Jack Tagger is obsessed with death. As an obit writer at the local newspaper, he knows which celebrities have died at a certain age and wonders if he can outlive them. Jack didn't always work on obits. He was relegated to that desk when he told the new newspaper owners that they were killing the paper for profits.
Jack learns that the lead singer of a band he liked back in the day, the Slut Puppies, has passed away Jack sets out to write the obit. He contacts the widow and the sister and gets two completely different stories. Printing what he can for his deadline, Jack knows this isn't the end of his story. Something is off. Investigating further, he finds that the singer never had an autopsy. Was he murdered?
Jack is a pretty interesting character to be leading a mystery novel. He is self deprecating and pretty down to earth, which is the opposite of most cops that solve mysteries. It was a nice change of pace for a mystery. The romantic interest was a little awkward and off putting but other than that a pretty good novel.
First Line: "Regarding the death of James Bradley Stomarti; what first catches my attention is his age."
Rating:
(3.5/5)
Palmer Stoat is a lobbyist in Florida with a dog named Boodle and a wife named Desi. His latest project is to build a bridge to current Toad Island, soon to be turned in to Shearwater Island for golfers and rich people. As Stoat drives home, he throws his litter out the window which starts a war. Twilly Spree, a young environmentalist with known anger issues (he blew up his uncle's bank) sees this and follows Stoat all the way home. To teach Stoat a lesson, Spree dumps a dumpster of trash on his convertible. Stoat doesn't get the message so Spree needs to resort to more dire circumstances.
