Customer Reviews

Don of the Dead (Pepper Martin Mysteries, No. 1)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Pepper Martin has lived the life of leisure since she took her first step all those years ago. The daughter of a prominent surgeon father, and a society mother, she's been draped in Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and countless other designers. That is, until her father got greedy, and was convicted of medical insurance fraud, landing him in federal prison; sending her mother into hiding in Florida, and leaving her on her own, penniless and jobless - as well as fiance-less. That is, until Pepper swallows her pride and takes the last job she ever thought she would hold as a tour guide in a cemetery. Sure, it doesn't sound too complicated - simply lead morbid groups on walks through a field of dead bodies - but when Pepper's involved, even the simplest task can become complicated. And that's exactly what happens. For Pepper is quickly involved in a head-on collision with a gravestone/mausoleum on one of her tours. And, aside from being left with one nasty bruise, she has suddenly inherited the ability to speak to the dead. And, as you may have already guessed, these particular deceased aren't exactly pleased with their current situations - and that shines through in their disgruntled demeanor. Enter Augustino "Gus" Scarpetti. Suddenly, the murdered mob boss is leading Pepper around by the nose, insisting that she find his murderer. Now, this ex-rich girl is shuffling through newspaper clippings, death records, and everything in between, in an attempt to discover who killed the Don more than thirty years ago, and help him to cross over before it's too late, and she's left in the same position as the Don...dead.

If you take a cross between Paris Hilton and Nancy Drew, Pepper Martin would be it. Pepper is the girl you love to hate and hate to love. Her flaming red hair, and penchant for stylish outerwear make her the poster child for heiress living, while the fact that she doesn't mind getting a little dirt under her nails to "dig out" the truth, make her a lovable girl detective with brains to match her new job. From beginning to end, Pepper's character keeps you captivated, while her adventures are riveting. From her ability to choose all the wrong guys - no matter how good looking - to her inability to keep her mouth shut, Pepper embodies the heart and soul of every girls best friend, making her the new "It" girl of the amateur sleuth world. Casey Daniels brings Pepper to life, even though she's surrounded by the dead; keeping her alive in the minds of everyone who has had the pleasure to encounter her witty, Abercrombie-wearing personality.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

Don of the Dead is a cute, quick read. The tone/humor is somewhat similar to Katie MacAlister, early Anita Blake (without the intelligence) and the Stephanie Plum mystery series. Although the fact the is was praised by MJ Davidson on the back cover almost made me not buy it, Don of the Dead isn't as uber fashion conscious and annoying as her books. Don't fret if you like that kinda thing, there are a few fashionista moments. Although I was disappointed by the stupidity of Pepper a few times where she invariably found herself being rescued by a man, at least these moments could at least partially be explained by her sheltered upper-middle class upbringing when she thought that marring well was her only duty/job (yes, Pepper says it in the book). By the end of the tale, Pepper has met two sexy men. One (Quinn) is the cool, suave, well-kept and fashion conscious FBI- type and the other a very attractive if slightly unkempt doctor. Both men are a bit curious and for various reasons, I think these reasons will be both reveled and interesting in later books as they show some promise here. The Don in question has been dead for 30 years, and some of the characters encountered while tying to locate the person whom took out the hit on him are pretty funny. The humor is very good although subtle and punny at times, such as retired mobsters living in an exclusive retirement home called "The Family Place". I look forward to the next book since I think the Pepper wised-up a bit by the end of this one.

Pepper Martin has been down on her luck ever since her rich father was convicted of fraud and her even wealthier fiancé dumped her, forcing Pepper to actually work for a living. Unfortunately, she's not qualified to do much and so she's stuck being a tour guide for "Cleveland's Famous Dead" at the Garden View Cemetary.

Life is pretty dull as a tour guide of the dead until a bump on the head allows Pepper to see and talk to the ghost of mob boss, Augustino "Gus" Scarpetti. Gus wants his "unfinished business" handled so he can enter into the light. Pepper's problem is that no one knows who murdered Gus nor does anyone want to talk about it and Gus won't go away until she finds the murderer. Soon, she is being stalked by crazy mob hitman Albert Vigniolli while torn between her attraction to two men, cop Quinn Harrison and Dr. Dan Callahan who appears only interested in her head injury. Pepper is determined to identify Gus's killer- but will the current mob leadership stop her?

