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Bay Tanner #9
Covenant Hall
When private investigator Bay Tanner is hired by a young mother to track down her estranged family, she realizes the stakes couldn’t be higher. Kimmie Eastman is dying of a rare form of leukemia, and familial bone marrow seems to offer her only hope. But the clues are sparse -- a single photograph and a small pile of decades-old letters. And Bay’s gut feeling that the girl’s mother isn’t being entirely truthful. With little time and less hope, Bay plunges into the chase.
For once, Bay isn’t at odds with her fiancé, sheriff’s sergeant Red Tanner, over her current case. But she does find herself looking for excuses not to wear his ring, and she welcomes her immersion in the hunt for the Eastman girl’s family as a way of avoiding her ambivalence about marrying her murdered husband’s brother.
Then a phone call sends her racing to the hospital where her father, invalid Judge Talbot Simpson, is battling a failing heart. Searching for his medical power of attorney in his personal files, Bay encounters a document that completely stuns her. How could her father have kept such a shocking secret from her? Has her entire life been based on a lie? Desperate for answers to her own personal mystery, she stumbles across another clue, this one in the possession of Lavinia Smalls, her father’s longtime companion and caretaker and the one person Bay thought she could trust completely.
With time running out -- perhaps for her father as well as the girl -- Bay struggles to untangle the web of secrets and lies surrounding both her own family past and that of the dying child . . . until she encounters the strange women of Covenant Hall, who may well hold the key to everything.
For once, Bay isn’t at odds with her fiancé, sheriff’s sergeant Red Tanner, over her current case. But she does find herself looking for excuses not to wear his ring, and she welcomes her immersion in the hunt for the Eastman girl’s family as a way of avoiding her ambivalence about marrying her murdered husband’s brother.
Then a phone call sends her racing to the hospital where her father, invalid Judge Talbot Simpson, is battling a failing heart. Searching for his medical power of attorney in his personal files, Bay encounters a document that completely stuns her. How could her father have kept such a shocking secret from her? Has her entire life been based on a lie? Desperate for answers to her own personal mystery, she stumbles across another clue, this one in the possession of Lavinia Smalls, her father’s longtime companion and caretaker and the one person Bay thought she could trust completely.
With time running out -- perhaps for her father as well as the girl -- Bay struggles to untangle the web of secrets and lies surrounding both her own family past and that of the dying child . . . until she encounters the strange women of Covenant Hall, who may well hold the key to everything.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published April 28, 2009
5 people are currently reading
142 people want to read
About the author
Kathryn R. Wall
17 books79 followersKathy wrote her first story at the age of six, then decided to take a few decades off. She grew up in a small town in northeastern Ohio and attended college in both Ohio and Pennsylvania. For twenty-five years she practiced her profession as an accountant in both public and private practice. In 1994 she and her husband Norman retired to Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Her road to publishing success has taken many twists and turns. She self-published her first Bay Tanner mystery, In For a Penny, in 2001 using the innovative print-on-demand technology. Its success led to an offer from a small, regional publisher who reissued the first novel along with its sequel, And Not a Penny More, on Valentine's Day of 2002. A reprint of both books had to be ordered within six weeks.
Then serendipity struck. An editor for St. Martin's Press, visiting relatives in nearby Beaufort, was introduced to the Bay Tanner mysteries. A month later she called to offer Kathy a hardcover contract. They have since published Perdition House, Judas Island, Resurrection Road, Bishop's Reach and Sanctuary Hill in both hardcover and paperback. The eighth Bay Tanner novel, The Mercy Oak, is slated for release April, 2008.
Kathy is a founding member of Island Writers' Network and serves as treasurer for both the Sisters in Crime National Board and the Southeast Chapter of Mystery Writers of America.
Kathy has been a mentor in the Hilton Head schools and participates as a Friend of Literacy Volunteers of the Lowcountry. When not writing and touring for her books, Kathy and Norman play tennis, share long walks on the beach, and enjoy the lush beauty of the tidal marsh from the decks of their Hilton Head condominium. She has two stepsons and four grandchildren.
Series:
* Bay Tanner
Her road to publishing success has taken many twists and turns. She self-published her first Bay Tanner mystery, In For a Penny, in 2001 using the innovative print-on-demand technology. Its success led to an offer from a small, regional publisher who reissued the first novel along with its sequel, And Not a Penny More, on Valentine's Day of 2002. A reprint of both books had to be ordered within six weeks.
