Final Undertaking (Large Print Edition): Buryin' Barry Mystery [Large Print] [Paperback]

Mark de Castrique (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2007

When Barry Claytonas father developed Alzheimeras, Barry gave up his career in law enforcement to return to the North Carolina mountain town of Gainesboro and run the familyas funeral home. But even a small town in the Appalachians is not immune to crime.
At a summer street dance, Barryas friend Sheriff Tommy Lee Wadkins is gunned down by an old man distraught at the death of his wife. To the dismay of Deputy Reece Hutchins, hospitalized Tommy Lee appoints Barry as the deputy in charge of the investigation. Who was the old man stalking? Why was a young woman who was wounded at the scene traveling with the intended victim?
What at first appears to be a case of a mentally unstable summer tourist quickly develops into a tangled web of deceit stretching from western North Carolina to the Florida coast. Someone is preying upon senior citizens....
Barry realizes Deputy Hutchins is undercutting his investigation, but as potential witnesses and informants begin to die under mysterious circumstances, Barry confronts a conspiracy that runs so deep he no longer knows who to trust. One false step, one betrayal, will make this case Buryina Barryas final undertaking.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this colorful, engrossing fourth adventure for funeral home owner and former cop Barry Clayton (after 2006's Foolish Undertaking), an ordinary afternoon in Gainesboro, N.C., is interrupted when an elderly man visiting from Florida opens fire on Main Street. The shooter, Mitch Kowalski, hits a handful of people, including sheriff Tommy Lee Wadkins, who, from his hospital bed, asks Clayton to take over the investigation. Clayton suspects the recent death of Kowalski's octogenarian wife had something to do with his inexplicable shooting spree. When Clayton heads to the Sunshine State to dig a little deeper into Kowalski's past, he learns that Kowalski's late wife had been taking medicine that hadn't been prescribed to her. More people will die before Clayton gets to the bottom of a nefarious medical scam. De Castrique has married the complexity and fast pace of a police procedural with the folksy setting and lovable characters of a cozy. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

The fourth entry in the Undertaking series, featuring North Carolina undertaker Barry Clayton, offers further evidence that funeral parlors provide rich material for offbeat fiction. (Tim Cockey also mines this vein in his Hitch Sewell series.) When Barry's friend Sheriff Tommy Lee Watkins is wounded in a shooting, Barry is put in charge of the investigation, to the consternation of Watkins' deputy, Reece Hutchins. Barry uncovers a far-reaching fraud scheme, but his biggest problem may be Deputy Hutchins, who is doing every nasty thing he can to ensure that Barry doesn't solve the case. Strong characters and an engaging setting add up to a thoroughly enjoyable yarn. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press (May 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590582497
• ISBN-13: 978-1590582497
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,937,958 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A native of western North Carolina, Mark sets most of his mysteries in Asheville and the surrounding Appalachian mountains. In addition to his Sam Blackman and Barry Clayton series, Mark has written two Young Adult mysteries: a thriller, A CONSPIRACY OF GENES, set in a children's hospital and an historical "locked-room" murder mystery, DEATH ON A SOUTHERN BREEZE, set on a train traveling from Charlotte to Charleston in the summer of 1860. Mark also has written the play "A DYING BUSINESS" and two short stories, TWO OF A KIND, available for the Kindle. For a tour of Sam Blackman's Asheville or a preview of his new Sam Blackman mystery, THE SANDBURG CONNECTION, check out the video section of his author page.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A pivotal, and emotional, book in the series, July 9, 2007

By 

L. J. Roberts (Oakland, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Final Undertaking: Buryin' Barry Mystery (Hardcover)

First Sentence: "The banjo's bigger than the picker." Susan laughed and set up her folding chair at the edge of the curb.

Ex-policeman Barry Clayton gave up his badge and moved back to a small town in North Carolina to take over the running of the family funeral home from his Alzheimer stricken father. At the first summer street dance, an old man in a wheelchair suddenly pulls a gun and shoots Barry's girlfriend Susan, his friend the Sheriff Tommy Lee and a young woman who was thrown in the gunman's path by a man running to get away. When the girl dies and with Tommy Lee injured after killing the old man, Barry is deputized to find out who was the girl and why the old man wanted her partner dead.

\Sometimes an author has a single book which becomes pivotal in the growth of a series. I believe this is such a book. de Castrique enables the reader to become part of this town and it's residents; the role faith plays in some of their lives and a view of those who run family-owned funeral homes in a small town. Barry is a wonderful character who, in a climatic point, must choose between his job and his family. The book is wonderfully and emotionally written but never loses sight of it being an exciting, suspenseful mystery as well. If you've not yet discovered this series; do start at the beginning. You are in for a real treat.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Small-town setting enhances solid procedural, May 20, 2007

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Final Undertaking: Buryin' Barry Mystery (Hardcover)

Buryin' Barry Clayton, a former cop who returned to his Appalachian mountain town of Gainesboro, NC, to help with the family funeral home when Alzheimer's struck his father, is enjoying an outdoor summer concert with his girlfriend, Dr. Susan Miller, when gunfire erupts.

The intended victim pushes his female companion into the elderly gunman and the young woman and a bystander are wounded before Sheriff Tommy Lee Wadkins kills the man and is seriously hurt in the process. Hospitalized but undaunted, Tommy Lee appoints Clayton as his deputy in charge of the case, annoying Reece Hutchins, his officious official deputy.

Following the gunman's trail to Florida where the old man's octogenarian wife died of an Oxycontin overdose, Clayton suspects a drug connection. With help from his new intern Fletcher Shaw, and guidance from Tommy Lee, Clayton soon manages to involve several police departments, the feds and even some crafty bureaucrats in a tangle where even friends and neighbors are suspect.

This fourth outing (after "Foolish Undertaking") continues to develop Clayton as a smart and likable sleuth, with strong roots and solid loyalties. The family subplots and small-town setting contribute to the storyline as well as strengthening character.

Suspenseful and well paced, this series should appeal to both procedural and cozy readers.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tangled web of cross-country intrigue., November 4, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Final Undertaking: Buryin' Barry Mystery (Hardcover)

Mark deCastrique's FINAL UNDERTAKING provides the fourth in the Undertaking series, but requires little prior familiarity with other titles to prove easily accessible and enjoyable. This Barry Clayton mystery tells of a sheriff friend gunned down by an old man at a summer street dance, making Barry a sudden appointed stand-in who finds himself facing a stalker and a tangled web of cross-country intrigue.