DON OF THE DEAD is a book with unrealized potential. The plotline is a unique twist on seeing ghosts but the characterization of Pepper is too superficial to add much depth. Pepper is overly focused on her past social standing and her 38C chest but doesn't have the quirkiness or sassiness of a MaryJanice Davidson heroine to truly make this work.

Pepper's dilemma between which man she wants in her life is also troublesome. Quinn appears overly wealthy for a man with his job and is constantly warning Pepper to stop her investigation and yet he simply fades away during the book. Dan Callahan, on the other hand, remains focused only on Pepper's brain until he suddenly morphs into some sort of Jet Li action hero. And why did all of his research folders initially hold only blank pages?

DON OF THE DEAD is both the author's first novel and the first in a series. With some minor tweaking to eliminate the gaps in the plot, this series could turn into a real winner. The plot does drag in several places but with some help from a good editor or critique group, Casey Daniels has most of the pieces needed to make a successful series. For now, however, DON OF THE DEAD is a nice but forgettable beach read.

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

This novel is light and gritty with humour laced through it .....Pepper is a socialite whose father fell from grace by fraud.Now she must earn a crust and where better to earn than in the local cemetary where a bang on the head gives her more than a conventional headache.Suddenly pepper is seeing dead people with problems bigger than the livings although the first of her "customers"the local Don brings the living into her life with blasting guns and police.Pepper also finds a rather weird young man attaching himself to her and making her wonder what he is after.This book is great for a winter night read tucked up in the covers while the rain falls Looking forward to more Pepper mysteries

Penelope "Pepper" Martin is down on her luck. Her plastic surgeon father got caught for Medicare fraud and is serving time in the slammer. Her Mom's taken off for FL to go incognito. Her fiancee fled the scene when her fortunes changed.

Now, she's a tour guide in a cemetary and thanks to a fall that conked her head against a marble mausoleum, she's seeing dead people.

Specifically, one dead person--Augustino aka "Gus" Scarpetti, the former Don of the City. Scarpetti wants her to figure out who killed him so he can now rest in peace. She's not a PI, matter of fact, she's an art history major, who never expected to work a day in her life, but with help from Gus, plus a police officer and a mysterious psychologist who are both interested in her, Pepper starts to learn how to conduct a good investigation.

What I love about this mystery-paranormal romance, is that it looks like Pepper is going to learn her trade as she goes along. While she's unskilled at the art of detection, once she buys into the idea she uses what skills she has and solicits advice from others on how to conduct an investigation.

Plus, the romance angles are not so heavy they're closet erotica. There's just enough spice to keep things interesting and amusing--and not enough to turn the storyline away from the mystery, which is fascinating.

While "Don of the Dead" definitely shows strong indications of being a first-time novel, the book is reasonably well-written and the series shows a lot of promise for the future. Pepper is a likeable heroine, plus she throws in some mystery with Dan, the "Brain Man" who more than likely is more than what he seems!

Former rich girl Pepper Martin, reduced to dire financial straits, takes a job as a cemetery tour guide. When she falls and hits her head on late mobster Gus Scarpetti's mausoleum, she gains the (rather inconvenient) ability to see Gus's ghost. Gus enlists Pepper to solve the decades-old mystery of his murder. While trying to get to the bottom of the case, Pepper learns that a ghostly "boss" can be hazardous to a girl's love life and job prospects, and maybe even her life itself.

I was often annoyed by Pepper. She's ditzy, she's obsessed with her own bust size, and she needs a lot of rescuing. However, Gus is more obnoxious still. Their bickering is sometimes funny and sometimes irritating. Some of my favorite moments were when Pepper read Gus the riot act.

It's not hard to solve the crime a few steps ahead of Pepper, but I had fun unraveling the tangle, and the eventual revelation is a surprisingly touching one. The plot does, however, rely a bit too much on Pepper getting in over her head and being saved by deus ex machina.

One thing that's original and refreshing in the current urban fantasy climate: Casey Daniels hasn't thrown the entire paranormal kitchen sink into _Don of the Dead_. There are ghosts, but there aren't vampires and faeries and demons and incubi and succubi and werewolves and werehyenas and werepigeons and so on, all stuffed into the same story. Pepper has two love interests, and while I'm pretty sure at least one of them is a jerk, neither is a vampire or a were! They're just normal guys.

_Don of the Dead_ was a fun, light read, and I'll probably read more in the PEPPER MARTIN series in the future.

Casey Daniels' Don of the Dead is difficult to define. It is a mystery with romance and strong paranormal influences.