Then serendipity struck. An editor for St. Martin's Press, visiting relatives in nearby Beaufort, was introduced to the Bay Tanner mysteries. A month later she called to offer Kathy a hardcover contract. They have since published Perdition House, Judas Island, Resurrection Road, Bishop's Reach and Sanctuary Hill in both hardcover and paperback. The eighth Bay Tanner novel, The Mercy Oak, is slated for release April, 2008.
Kathy is a founding member of Island Writers' Network and serves as treasurer for both the Sisters in Crime National Board and the Southeast Chapter of Mystery Writers of America.
Kathy has been a mentor in the Hilton Head schools and participates as a Friend of Literacy Volunteers of the Lowcountry. When not writing and touring for her books, Kathy and Norman play tennis, share long walks on the beach, and enjoy the lush beauty of the tidal marsh from the decks of their Hilton Head condominium. She has two stepsons and four grandchildren.
Series:
* Bay Tanner
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
December 12, 2021
I turned back toward Jacksonboro, wondering about the old plantation house and its strange occupants. It almost sounded like something out of one of the gothic romances I'd devoured in my middle school years, the ones I'd had to hide from my mother, who believed the only writers worth reading were Eudora Welty and William Faulkner.
A crazy woman and her nurse who had barricaded themselves inside a decaying mansion on the edge of nowhere, protected by a pack of dogs. I would have loved that book.
~~Seabrook plantation on Edisto Island, which closely mirrors the mental image I had of Bay Tanner's family plantation on neighboring St. Helena Island. If you *really* like the plantation, it's up for sale for a cool $7.9 million.
First two sentences: It began, as so many of life's critical events do, with a phone call. One moment you're working or reading or sleeping or shopping, blissfully unaware that your whole existence is about to be altered; the next, some disembodied voice plunges your ordered world into chaos.
Meet Bay Tanner. Born and raised in "high culture" low-country South Carolina, and the daughter of a well-respected judge, she's become a private investigator as an adult. She's facing two stressful mysteries in this installment. First, she's hired by Joline Eastman to find her estranged family. Sounds simple enough. However, Joline is extremely private, and borderline obstructive in the (lack of) details she provides to assist with the assignment. And why does she want her family found you might ask? Her daughter, Kimmie, is dying of leukemia, and is in desperate need of a match for a bone marrow transplant.
Secondly, if that isn't enough, Bay gets a frantic phone call from her father's caretaker. He's in the hospital having tests done on his failing heart. When following her father's directions in locating his power of attorney paperwork, she stumbles across his (written in advance) obituary. Shockingly, he lists *two* daughters as his survivors....despite the fact that Bay has been raised an only child. What can of worms is her father opening on his near-death bed??
Bay occasionally dips into that can of worms while racing to find Joline's family before it's too late to save Kimmie. The novel is steeped in the geography and mannerisms of low country South Carolina. If the plot teaser and the setting sound interesting to you, feel free to check out this little mystery from your local library.
My two cents: This book is fairly far into the (long) series--#9 of 14 books. It's the one my library had available though, so I jumped in mid-stream. For the most part, it's easy to follow along, but Wall has an annoying habit of bringing up little snippets from previous books, almost as inside jokes to her series readers. As the snippets don't add much of anything to Covenant Hall's plot, I disliked this greatly. Here's an example. "Somehow Tracy Dumar's face had planted itself in my mind and refused to be dislodged. She, too, had left home without her husband's knowledge, and Billy had been frantic to get her back. That ended in the worst possible outcome. I shook my head. This wasn't the same, I told myself. Not even close." Tracy Dumar and Billy aren't referenced again, ever, in the current novel.
As to the actual content of *this* novel--Wall falls into the category of series authors who reliably churn out new books for their target audience. Her writing isn't bad, but it isn't good either. The dialog is clunky, the attempts at local dialect are a bit heavy. I grew up in upstate South Carolina, and then spent 8 years in the low country (before moving to Ohio ironically--the reverse of Wall who lived her life in Ohio and then retired in Hilton Head). There are many stereotypes about this particular area. Some true, some not. Maybe read, and form your own opinions of how true to life this particular interpretation of low-country living is. Given 1.5 stars or a rating of "below average."
