Book 65, 2025

[chez_jae]

Fundraising the Dead by Sheila Connolly

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


View all my reviews

I finished reading Fundraising the Dead by Sheila Connolly last night. It’s the first book in her cozy “Museum” mystery series, starring museum fundraiser, Eleanor “Nell” Pratt.

As the fundraiser for the Society for the Preservation of Pennsylvania Antiques, Nell is busy organizing a grand gala that will hopefully woo more patrons to donate money. With only hours to go before the event, one of the board members contacts Nell, claiming that some items donated by her family have gone missing. Nell is certain the letters have merely been misplaced, but when she checks in with the archivist who has been logging the Society’s vast collections into the computer, she learns that other items are also unaccounted for. Nell vows to investigate further but she is hampered in her efforts when the archivist dies under mysterious circumstances the night of the gala. Worse, when Nell alerts the president of the society (the man with whom she’s been carrying on a discreet affair), Charles would rather keep things quiet than notify the authorities. As Nell digs into the disappearances, she finds more questions than answers.

Nell is a mature, sensible, and smart main character, if a bit naive. The plot was slow and methodical, not exactly exciting, but interesting. Nell’s “amateur investigation” had more to do with the missing items from the Society than the murder, which was a refreshing take on things. Characters were portrayed well. I’m not really sure how I feel about the book. I almost think that Martha “Marty” Terwilliger (the woman who first notified Nell of missing items) would have been a more compelling main character.

Favorite lines:
♦ “If I weren’t such a lady, I’d say we were in deep shit.”
♦ “You’ll never guess who’s downstairs.” // “I have no clue. The mayor? The head of the Philadelphia Museum? Brad Pitt?”

A good story, but not exactly entertaining. Average score of three.


1. Does the mc work at/as one of the following: baker/bakery/sweet shop/tea shop/coffee shop, library/librarian, antique/vintage shop, book store, fashion/boutique, bed & breakfast? No, she’s a fundraiser.
2. Does the mc live at her (or his) place of occupation? No
3. Is the love interest involved in law enforcement? (Police officer, sheriff, detective, PI, FBI) No
4. Does the mc have a dog/cat as a pet? No, she has no pets
5. Is the mc's BFF either a gay guy or a ditzy/zany woman? I didn’t get the impression she had a BFF
6. Did the mc find the body? Yes
7. Did the mc wind up in mortal danger at the end of the book? Yes and no
8. Is the mc's mother either: dead, absent, far removed, ditzy and dithering, or overbearing/disapproving/meddling? Yes, she’s absent
9. If mother is dead/absent, does the mc have another mother-figure (grandmother, aunt, mom's friend, or an older friend)? No
10. Is the mc child-free? (Either no children or else grown children--i.e. no small children to look after) Yes