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52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Thank Goodness There's Someone To Do This Job, February 1, 2008
Sadie Novak, former teacher has started her own business. Scene-2-clean, a cleaning company that specializes in cleaning up death scenes. After the tragic suicide of her brother Brian, Sadie found the tragic truth was after, murder, suicides and other death, the police don't clean up the mess and it usually falls to the family.
She wanted to prevent other families from having to deal with the horror of this job after the death of a loved one. Being the only company in Seattle that deals with this type of cleaning and being recommended by the police has made her company a success.
The only problem for Sadie is that along with cleaning up, she has also discovered that she had the ability to see and speak with the dead. Many of them not able to leave as they still are unaware that they're dead. Sadie isn't too pleased with this part, but does get a good feeling when she is able to help the spirit pass on. Unfortunately, suicides do not appear to her and that is her one regret, that she couldn't ask her brother why he committed suicide and it has haunted her for the last five years.
During what she considered a normal cleanup at the murder-suicide house of Grant and Trudy Toth, Sadie is surprised when the murdered wife appears to let her know that her husband did not kill her. Unfortunately, Sadie had helped Trudy leave a little too soon and the woman disappears before she could tell her who the real killer was.
With her ex-cop, employee Zack, as backup, Sadie is determined to right this wrong, especially when someone tries to scare her off by shooting at her and by trying to make it appear she is stealing valuables from the homes she's cleaning.
Will she be able to convince the police that Grant did not murder his wife before someone silences her for good?
Highlights:
Sadie, who turned the tragedy of her brother's suicide into a business that helps other people. I had never thought about this before, who did clean up after a crime. Sadie is very smart and does real investigation into solving this crime as the police have the perfect scenario for murder-suicide and don't see any reason to change it.
Zack, ex-cop, who had taken a bullet for his partner, got hooked on painkillers and resigned before they could ask for his badge after roughing up a suspect. He kicked his painkiller habit but had found it hard to get a job until Sadie came along. Very nice guy, ready to back up Sadie with advice and his gun. Not too thrilled about her talking to dead people he can't see while they're cleaning.
Pam - her best friend - special ed teacher who has helped her through her worst times.
Maeva - The psychic her sister Dawn drags her too. Maeva can talk to the dead who have already crossed over, but she has a little trouble convincing Sadie of that, even though she has a message from Grant Toth, who obviously doesn't want everyone thinking her murdered his wife either.
Sadie and Zack cleaning up a store that sells sex toys, with a son who's more worried that he can't open the next day than the fact that his father had been murdered in a robbery the night before.
Hairy - her pet rabbit who sleeps with his own little stuffed rabbit.
Good mystery, although the killer is obvious long before Sadie figures it out.
This book is able to walk that very fine line between being able to bring humor to a subject that could easily have gone off into bad taste.
The ending - the last 2-3 pages brought tears to my eyes.
Lowlights:
The killer: As if often the case in first books, the author doesn't quite have that magic touch to hide who the killer is. As they try to lay the clues so that the ending makes sense, they haven't yet got that ability to confuse the clues enough that the real killer isn't so obvious.
For a book that I was hesitant to read, I found it to be well-written, enjoyable, humorous, without going into sick humor and I am looking forward to the next book in the series.
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29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally - a series with real promise, January 12, 2008
Wow...this book exceeded my expectations. I began reading because the story is set in Seattle, Washington, although the setting isn't shoved down our throats with details of landmarks. But I found myself really caring about the complex heroine, who's mourning her brother while maintaining a rather gruesome business. She reminds me a little of Sharon McCone, but with a few twists.
The supernatural details are handled well -not overdone, not in our faces, but surprisingly plausible. Heroine Sadie gives a realistic "yuk" when she inadvertently touches the dead and she's gotten pretty irreverent about telling it like it is. In some ways, I was briefly reminded of the TV series, Dead Like Me, which I loved. And at the very end (do not peek!) you get a wonderful surprise.
It's rare to get a book that combines qualities of The Sixth Sense movie, the Sharon McCone mystery series (early volumes) and more. The plot and pacing are flawless - twists ad turns in just the right places.
In a few places, the writing seems a bit awkward, as though the author still learns to move her characters around. But I soon stopped paying attention because the plot held me.
And I must say I was surprised at Sadie's choice for a pet - rabbit named Hairy. Gimme a break. Even a cat would be better.
But the *worst* part is we have to wait a whole year for the next
volume.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Added this to my list of favorites!!, December 17, 2007
I could not put this book down. I was hooked from the first page. Thirty-two year old Sadie Novak, is the owner of Scene-2-Clean, a crime scene cleanup company in Seattle, Washington. I immediately like Sadie. She is smart, has common sense and at times has a great sense of humor. She also shows great compassion when dealing with the grieving next of kin. And then there's this little thing of being able to see and talk to ghosts. Sadie and her lone employee, Zack Bowman, get a call to clean up a crime scene where a murder-suicide of a husband and wife took place. The ghost of Trudy, the wife, appears and insists that her husband did not kill her. Sadie is reluctant to get involved, but soon gets caught up in trying to find out who did kill Trudy and her husband.
I enjoyed the relationships between all the characters. Sadie, Zack and Sadie's best friend, Pam, compliment each other well. Sadie and Zack have great chemistry. There is definite potential there. Pam brings a lighter side. She is spunky and upbeat, but not to the point of being annoying. There is also a Medium named Maeva. I laughed out loud at the bickering between her and Sadie. I really hope Maeva shows up in future issues.
I wasn't sure what to expect with the talking ghosts, so I was pleased when the author pulled it off very nicely. There was nothing cheesy or cheap about it. The author does an excellent job with detail, so if you have a weak stomach and like to snack while reading, like I do, leave the snacks for another time! There was nothing really surprising about the mystery itself. I pretty much had it figured out by the middle of the book. However, it was an entertaining read getting to the conclusion. There was a surprising twist at the end. Looking back, the author did drop clues about it, but I failed to put two and two together. I am not going to say anything else about it, as I don't want to give anything away. The only bad thing I can say about this book is that I have to wait a whole year for the next book in the series.
For those that it matters, this book is written in third person.
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