Further reading: A description of bone marrow transplantation from cancer.net https://www.cancer.net/navigating-can...
A crazy woman and her nurse who had barricaded themselves inside a decaying mansion on the edge of nowhere, protected by a pack of dogs. I would have loved that book.
~~Seabrook plantation on Edisto Island, which closely mirrors the mental image I had of Bay Tanner's family plantation on neighboring St. Helena Island. If you *really* like the plantation, it's up for sale for a cool $7.9 million.
First two sentences: It began, as so many of life's critical events do, with a phone call. One moment you're working or reading or sleeping or shopping, blissfully unaware that your whole existence is about to be altered; the next, some disembodied voice plunges your ordered world into chaos.
Meet Bay Tanner. Born and raised in "high culture" low-country South Carolina, and the daughter of a well-respected judge, she's become a private investigator as an adult. She's facing two stressful mysteries in this installment. First, she's hired by Joline Eastman to find her estranged family. Sounds simple enough. However, Joline is extremely private, and borderline obstructive in the (lack of) details she provides to assist with the assignment. And why does she want her family found you might ask? Her daughter, Kimmie, is dying of leukemia, and is in desperate need of a match for a bone marrow transplant.
Secondly, if that isn't enough, Bay gets a frantic phone call from her father's caretaker. He's in the hospital having tests done on his failing heart. When following her father's directions in locating his power of attorney paperwork, she stumbles across his (written in advance) obituary. Shockingly, he lists *two* daughters as his survivors....despite the fact that Bay has been raised an only child. What can of worms is her father opening on his near-death bed??
Bay occasionally dips into that can of worms while racing to find Joline's family before it's too late to save Kimmie. The novel is steeped in the geography and mannerisms of low country South Carolina. If the plot teaser and the setting sound interesting to you, feel free to check out this little mystery from your local library.
My two cents: This book is fairly far into the (long) series--#9 of 14 books. It's the one my library had available though, so I jumped in mid-stream. For the most part, it's easy to follow along, but Wall has an annoying habit of bringing up little snippets from previous books, almost as inside jokes to her series readers. As the snippets don't add much of anything to Covenant Hall's plot, I disliked this greatly. Here's an example. "Somehow Tracy Dumar's face had planted itself in my mind and refused to be dislodged. She, too, had left home without her husband's knowledge, and Billy had been frantic to get her back. That ended in the worst possible outcome. I shook my head. This wasn't the same, I told myself. Not even close." Tracy Dumar and Billy aren't referenced again, ever, in the current novel.
As to the actual content of *this* novel--Wall falls into the category of series authors who reliably churn out new books for their target audience. Her writing isn't bad, but it isn't good either. The dialog is clunky, the attempts at local dialect are a bit heavy. I grew up in upstate South Carolina, and then spent 8 years in the low country (before moving to Ohio ironically--the reverse of Wall who lived her life in Ohio and then retired in Hilton Head). There are many stereotypes about this particular area. Some true, some not. Maybe read, and form your own opinions of how true to life this particular interpretation of low-country living is. Given 1.5 stars or a rating of "below average."
Further reading: A description of bone marrow transplantation from cancer.net https://www.cancer.net/navigating-can...
March 7, 2018
My ninth Bay Tanner mystery--this was a sad one. The case involves finding potential donors to save a life. Meanwhile Bay learns something about her family's past that she finds immensely troubling. Even though I didn't particularly like the resolution of some plot points, I did enjoy the more complex stories.
January 3, 2022
I don't know how she thinks up these stories! This story has so many twist and turns! It has secrets on top of secrets. This one involves Bay directly, so she has her own personal mystery while she's working on a case for a client. It's almost like two stories, but they fit together wonderfully. I would recommend this to any mystery/murder reader.
January 6, 2024
Lots of engaging family drama that keep me reading slow to enjoy every minute. Her best yet in the series.
May 17, 2009
Rex Stout had two Nero Wolfe stories called The Father Hunt and The Mother Hunt. If Kathryn R. Wall had wanted to very her geographic titles a bit, she could have called this one The Sister Hunt.
