Embrace the Grim Reaper
A Casey Maldonado Mystery
Judy Clemens
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-589-5 (1590585895)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-589-4 (9781590585894)
Publication Date: May 2009
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Casey Maldonado's life is over -- at least as she knows
it. In one brief moment of fire and wrenching metal, everything
important was gone. The car manufacturer was generous with its
settlement, but it can never be enough. Her family and friends, not to
mention her lawyers, want her to go for more. More money. More
publicity. More everything. But Casey is done. No financial gain or
courtroom retribution will bring back what really matters. So she packs
up, puts her house on the market, and leaves town. Her only companion?
Death, who won't take her, but won't leave her alone.
Stopping on a whim in Clymer, a small blue-collar town in the midst of
Ohio farmland, Casey discovers a town wrapped in tragedy. Not only is
HomeMaker, the town's appliance factory and main employer, moving to
Mexico, but the town has been rocked by the suicide of a beloved single
mother.
Casey is drawn to the town, and soon realizes that many of the citizens
don't believe the verdict of suicide at all. Death encourages her to
investigate, and she uncovers information that points to the factory.
Was the victim's death a cover-up? Did she truly have the means, as she
claimed, to keep the factory from leaving town?
When Casey begins to receive messages that she should leave well enough
alone, she decides she'd be better off back on the road, but the
murderer can't let her go with everything she knows.
Review: Judy Clemens introduces a new paranormal series with Embrace the Grim Reaper featuring Casey Maldonado, a woman who lost everything in a near-fatal automobile accident, her only companion now, Death.
Casey inexplicably walked away from the accident that claimed the life
of her husband and son; unbeknownst to her, Death had other plans for
her. She decides to get away, leaving on a trip to the unknown. Her
journey takes her to the small town of Clymer, Ohio, where the primary
employer is an appliance company that is moving its operations to
Mexico leaving many of the town's families impoverished. The death of a
young woman with two small children also weighs on the community. Some
believe it was suicide but those who knew her well, including Death, do
not believe she would have taken her own life leaving her two children
on their own. Death appeals to Casey to get involved in the community
and help the people so much in need, and endeavor to find answers to
the unusual sequence of events that have enveloped the town.
Embrace the Grim Reaper
is part mystery, part social commentary, but entirely entertaining.
Casey is only one of a number of interesting characters, and Death is
truly unique. Hardly grim in the literal sense, he's frequently witty
and charming. The reader will likely share a smile with Casey at some
of his comments and actions. In an odd couple sort of way, they make a
good pair of amateur sleuths and their first case (as it were) is a
remarkably impressive debut.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Embrace the Grim Reaper and to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
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Mysteries in this series ...
Embrace the Grim Reaper
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), May 2009
ISBN-10: 1-59058-589-5 (1590585895)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-589-4 (9781590585894)
Omnimystery keywords for Embrace the Grim Reaper ...
Location(s) referenced: Ohio.
