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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN num: 9780307408969
ISBN number: 0307408965
Label: Shaye Areheart Books
Manufacturer: Shaye Areheart Books
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 272
Printing Date: August 12, 2008
Publishing house: Shaye Areheart Books
Release Date: August 12, 2008
Sale Popularity Level: 74062
Studio: Shaye Areheart Books
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Product Description:
Clara Marsh is an undertaker who doesn’t believe in God. She spends her solitary life among the dead, preparing their last baths and bidding them farewell with a bouquet from her own garden. Her carefully structured life shifts when she discovers a neglected little girl, Trecie, playing in the funeral parlor, desperate for a friend.
It changes even more when Detective Mike Sullivan starts questioning her again about a body she prepared three years ago, an unidentified girl found murdered in a nearby strip of woods. Unclaimed by family, the community christened her Precious Doe. When Clara and Mike learn Trecie may be involved with the same people who killed Precious Doe, Clara must choose between the stead-fast existence of loneliness and the perils of binding one’s life to another.
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Rated by buyers 
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I have high praise for this novel, not because it was published on my birthday, but because it exemplifies the best of what a praiseworthy novel must offer: character, setting, plot and language. MacKinnon combines these focuses in "Tethered" into art and artistry.
Clara, who is highly introverted from an unkind childhood, connects better with the dead than the living and finds her perfect peace among the bodies she prepares for burial at the funeral home where she works.
But there's a child predator on the loose. Mike, a policeman trying to come to grips with his own grief over a family tragedy, is trying to track down the man responsible for the death of an unidentified girl whom he refers to as "Precious Doe." He needs help, both human compassion and professional expertise, but Clara cannot give it. Yet, she must, for more kids are missing, and she knows their pain.
This well-researched story is both a mystery and a love story. MacKinnon's blunt, highly controlled prose reminds me of the writing of Kent Haruf in "Plainsong" and is a perfect fit for her protagonist and the cold basement room where she prepares the dead for a rest she fears she'll never know.
If I worked for the New York Times, I would have included this book on the newspaper's recent list of 100 notable books for 2008. Based on the Precious Doe case of 2001, the novel cries out to be read and understood, and when you finish reading it, you will be transformed by the experience.
Rated by buyers 
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When I very first picked up Tethered, I wasn't sure what to expect. A mystery, yes, but what kind of mystery?
I got my answer pretty quickly. I would venture to say that the main storyline of Tethered isn't actually the mystery of Trecie and Precious Doe, but Clara's self-exploration. The search for a murderer is definitely the driving force in the story and moves the plot along, but the actual focus of the book is actually Clara coming to terms with what is happening around her, as well as what has occurred in her life. It is definitely a character driven tale.
I also was fascinated by the details of an undertaker's work. I feel like that's one of those jobs that just gets done - we don't put much time and effort into thinking about the people that actually do the job, and what they have to do. It is a bit graphic when the author describes embalming the body, but I normally get squeamish about that sort of thing, and it didn't really bother me. Apparently, MacKinnon's uncle was an undertaker, which has fascinated her since she was a child.
The mystery portion of Tethered takes a bit of a backseat, as I mentioned before. As a result, it doesn't seem to be as fleshed out or captivating as it could be. However, MacKinnon's writing makes up for that; it is fluid and smooth, and really draws the reader in.
I really enjoyed this debut novel and look forward to what MacKinnon will be writing in the future. I recommend this book to mystery lovers, and those who love character explorations and character driven novels.
Rated by buyers -
As I made my way through this book, what I loved was the exquisite writing, the development of the main character the subtle unfolding of the mystery. The best part, however, came in the final few chapters which were suspenseful and contained an interesting surprise and satisfying conclusion. As I mentioned above, it did remind me a lot of a Dennis Lehane novel, and perhaps should be marketed as such. I can't wait to read Amy Mackinnon's subsequent novel!
Rated by buyers -
After finishing Tethered, the debut novel of Amy McKinnon, I felt compelled to write a recommendation. From the very first sentence I was captivated by her vivid descriptions. Details that brought me down streets I'm sure I have traveled, "their bungalow with its chain-link fence and cardboard cutouts of smiling turkeys taped to their bow window." Passages so rich with detail and imagery, I read them twice.
Clara Marsh, the main character, is an undertaker who doesn't believe in God. She is portrayed with clarity and purpose as she lovingly prepares each body for burial, a rare window into an unknown world. This is a story unlike anything you've ever read and like most novels that we race to finish, only to wish we hadn't, the characters and their stories still haunt me.
I look forward to reading many novels by this author. She is on my list of favorites.
Rated by buyers -
A riveting debut, Tethered is a story about a quiet, reclusive undertaker, Clara Marsh, who unwittingly gets swept into an unsolved murder mystery involving Precious Doe, an unidentified little girl that Clara herself compassionately prepared for burial a few years earlier. As the mystery deepens, Clara is forced to confront her own doubts about God and what happens to a soul after a body has been buried. What I found truly remarkable about Tethered was MacKinnon's respect for faith. While this book isn't about Christianity, I was struck that it wasn't against it either, which I admit I was almost expecting. While some of the more haunting aspects of the novel might seem too supernatural for some people of faith, what Tethered does is inspire the reader to believe that faith is actually possible. Sometimes if we are blessed to see it, God pulls back the veil just a little, just enough to remind us that He is here with us. It's refreshing to see a mainstream novel pay respect to the very real struggle that humans have with faith even as we desire to believe. To its readers Tethered will hint of the very real possibility of what some of us are already blessed to know, that God exists.
Tina Ann Forkner
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