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Jenny Cain #3
No Body
Jenny, still serving as the head of the Port Frederick Civic Foundation, relates events that stun the population in her New England town when a mud slide reveals the disappearance of 133 bodies, supposedly interred during the 19th century in the old cemetery.
At the same time, the corpse of Sylvia Davis is found in the casket with John Rudolph just before he's due to be buried in the new cemetery. The next day, Rudolph's widow is murdered, and Jenny sets out to gather evidence on possible killers. Her prime suspect is a young gravedigger and drug addict who dominates the center stage in macabre scenes before Jenny solves the puzzle of the town's vanished ancestors and identifies the present-day evildoer.
At the same time, the corpse of Sylvia Davis is found in the casket with John Rudolph just before he's due to be buried in the new cemetery. The next day, Rudolph's widow is murdered, and Jenny sets out to gather evidence on possible killers. Her prime suspect is a young gravedigger and drug addict who dominates the center stage in macabre scenes before Jenny solves the puzzle of the town's vanished ancestors and identifies the present-day evildoer.
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
9 people are currently reading
149 people want to read
About the author
Nancy Pickard
102 books350 followersNancy Pickard is an American crime novelist. She received a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri and began writing at age 35.
She has won five Macavity Awards, four Agatha Awards, an Anthony Award, and a Shamus Award. She is the only author to win all four awards. Her novel The Virgin of Small Plains, published in 2007, won an Agatha Award. She also served on the board of directors of the Mystery Writers of America.
She has won five Macavity Awards, four Agatha Awards, an Anthony Award, and a Shamus Award. She is the only author to win all four awards. Her novel The Virgin of Small Plains, published in 2007, won an Agatha Award. She also served on the board of directors of the Mystery Writers of America.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
July 24, 2011
No Body by Nancy Pickard is a fun and funny mystery that I picked up as part of my Follow That Blurb Challenge journey. This is the third story in Pickard's Jenny Cain series, but I had no problem stepping into the book without having read the first two. The begins with Jenny's old sixth-grade teacher visiting the graves of her forbears only to be caught in a mud slide that reveals that her ancestors, along with 131 other "residents" of the New England cemetery are no longer resting in peace. In fact, they're not resting there at all. Following directly on the heels of this alarming discovery, the corpse of Sylvia Davis, secretary to the local funeral home, is found in the casket with John Rudolph just as his wife is preparing to see him safely stowed in the new cemetery. Rudolph's widow makes several scenes and then makes an appointment with the report Lewis Riss to tell what she knows. Before she can keep that appointment, she, too, is found murdered. It's up to Jenny to solve the two mysteries--the one with too few bodies and the one where the corpses keep multiplying.
Jenny Cain is a bright, witty character. She has a way of getting people to talk and finding out what they don't want her to know. She also makes her share of mistakes before getting to the final answer and this makes her very human. The writing is brisk and easy going down--making for a fun, quick read. There is enough humor to offset the rather depressing subject matter of funerals and funeral homes and graveyards. The mystery has enough twists in it to keep the reader guessing till the end. Three stars for a nice, pleasant afternoon read.
Jenny Cain is a bright, witty character. She has a way of getting people to talk and finding out what they don't want her to know. She also makes her share of mistakes before getting to the final answer and this makes her very human. The writing is brisk and easy going down--making for a fun, quick read. There is enough humor to offset the rather depressing subject matter of funerals and funeral homes and graveyards. The mystery has enough twists in it to keep the reader guessing till the end. Three stars for a nice, pleasant afternoon read.
January 25, 2021
This was a so so read, especially if you like books that take place in mortuaries and specialize in dead bodies and graves. No, it wasn't gruesome and the mystery was OK. With all the libraries closed I'll read just about anything I can get my paws on.
October 31, 2019
Imagine if you visited the old cemetery on a rainy day, you go to look closer at the grave marker of a historic figure, and then you fall six feet under into an empty grave! The book No Body by Nancy Pickard is an interesting take on the mystery genre, the main character, Jenny Cain, is only one in the plethora of characters in this book. There are a wide range of personalities, and vices each character has. Each one makes the characters feel more real and based on the writer's life. In good books I find, I look for interesting characters that grow, and an interesting, surprising plot. However, the book is neither good nor bad, but rather, it is mediocre. The plot is both convoluted, and confusing when it comes to the plot. It is also misleading with its clues, which never lead anywhere close to a suspect, but do go to dead ends. The plot takes a twist in the beginning, hinting that the book will be about solving a theft. About a quarter through the book, it turns into a murder, and keeps going on, with the plot throwing red herrings everywhere.
