement of the last fifty pages drags on a bit, but the final sentence will send you looking for the next book in this series. Guaranteed! I don't know about Chloe Ellefson's tenure, but mystery writer Kathleen Ernst is here to stay.

- John Lehman, Rosebud Book [...]
24 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Museum Masterpiece

This is a masterly presented mystery of seemingly unconnected elements. Chloe Ellefson, a woman trying to leave painful memories behind, her begins work as collections curator at an ethnic museum. An elderly lady begs her to find an item the she has donated 20 years earlier but before the heirloom can be returned the lady dies suspiciously. That's when guilt, suspicion and surprising revelations begin.

This book entices the reader into some unexpected depths, and it is these complications rather than the answer to a "who done it" plot that is so memorable. What is Chloe's past? Why does the lady need to have her artifact back? How are we shaped by the choices we make? The setting, characters and Midwest values are as authentic as could be (author Kathleen Ernst, herself, worked as a curator at Old Wisconsin). Our expectations are high, but she delivers.

I love the stuff about new job anxiety, relationships, parents, and even the mention of a bakery down the road from where I live. Like other treasures--Chinatown, The Long Good-bye, The Maltese Falcon--we are in the dark most of the journey. The dénouement of the last fifty pages drags on a bit, but the final sentence will send you looking for the next book in this series. Guaranteed! I don't know about Chloe Ellefson's tenure, but mystery writer Kathleen Ernst is here to stay.

- John Lehman, Rosebud Book [...]
24 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Museum Masterpiece

This is a masterly presented mystery of seemingly unconnected elements. Chloe Ellefson, a woman trying to leave painful memories behind, her begins work as collections curator at an ethnic museum. An elderly lady begs her to find an item the she has donated 20 years earlier but before the heirloom can be returned the lady dies suspiciously. That's when guilt, suspicion and surprising revelations begin.

This book entices the reader into some unexpected depths, and it is these complications rather than the answer to a "who done it" plot that is so memorable. What is Chloe's past? Why does the lady need to have her artifact back? How are we shaped by the choices we make? The setting, characters and Midwest values are as authentic as could be (author Kathleen Ernst, herself, worked as a curator at Old Wisconsin). Our expectations are high, but she delivers.

I love the stuff about new job anxiety, relationships, parents, and even the mention of a bakery down the road from where I live. Like other treasures--Chinatown, The Long Good-bye, The Maltese Falcon--we are in the dark most of the journey. The dénouement of the last fifty pages drags on a bit, but the final sentence will send you looking for the next book in this series. Guaranteed! I don't know about Chloe Ellefson's tenure, but mystery writer Kathleen Ernst is here to stay.

- John Lehman, Rosebud Book [...]
24 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Cozy not-quite-historical mystery that's immensely readable

Kathleen Ernst does a few unusual things in this mystery novel, and all of them work in her favor. The end result is a book that is perfect for a rainy-day afternoon in front of the fireplace: Interesting characters, a non-obvious plot, and history that engaged me. This isn't "Oh you absolutely must read this!" material but mystery fans will say, "How nice!" I know I did.

Basic summary: It's 1982, and Chloe Ellefson is ready for a new start. She takes a job as collections curator at Old World Wisconsin -- which is a real place, the author assures us, an "outdoor ethnic museum" that makes me think of Old Williamsburg Virginia, Pioneer Village outside Phoenix, Volksbaurnhof in Gutach Germany, and other "historical enactment" museums. (My ease in mentioning examples demonstrates that I love such places; the staff "dress up" in period costume and show how people of that time lived and worked.) On Chloe's first day, an old woman visits her to ask for the return of an "ale bowl" she donated years earlier. Chloe, still lost in "first day on the job" confusion, tells her she probably can't get it back but will find the bowl for her. And just a few minutes later, driving back home, the old woman dies...

Old World Murder has all the elements of a cozy mystery novel, including a heroine with a perfectly good reason to get to the bottom of the mystery and a handsome young policeman. However, Ellefson does a far better job than usual in coming up with a reason for Chloe to hare around the countryside looking for the ale bowl. She also gives the main characters more realistic and poignant motivations for their "I'm ready to start over" motivations.

Plus, of course, the history is presented in an unusual way. Instead of the characters living through a time long past, Chloe is firmly rooted in 1982 (complete with background music of Olivia Newton John singing "Let's Get Physical" -- okay, so I didn't need THAT reminder) and also extremely knowledgeable about the ethnic migrations of Scandinavian and German people in Wisconsin in the 1800s. The cop doesn't have that knowledge, so the exposition isn't lame at all. (There's no, "As you know..." scenes.) I learned a bunch of stuff about, say, ale bowls, and I'd never thought about them before.

I had a good time reading this book. You probably will, too.
23 people found this helpful
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A Social Historian Gone Wrong

Well, this is one authoress I will not be reading again.

Specific to my desires as a reader are:

(1) A book that is not "blue." I read for leisure and escape, and prefer not to be shrouded by a clinically depressed and possibly suicidal primary character. Just what I want to read before going to sleep at night.

(2) On my Kindle, at the 90% read point, the "social historian" authoress pulls a race card. If the authoress is indeed a social historian, she would have been consistent in her characterization of the 70+ year old charcter who appears at the beginning of the book and who is frequently referred to without pulling that race card. The authoress does a great disservice to generations past, including some in my generation (I'm 64), who would not marry out of their culture/ethnic background. Much taken out of context in this regard.

However, if you are a fervent feminnist and prefer to pull the race card instead of straight talking, you'll like this book.
21 people found this helpful
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Hmm...

I began this book with great anticipation. It has gotten very good reviews and takes place in a great location (which happens to be 10 minutes from my house!). Who wouldn't be excited to settle down on a cold winter afternoon with a good mystery? The problem was...it wasn't a good mystery. I wasn't even crazy about most of the characters, including the main one. I did finish the book though I was able to put it down on numerous occasions. A sure sign of mediocrity.
14 people found this helpful
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New character driven mystery series

Former museum curator Kathleen Ernst has created a series protagonist with the same job in the same institution. Old World Murder opens with Chloe Elefson's first day on the job at Old World Wisconsin, a village style ethnic museum. Chloe is struggling to reestablish her career after a traumatic relationship breakup that left her in the grips of clinical depression, and she's determined to make this work. Much to her dismay, she gets off to a very shaky start, when an appointment with a former artifact donor ends in tragedy, the elderly visitor the victim of a car crash. Chloe becomes obsessed with locating the Norwegian ale bowl that this woman seemed so desperate to recover; she also suspects that her death was no accident.

Chloe is one of the neediest characters I've encountered in a long time. She takes very poor care of herself, badly needs psychological counseling, could use a good friend, and comes across as a whiner. The author has delineated her quite thoroughly, flaws and all. Other characters, with the exception of Roelke, the cop who is drawn into Chloe's situation, are far less developed. The plot of Old World is interesting and fairly complex, but consists mostly of scare tactics aimed at Chloe. The resolution of the mystery comes as a surprise, however, and the cliffhanger on the final page provides a neat teaser for the next book in the series. Old World falls firmly into the cozy genre, with hints of romance thrown into the mix.
4 people found this helpful
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This Book is More Than You Expect.

This is a debut novel in what I hope will be a long-lived series. Our sleuth, Chloe Ellefson, has just taken a new job as a Collections Curator for a living museum, "Old World Wisconsin." Now this museum is real and can be accessed on the computer which added a surprising dimension to the book. The story/characters are fiction but several settings are real.

The setting is unique and these were historical/genealogical situations that I had never thought about in my Celtic/American upbringing. I learned so much about Norwegian lifestyles and habits living in the Midwestern states of America. This was all woven around a mystery of a lost artifact, then a murder, suicide, crime and a strong reminder that people carry unpleasant traits along with rich and valuable traits in all cultures.

There are even mysteries built in the main character herself.

This is a strong, well-written novel with likable and complex characters.
3 people found this helpful
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Didn't expect to like it...but got hooked and want more!

Yep, Old World Wisconsin is a real site, and it has enough buildings and areas that it could be home to a series. I fervently hope it will be. I did not expect to like this book, because at first the detail seemed a bit too much, and it is about a local area (other books about the local area are not so hot). And then the main character was so darn prickly and was not making much of an effort to be a good employee that it was hard to like her. (I want her to redeem herself in future books--at least to a degree, anyway.) But I kept finding myself not being able to put the book down. It was suspenseful, sure, but I think it was the character of Chloe that caught me. She kept doing the unexpected. She is one quirky lady. Another thing that I didn't like at first (and I live 7 miles from (OWW) was that some of the locals were unfriendly--the townspeople, I mean. That didn't seem characteristic of our area. I want to find out what happens to her and Roelke, what happens to his sister, what's up with the boss (there's a story there), and on and on. Go Chloe!
3 people found this helpful
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DEPRESSING!

This has got to be THE most depressing book I have ever read. Once I start a book I need to finish it, no matter how much I don't like it. I read this one continually not because "I just couldn't put it down" but because I wanted it over with as soon as possible. I read for enjoyment not to become depressed. This book managed to make me feel heavy and laden with grief even when I wasn't reading it. Even at the end when things appear a bit more normal, I still couldn't wait to escape this world.
2 people found this helpful

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