Customer Reviews

The Mortician's Daughter

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Suspended by the New York Police Department and currently under investigation for some shady dealings with a bent cop, the thirty-something Ginny Lavoie returns to her hometown of North Adams, Massachusetts to investigate the death of Danny Markowicz a nineteen-year-old stepson of Sonya, Ginny's best friend from high school.

Handsome and athletic, Danny was considered the all American boy, he liked to act sing and write sappy poetry, and he wanted to go to college and was willing to work to get there. Reportedly beloved by all, his death comes as a brutal shock. Found on the floor of a deserted mill, Danny was beaten to death so bad no one could recognize him, his face so pulverized they had to identify him through dental records.

Investigating the crime scene, Ginny spies the evidence - a vast pool of blood, splatter marks on the walls and floor, but finds no weapon. Vietnam veteran Jumping Jack O'Brien - once the town's harmless lunatic, now it's resident pariah - confesses to the crime. Ginny visits him in prison but he's a babbling mess and a professional psycho. It doesn't take long for Ginny to release that no way could Jack have committed the crime.

From one lead to another, Ginny traces the clues back to Danny's birth mother Paula, who allegedly left town twenty years ago to start a new life in the city, leaving a trail of men behind her. While Sonya was the kind of girl you'd hope your son might marry, her sister Paula was the kind you'd hope your son would steer clear of, a promiscuous, truant, and expert manipulator, Paula had been every mother's nightmare.

The trail also turns to the Café des Artistes, where Ginny meets a bunch of groovy city boys - including Danny's friend Topher - whom Danny had been hanging out with just before his death. But were the boys more than just friends? And when the specter of crystal meth raises its ugly head, Ginny is by turns jubilant at this new information and depressed by a lack of progress in determining the killer.

The questions gradually pile up - why did Danny keep a loaded gun in his bedroom? What was he doing in that abandoned mill? And who could possibly have hated him enough to beat him to death? And why are the local authorities - led by an incompetent and corrupt cop - so eager to close the case? Ginny is hampered in her investigation, by her past and her relationship with Jimmy, her childhood sweetheart - reconnecting with him reopens old passions as well as old wounds.

Author Elizabeth Bloom proves herself quite adept at writing this type of police procedural, managing to combine compelling characters, red herrings, and clues with some unexpected twists and turns in the story. Obviously the central aspect of this tale is Ginny's growth as a person and as a detective, and her ultimate realization that she did indeed share a lot in common with Danny - both yearned for a life beyond this small town, chafed at the shackles of their family's expectation.

Ginny is a gutsy, tough-minded and fearless cop and although at first she is branded as an outsider - someone who once left, she is soon thrust back into the inner workings of North Adams' hierarchy, all the while staying loyal to Sonya, determined root out the bad guy.

Bloom also skillfully presents the conflicted human condition, bringing to the forefront the murk of small town life and how these essentially working class people must cope with the aftermath of such a violent act. Drug abuse, entrenched homophobia, and religious and political hypocrisy and the how bereaved must cope with the loss of a loved one is at the center of this well-paced and quite persuasive crime thriller. Mike Leonard August 06.

The plot has already been written about, so I will just say that the story, characters, and setting grabbed me almost immediately. Ginny Lavoie, NYC cop back in her old hometown, is a great protagonist--tough, saavy, and irreverently witty. Highly recommended, as are the Alex Bernier mysteries the author wrote as Beth Saulnier.

I wasn't familiar with this author, but really enjoyed the read. I liked the descriptions of the characters and town. I especially liked the transformation of Sonya. I would have liked a little more "up front" information on Ginny, the main character, but the author pulled it together at the end of the story. Especially satisfying was the rekindled romance with Ginny's ex high school boyfriend.

I bought this book on a whim at a discount store, since a dear friend is a real "Mortician's Daughter"...and I loved it!! The plot was complex but believable and the author kept me guessing until the end!! Ginny was a flawed but truly "human" character and I enjoyed getting to know her and her small home town reminded me of the one I came from.
I hope the author keeps this character and her "friends" alive and writes a series with her in it...I felt like I lost a friend when I finished this book! I liked the balance of humor and mystery...great job!

I finished THE MORTICIAN'S DAUGHTER last night and resolved to send praise Ms. Bloom's way for writing a great book. Lots of twists, turns, and surprises--right until the end. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I, too, hope Ginnie, the intrepid cop heroine, shows up again. I'll be looking for her.

First Sentence: She was staring out the window when the phone rang.

Ginny Lavoie has been suspended from the NYPD and is free to head to her home town in Massachusetts. The teenage son of her childhood best friend has been murdered and wants Ginny to find the killer. The local police arrest someone, but Ginny is certain he is innocent. Her brakes fail and she thinks its mechanical failure until it becomes very clear someone does not want her investigating Danny's murder. The bright spot is Ginny renewing her relationship with her high-school boyfriend.

This was a definite page-turner. I liked that we learn about Ginny through the progression of the story. I enjoyed that she is the tough, capable don't-mess-with-me character while her boyfriend is a baker. Being back in her small home town is an interesting story in contracts but also gives the character and opportunity to grow. Being set in a small town, you have a somewhat stereotypical cross-section of small-town character but that doesn't make them any less interesting. The plot was delightfully twisty with some good suspense. It's a fast read, perfect for a trip or a rainy day.

A great page-turner escapist murder mystery. A sympathetic heroine with a complex but believable, understandable story. A plot that keeps the reader guessing and does not disappoint at the end.

What more could a reader want?

Okay, the characters could be just a little deeper. The author's style seems more consistent with a lighter novel. This one's a little too gritty to pass for a cozy. But the plot is flawless and, as others have noted Bloom creates a strong sense of place. The heroine's background adds a twist that creates even more tension. Highly recommended.

By Seth Kerin, author of The Elder Worlds: Book One

The Mortician's Daughter is one of those good page-turning mysteries. It takes place in North Adams, Massachusetts, but in an interesting quirk there is never a mention of the name - though those familiar with the area will certainly know it when they read the many local interests named (with a certain dramatic license, of course). The story is a good one, with plenty of twists and turns that will keep you guessing along with the main character, Ginny. While the twists are good, there are certain elements of the characters that require a suspension of disbelief - not necessarily a bad thing. For example, when one character finds her long time love/obsession sleeping around with older women she has no problem jumping right back in the sack with him (literally a sack of flour). There is also a decided anti-Catholic tone, with little worry of giving a balanced view.

Despite the few flaws and cliches, the story is good enough to carry the characters - where often the characters have to be good enough to carry the story. After all, if the point of a good book is to entertain, this one succeeds.

This is another great book by Elizabeth Bloom (aka Beth Saulnier). The characters are complex enough to be interesting, but not so tormented as to be irritating. The plotline moves along nicely, and there was enough suspense to keep me awake past my bedtime more than a few nights. Recommended!

The Mortician's Daughter by Elizabeth Bloom is a lively mystery involving murders spanning 15 years in a small New England town. WARNING: If you are a Catholic, you may not like the heroine being a fallen-away Catholic adulterer who had and abortion, and bad mouths the Catholic Church and its beliefs and practices almost every chapter. You will also not be comfortable with the plot having two of the plot's three killers being the promiscuous Catholic deacon and the parish priest. So, if you are Catholic, and want a good mystery read, you better have a thick skin.