Remains of the Dead by Wendy Roberts

Sadie Novak’s company does the job no one wants. After cleaning up after her brother’s suicide, she decided that no family member should have to endure what she did and starts the company. Scene-2-Clean takes care of what crime scenes leave behind when the police are through.

Sadie is hired to clean up for a murder/suicide where her unusual ability to talk to the dead comes into play. A pesky ghost needs Sadie’s help to discover her real murderer, putting Sadie in more danger than she’s ever had to face before!

Remains of the Dead is the first in a fantastic new series by Wendy Roberts. I learned more about the biohazards of cleaning up various body fluids and by products than I ever imagined I’d want to, but it added invaluable realism to this unique mystery novel. And a new appreciation of those in that line of work!

Roberts’ sense of humor is a necessary element the keeps the pace light when it needs to be to even out the dark, gritty aspects. The plot is sharp and woven together so as to give the reader’s ego a bit of a stroke by thinking they have it all figured out, only to discover there were many more surprises in store. The ‘Whodunnit’ part was rather predictable, but there were many other aspects to the story that make up for it.

The characters were engaging and genuine. Even though this was the first in the series, the characters were well established and I look forward to meeting up with them again in Devil May Ride coming out in December of 2008.

Email: terri@ck2skwipsandkritiques.com