Pepper (Penelope) Martin is from an upper-middle-class family and has led a privileged life. But now her doctor daddy is off to prison, convicted of fraud, and her mother has taken a powder, just like her finance. Pepper must learn to support herself since all the family money is gone. She becomes a cemetery tour guide in Cleveland, Ohio. Now, Pepper would like another job, but tour guide is what life dealt her.

Since Pepper hit her head on mob boss Gus Scarpetti's mausoleum, she's been able to see and talk to the long-dead ghost. PhD. Dan Callahan says her brain shows a propensity to hallucinations. That diagnosis doesn't give her much comfort since she's already seeing a dead person. And he wants her to find her murderer. If she's going to get rid of Gus, she's going to have to find out 'who done it.'

Daniels' prose is snappy and the book is pretty consistent overall. It drags a bit in several places but that can be overlooked because the mystery and adventure is fun and intriguing. I'd like to like the characters more and believe that Daniels will mature as an author.

Armchair Interviews says: The novel is strong enough that we look forward to the next Pepper Martin release.

Since I started my mystery reading trend, I've been looking more for mysteries that have ghosts & the supernatural in them. My searches have caused me to discover both the good & the bad of this particular spectrum of the mystery genre. Then there's books like 'Don of the Dead'- something that pretty much toes the line between good & bland.

Pepper Martin used to be a socialite. She had a good background (Dad was a highly paid doctor) & a status symbol fiancee. Soon after her father was caught embezzling, she lost all of that & her days were quickly filled with a series of jobs where she kept trying to ensure that she could pay the rent. Pepper's current job has her doing tours at her local cemetery, where on one occasion she ended up bumping her head on the grave of an infamous mafia don. After that, Pepper eventually discovers that she can see ghosts- or more specifically, the ghost of said mafia don, who wants Pepper to discover who killed him.

This book wasn't bad, but I couldn't help but be a little underwhelmed. At times I got a little irritated with Pepper constantly making comments about her figure or her past life. I understand that we need to know that it happened & that it still bothered her, but at some point I really wanted to shout "get over it" into the pages. Luckily this book was somewhat on the shorter side, so it was a fast read- which was a good thing. This book is kind of the literary equivalent of eating a potato chip: tasty, but ultimately not filling. (And eating too many potato chips will give you a stomach ache, which would've been the case with this book.) The mystery was somewhat easy to solve towards the last third of the book, but I will say that I liked how it ended.

A good part of the book is that Pepper isn't some amazing whiz of a person when it comes to ghosts. She's just starting out, which means that we can learn with her. I also liked that Pepper didn't suddenly get the "I can speak to ghosts & I'm going to prove it to everyone" disease that some other books (such as Victoria Laurie's) tend to get. That type of stuff gets old REALLY fast & tends to distract from the plot rather than help it. I liked that Pepper spent a good portion of time trying to hide her stuff from everyone. (Still, I wonder why she didn't think of the old "I'm on a cell phone" trick.)

This wasn't the greatest book of it's kind that I've read, but it was good enough that I'd recommend it for a beach/vacation read. It was also good enough for me to get the next book in the series. If you are looking for a fluffy read, this is for you. Looking for anything a bit harder? Look elsewhere.

I thought this book was great. I was a little skeptical of the silly title, but the main character, Pepper, was instantly likeable, and I was drawn into her life. The mystery she worked on solving was interesting, but not "on the edge of my seat" stuff. There were several exciting and serious parts of this book. One thing I really liked about this book was that it was not a "guy gets the girl" romance book. There was a lot of focus on Pepper's good looks, but I felt it just made the book more fun and interesting. I liked that the ending opened the door right up for the sequel, which I plan on reading. This book will be enjoyable if you like chick lit with quirky female characters, and if you are interested in ghosts!

I must admit: I don't usually agree with PW's reviews, but in this case, I do. This mystery was a fun combo of paranormal, cozy and romance, but the narrator is very annoying. If you can get past her ridiculous pride in her chest and her chronic whining, then you may enjoy this book. All the other characters are likable and fun. The first half of the book drags, but the middle really picks up, and the pace at the end is quick. There are some nice plot twists which are not too unbelievable and a few clues to foreshadow the ending. The setting of a cemetery office like this one is unique and funny--not sure how plausible. All in all, I plan on reading the second book with hopes that the plot is equally as engaging and that Pepper has matured a bit.