Backstabber (Hitchcock Sewell Mysteries) [Abridged] [Audio CD]

Tim Cockey (Author), Patrick Girard Lawlor (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2004 | Series: Hitchcock Sewell Mysteries

Nobody turns the turf with more tenacity, wit, and charm than undertaker Hitchcock Sewell. But trouble is on the way when the corpse isn't even cold and Hitch is already on the scene - before the police. It's murder - a kitchen knife in the back - and the apparent killer wants Hitch to scoop up the body and dump it into an unmarked grave. Our boy is not about to get dragged into this mess. But it's too late.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

What wisecracking mortician/amateur sleuth could resist the lure of a mysterious nighttime summons? Certainly not Hitchcock Sewell, whose youthful curiosity—exuberantly portrayed by reader Lawlor—leads him to aid his friend Jonathan "Sisco" Fontaine. Hitch arrives at the house of Sisco's girlfriend, Polly Weischeit, only to discover that Polly is actually a married woman, and her husband has been murdered. Polly and Sisco want Hitch to haul away the body in his hearse and "quietly tuck it into a grave," but he nixes that idea and convinces them to call the police, though not soon enough to avoid becoming a murder suspect himself. Lawlor assumes the same soft, subdued voice for virtually all of the book's female characters, lending them little personality or emotional depth. Fortunately, the story's constant stream of funeral home jokes and its fast-paced plot keep the entertainment level high.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

No more hearse puns (Hearse of a Different Color, etc.) this time, but Cockey's screwball mystery series starring undertaker-sleuth Hitchcock Sewell remains in fine fettle, offering a thoroughly amiable mix of comedy, murder, and mortician mayhem--all set against the daily life of blue-collar Baltimore. In the fifth installment in a series that continues to earn its comparisons to Lawrence Block (the Bernie Rhodenbarr novels) and Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum), Hitch finds a new way to get involved in a murder: his so-called friend Sisco (of the band Sisco and the Kids) calls him to the scene of a crime, hoping that Hitch will be kind of enough to remove a dead body from Sisco's mistress' kitchen floor before the police arrive. Hitch demurs, but before you can say rigor mortis, he's involved in another murder investigation, once again playing dual roles as suspect and sleuth. Numerous other dead bodies turn up along the way--both in and out of the funeral parlor--but Hitch keeps us chuckling throughout. Great entertainment for fans of comic crime capers. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Listen & Live Audio, Inc.; Abridged edition (June 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593160283
• ISBN-13: 978-1593160289
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,570,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hitch gets better and better!, August 4, 2004

By 

Angie Boyter (Ellicott City, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Backstabber: A Hitchcock Sewell Mystery (Hitchcock Sewell Mysteries) (Hardcover)

All the elements that have made this an enjoyable series are still here in Tim Cockey's latest book: the memorable, slightly off-beat supporting characters, the down-home Baltimore atmosphere, and particularly the main character, Hitchcock Sewell, Everyman as he would be if he were a mortician (if that is imaginable!). Cockey does everything he has always done,but he does it even better! The plot and denouement are satisfying and the last two pages genuinely moving, a quality that is becoming rare in the thriller/mystery genre.

The outstanding feature of the book is the humanity of the characters. As a native "Baltimoron",I could easily envision meeting these people on the street. They breathe, and I can understand them even when I disapprove of the way they act.

If Cockey can maintain this level in his writing, I look forward a great deal of reading pleasure in the future!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely a favorite author and series..., July 29, 2004

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Backstabber: A Hitchcock Sewell Mystery (Hitchcock Sewell Mysteries) (Hardcover)

One of the nice things about being a regular at the library is that the librarians start to "look out for you". They know my tastes and make sure I know when particular books come out. One of my favorite ladies over there clued me in to the latest Tim Cockey novel, Backstabber. Fun mystery, good story, and excellent writing and dialog...

Cockey's main character is Hitchcock Sewell, an undertaker. This series could accurately be called the male amateur detective genre. Hitch is called to the scene of a crime, complete with dead body, by his friend Sisco. The victim is the husband of the wife that Sisco is having an affair with. Hitch wants no part of the plan to cover up the crime, but still becomes a suspect when he's seen leaving the house in the early morning hours before the police have been called. The widow isn't really forthcoming on who might have been involved in the killing, so Hitch has to defend himself as well as Sisco to the police. In the meantime, he gets wrapped up in the death of an elderly lady he knew. She died in what appeared to be suspicious circumstances in a nursing home, and Hitch is unable to accept the fact that something is amiss. Characters from these two plot lines start to intertwine until a final showdown at the end that finally clears up who did what, as well as why they did it.

Cockey writes a fast-paced novel with a smart-alecky main character. The dialog is directed at the reader in first person form, almost like a Archie McNally novel. Hitch doesn't get flustered by much, and there's always a good comeback regardless of what happens. This is really one of my favorite series, and I appreciate the fact that it was brought to my attention again.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars good afternoon read, June 19, 2006

By 

Maria Schneider "Maria E. Schneider" (Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Backstabber: A Hitchcock Sewell Mystery (Hitchcock Sewell Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Lots of slapstick humor that in the first half helps the story along and even makes you laugh now and again. I can't decide if I laugh because it just gets so stupid, or if it's really funny--but the mystery was decent and tied together nicely. This isn't deep reading, but it is a fun read. Towards the end, I found myself skipping paragraphs--you're in the middle of action, can't wait to find out what is going to happen and the author goes off on a tangent describing a place or someone's hair. I'm all for tension, but this went overboard. Still, this is an author you can take along during a plane ride--you can count on a good old fashioned fun mystery.

Tim Cockey also writes as Richard Hawke (Speak of the Devil)--and it's a series worth a look. The wit is there rather than slapstick humor. The mystery is a bit darker, the tough guy a bit tougher.