“The Remains of the Dead” by Wendy Roberts - Mystery Book Review
I went to the library yesterday to get a few books to read, eight actually. Yes, I’m an optimist. I found a great paperback, "The Remains of the Dead, A Ghost Busters Mystery " by Wendy Roberts and wonder of wonders, it’s the first in a series! Usually I find a good book but it’s the middle of the series and I never can find out why Ophelia and Chad broke up or what happened to Doc Harley’s chicken and, of course, I can NEVER find the first book in the series so it all makes sense!
But I digress. The protagonist of "Remains" is Sadie Novak and she owns and runs, "Scene-to-Clean," in Seattle. Yes, she cleans up crime scenes, really, really terrible crime scenes. Believe or not, this is a humorous mystery. The beginning of this book finds Sadie and her employee, Zack, a disgraced former police officer, cleaning the scene of a murder-suicide. As if that weren’t interesting enough - Sadie sees dead people. Never suicides, only murder victims. When she started her business it used to freak her out, but now she finds satisfaction in helping them to move to the other side. Most of them don’t know they’re dead until she tells them.
When Sadie encounters the murder victim at this scene, she realizes that something is not right and decides to investigate on her own. She meets an attractive new man, visits a psychic and tries to stop her younger sister’s marriage. There are many plot twists and lots of description of the crime scenes Sadie and Zack clean up, so if you’re squeamish, this might not be the book for you. But if you are squeamish - what the heck are you doing reading mysteries?
I can only see good things coming for Sadie, Zack and Scene-2-Clean and know this will be a successful series. Do look for this book at your local bookstore or library or get it on amazon. It’s a winner.
The Remains of the Dead, by Wendy Roberts, Obsidian Press, 2007
Tags: crime scenes, ghost busters mystery, humorous mystery, murder, suicide
May 26th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
This book is actually on my TBR pile! So, I’m glad to hear you liked it. I’ve bumped into Wendy several times in cyberspace. She has a fun website. Happy Memorial Day!
May 26th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
You HAVE to read it! It’s fabulous! I just visited her website and agree. It’s very well done. Did you know she’s written a Red Dress Ink? Happy Memorial Day to you too.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Sounds good to me. I like blood and guts. Patricia Cornwell is one of my favorites.
Have you read any Noah Braddock mysteries? Not that they’re gory, but they’re very cool. By Jeff Shelby.
May 27th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Thanks so much for the awesome review!
June 21st, 2008 at 12:42 pm
This one sounds like one I’d enjoy. Thanks for telling us about it.