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Book ReviewsGrave Undertaking |
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Book: Grave Undertaking
Written by: Mark de Castrique |
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Average Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5
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If you love mysteries, then you will love this one
Rating:
5 / 5
I love mysteries, but find it increasingly hard to find ones that aren't rewarmed or overbaked versions of what I have already read. Mr. de Castrique has a series going that will make you wish the third and fourth ones were already out. This one stands alone, but you should read both. Having an understaker as your "detective" really works well (of course it helps that he was a policeman before). And his use of a North Carolina mountain town is a welcomed relief from big urban centers, small English towns and any place in California and Florida.
A very good series.
Rating:
4 / 5
This is a very good series. Barry is a fully dimensional character with strong family ties and good friends. The sense of place is wonderfully done and dialogue is very true. He provides an interesting look into the human side of the funeral business, which I very much enjoyed. And, it's still a tight mystery with very good suspense. If you've not discovered this series, I definitely recommend giving it a try.
The series Continues in "Grave Undertaking"
Rating:
5 / 5
Author Mark de Castrique brings readers back to the small mountain town of Gainesboro, North Carolina in this enjoyable sequel to "Dangerous Undertaking." As his father's Alzheimer's worsens and a buyer is making noises about wanting the family funeral home, Clayton and Clayton, Barry Clayton has another problem.
Finding a loose skeleton on top of a closed casket, which was buried a number of years ago is bad enough. The fact that the skeleton has a small bullet hole above the eyes is indicative of the nature of death. What is unexplainable, as Barry watches at graveside, is why the dead man's wallet contains a picture of the woman he loves, Dr. Susan Miller? Why is a gun registered to her father buried with the skeleton?
As a circumstantial case against Dr. Susan Miller and her father, Walt, begins to build, Barry Clayton begins to investigate with the help of his friend, Sheriff Tommy Lee Wadkins. Faced with a hot shot District Attorney with serious political ambitions using the case for his own purposes instead of justice, the situation is stacked against them. Then there is the fact that Susan isn't telling all she knows, their relationship is in jeopardy on many levels, Barry's father wanders away from home lost in his own mind, and the buyer wants a fast decision. Not to mention that a killer still walks among them and is beginning to clean up the loose ends the only way possible-by killing again. Barry should have stayed on the police force up north where it was safer.
This is another enjoyable read by the author who combines interesting and realistic characters, a good mystery, and elements of real life that touch us all. With so many familiar with Alzheimer's, either directly or indirectly, it is nice to see a storyline concerning the subject handled so well in the first two novels of what promises to be a good series. The author gracefully and with tact, details the hard choices so many families have to deal with today in handling the situation and never raises the subject to preaching nor lowers it to condescension or amusement.
This sequel, which could be read as a stand alone, showcases the same deft touch in regards to the depictions of funerals and the grief of the survivors. These characters though they may only appear for brief snippets, a few pages at most, are just as real as the main characters of Sheriff Wadkins, Barry, Uncle Wayne and others. All are family and the result is a read with characters and scenes that flow at a steady pace towards a satisfying ending that culminates another good read.
Book Facts:
Grave Undertaking
By Mark de Castrique
Poisoned Pen Press
www.poisonedpenpress.com
2004
Hardback
266 Pages
$24.95 US
ISBN # 1-59058-116-4
This review previously appeared online at The Mystery Morgue.
Kevin R. Tipple � 2005
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