I hadn't read anything from this author, or even seen this series, but it was a quick and delightful read! I enjoyed the historic tidbits about both the Revolutionary War and the city of Philadelphia. There were characters and scenarios referenced that I would probably have understood more if I'd read the other books in the series, but it didn't take away from the story. There is a mystery within a mystery here, and it's a clean, non-graphic murder mystery!

Digging Up History is the eight book(plus one novella). in the A Museum Mystery series.

I am so excited that this informative series has found a new publisher. I love historical mysteries and even though this isn’t a historical series the author skillfully weaves in historical events in and around Philadelphia into the stories.

Nell is busy putting together the financial spreadsheets for the upcoming board of directors meeting of the Society for the Preservation of Pennsylvania Antiquities when her summer intern, Dylan Robertson, presents her with an interesting project. While cataloging the recent collection of books from the estate of Harriet Featherstone, he finds a book from the 18th century that has been rebound and a piece of paper was used as stuffing when it was rebound. The paper is carefully removed and it appears to be a map with some writing but with its age when much of the ink has faded. Nell asks her partner, James, an FBI agent, if his office could enhance the page so that they will be able to read what is on the page. It turns out to be a map showing piers near the Delaware River which they speculate was drawn in the mid-1700s. A former member of the board and a friend of Nell’s, Marty, familiar with the area as she had family that lived in the area. Marty relates to Nell that when she was a child, she and one of her playmates had crawled into a hole in one of the houses and saw a dead body and they made a quick retreat and never told anyone of their find. As Nell, Marty, and Dylan are about to visit the area depicted on the map when Marty get a call from a family friend and developer, Barney. As Barney’s company was preparing to develop the property they start turning over bones and parts of coffins. Before it is all over, Nell and her team have found a cemetery that has been forgotten for nearly two centuries. They also find the house that Marty remembered from her childhood and find that there are actually two bodies and cache of British brass cannons in the basement of the house. With what they have found, Nell is sure that the Society will be able to get some great publicity from the find if they can learn more about the cemetery and what was found in the long-abandoned house.

Another well-plotted and told story from Ms. Connolly. There are plenty of twists and turns and I was kept guessing till the end.

I’m anxiously awaiting the next book in the series.

What secrets lie beneath the streets of Philadelphia? Lots of history and Nell Pratt finds out there is also a lot of mystery when a map is found in a book that was donated to the Preservation society and it leads to several major historical finds.

Along with the police, Nell and the gang need to identified some historical artifacts and hundreds of bodies from long, long ago. Every historian’s dream and nightmare all rolled into one.

This is the first of the eight books in the series that I have read and I had no gaps whatsoever, so this is fine as a standalone. I love history, so bringing together one real piece of Philadelphia history and building on that made for a fun read. I’ll be back for more in this series.

I enjoyed the mystery in this story by Sheila Connolly.
Digging up History features Nell, our protagonist, Marty, James and Dylan, a new intern.
Nell is a good strong character and the author tells an interesting story filled with historical facts. I'm not usually interested in history, but the author has a way of spinning the story so it's actually enjoyable to read.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for approving me to read this book.