Bay Tanner's new client is searching for her two estranged sisters in hopes of finding a bone marrow donor for her daughter. Bay herself is dealing with what may be her father's last illness and her efforts to solve a family mystery it has revealed. Her relationship with her fiance Red Tanner (brother of her late husband) has hit a rocky patch. There are red herrings and blind alleys galore, but eventually all is solved and resolved. The Low Country setting is beautifully described, and the characters behave believably. My only real problem with the book was an error of fact -- Bay's partner Erik supposedly finds out information about one of the client's sisters from the 2000 census. In fact, that census (as far as personal information is concerned) will not be open to anyone -- including law enforcement, the IRS, private investigators, etc. -- until 2072. (Similar information probably is available from credit bureaus and other such databases; but not from the Census.) Otherwise, a fine book.
Bay Tanner's new client is searching for her two estranged sisters in hopes of finding a bone marrow donor for her daughter. Bay herself is dealing with what may be her father's last illness and her efforts to solve a family mystery it has revealed. Her relationship with her fiance Red Tanner (brother of her late husband) has hit a rocky patch. There are red herrings and blind alleys galore, but eventually all is solved and resolved. The Low Country setting is beautifully described, and the characters behave believably. My only real problem with the book was an error of fact -- Bay's partner Erik supposedly finds out information about one of the client's sisters from the 2000 census. In fact, that census (as far as personal information is concerned) will not be open to anyone -- including law enforcement, the IRS, private investigators, etc. -- until 2072. (Similar information probably is available from credit bureaus and other such databases; but not from the Census.) Otherwise, a fine book.
March 22, 2013
One of the best Bay Tanner novels, only thing that keeps it from being a 5, is the ending and the lame wedding toward the end. It all starts when Jolene Eastman hires Bay and Erik to find her sisters, because her daughter has blood cancer and needs a bone marrow transplant. On top of that, Bay's father and my favorite character Talbot Simpson's health takes a turn for the worst and during a weak moment, he reveals a secret to Bay, that throws her entire world into orbit.
Will she find the sisters? Will she save the girl? Will she marry Red? And why is a strange woman holding a gun on Bay? Read the book and find out :)
Will she find the sisters? Will she save the girl? Will she marry Red? And why is a strange woman holding a gun on Bay? Read the book and find out :)
September 2, 2009
JUST FOR FUN - This book is like meeting up with old friends. The author Kathryn Wall lives in Hilton Head and her main character is a private investigator lives here also. All the action takes place around in the area. It's a good way to find off beat restaurants also. This is the 9th book in the Bay Tanner series. I anxiously await the next book!
September 7, 2010
This is the first Bay Tanner mystery I read. Loved it! An easy read. Enjoyed the references to the low country. Living in this area, I knew the different places she uses in the book. She recently visited our college campus and was an excellent speaker.
May 20, 2016
Great story
I have loved all of the Bay Tanner stories. This was my favorite so far. I love seeing the characters in a story grow and change with each new experience and the characters in this series have done that. I anticipate enjoying the next in the series as well.
I have loved all of the Bay Tanner stories. This was my favorite so far. I love seeing the characters in a story grow and change with each new experience and the characters in this series have done that. I anticipate enjoying the next in the series as well.
June 4, 2009
I have a signed first edition of this book. It came out in May, 2009.
June 21, 2009
Farily typical cozy. attention-keeping plot however: search for missing family for donor match for sick child.
September 1, 2009
This was pretty good, easy read. Probably would have helped to read the earlier Bay Tanner novels to understand some of the events that are referred to.
October 28, 2009
I enjoyed this book, but the ending was a "little too pat"--too many coincidences to be believed.
December 12, 2009
Wall is new to me and I'm hooked. Ready to read up to the present in her Bay Tanner series.
January 11, 2010
I've read all the books in this series except for 'And Not a Penny More." They're good stories.
August 27, 2010
Southern detective.
December 19, 2016
Think I'm getting tired of listening to the protagonist whine her way through the stories.
June 26, 2013
Bay Tanner mysteries are light and fun reading, especially if you are familiar with Hilton Head, Beaufort and the surrounding area.
Read
July 5, 2013Very good would read it again. Couldn't put it down so many twists and turns keeps you guessing on whats gonna happen next.
July 24, 2012
Another great easy read! Had tears in my eyes at the end!
May 11, 2018
I love the Bay Tanner series. It is a nice way to feel like I am back in an area of the country I only get to enjoy 10 days a year. I have to say this book threw me for a loop and I am not sure how I feel about it.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews