GRAVE UNDERTAKING (Amateur Sleuth/Former Policeman) – VGMark de Castrique – 2nd in seriesPoisoned Pen Press, 2004 – HardcoverFormer policeman Barry Clayton now manages the family funeral parlor, in a small North Carolina town, for his father with Alzheimer’s. But when he oversees the moving of a grave and finds an extra body with a bullet hole in it’s head, a gun by it’s feet and the photograph of Barry’s girlfriend in it’s pocket, he employees the skills of his former career to find out why.*** This is a very good series. Barry is a fully dimensional character with strong family ties and good friends. The sense of place is wonderfully done and dialogue is very true. He provides an interesting look into the human side of the funeral business, which I very much enjoyed. And, it’s still a tight mystery with very good suspense. If you’ve not discovered this series, I definitely recommend giving it a try.
Source: LibraryPlot: Barry has returned home from several years of police work to help with the family funeral business. His father has Alzheimers and decisions have to be made. While on at the graveyard with a local minister, the local minister unearths a murdered corpse on top of a burial vault. A wallet in the murdered man's pocket reveals a photo that shocks Barry—his girlfriend Susan's picture.Susan immediately becomes a suspect, and Barry is drawn into an "unofficial" investigation to protect her and her family from scandal. As he develops clues, interviews people, gets shot at and beat up, he also must decide if selling the funeral home to a National funeral chain is in the best interest of his family.Very good writing: characters are clearly drawn with no wasted words.