The book is mediocre at best because of its convoluted, confusing plot, and misleading clues. The long list of characters makes everything confusing as well.The main character Jenny Cain, is assisted by a reporter from New Jersey, named Lewis Riss. Together the two trudge their way through the many misleading clues they follow. Each one leading to nothing, exactly like the one before it. The beginning mystery is a theft, but becomes confusing when two people are found murdered. Each lead after another, Jenny comes up empty handed in finding the culprit, each person that was suspected is slowly crossed off, but they’re little vices are found out. These facts make the plot even more convoluted and confusing, which makes the book mediocre.
The book No Body, is mediocre and confusing because of its plot and clues. The book is an interesting take on mystery books but boring in how it is displayed, in the sense that it takes a long time to kick off the plot into what the book is really about. Each character suspected for committing the crime is long, but no one actually did anything close to murder. The suspects have ample reason to kill, but have other “hobbies” that they attend to. I do not recommend this book very much, if you want a book you can read quickly I do not think you should pick this up. This book is more of a read if you have a week or more off. When reading this book I was impassive, I did not think is was a great nor a terrible book, but rather in between in a “limbo” of sorts on the spectrum of books. This book was made for teenagers, young adults, and adult, if you want a book for a long break, but you don’t care if it’s a good book, then this is for you.
The book is mediocre at best because of its convoluted, confusing plot, and misleading clues. The long list of characters makes everything confusing as well.The main character Jenny Cain, is assisted by a reporter from New Jersey, named Lewis Riss. Together the two trudge their way through the many misleading clues they follow. Each one leading to nothing, exactly like the one before it. The beginning mystery is a theft, but becomes confusing when two people are found murdered. Each lead after another, Jenny comes up empty handed in finding the culprit, each person that was suspected is slowly crossed off, but they’re little vices are found out. These facts make the plot even more convoluted and confusing, which makes the book mediocre.
The book No Body, is mediocre and confusing because of its plot and clues. The book is an interesting take on mystery books but boring in how it is displayed, in the sense that it takes a long time to kick off the plot into what the book is really about. Each character suspected for committing the crime is long, but no one actually did anything close to murder. The suspects have ample reason to kill, but have other “hobbies” that they attend to. I do not recommend this book very much, if you want a book you can read quickly I do not think you should pick this up. This book is more of a read if you have a week or more off. When reading this book I was impassive, I did not think is was a great nor a terrible book, but rather in between in a “limbo” of sorts on the spectrum of books. This book was made for teenagers, young adults, and adult, if you want a book for a long break, but you don’t care if it’s a good book, then this is for you.
August 27, 2024
When dealing with cemeteries, sometimes you have too many bodies and sometimes too few. When retired history teacher Lucille Grant goes to visit the town's ancestors in Union Hill Cemetery, she is injured in a mudslide. The same mudslide reveals that the graves in Union Hill don't contain any bodies. This makes many of the founding families descendants squirm. It also calls into question the local funeral home. Then, during a funeral for a recently deceased employee of the funeral home, the widow demands to see that her husband IS in the coffin. He is...but he's not alone; accompanying him is the secretary for the funeral home.
Jenny Cain is the director of the Port Frederick Civic Foundation and offers to help her former teacher in locating the missing ancestors. As she looks into the history of Union Hill, though, she becomes tangled in the more recent deaths as well. Not hurting for suspects and able to finagle information that the police can't, she follows all paths until coming to a stunning conclusion!
With a delightful twist ending, colorful inhabitants, and a rather bizarre and convoluted mystery, I highly recommend this "perfect-for-a-rainy-day" story!
Jenny Cain is the director of the Port Frederick Civic Foundation and offers to help her former teacher in locating the missing ancestors. As she looks into the history of Union Hill, though, she becomes tangled in the more recent deaths as well. Not hurting for suspects and able to finagle information that the police can't, she follows all paths until coming to a stunning conclusion!
With a delightful twist ending, colorful inhabitants, and a rather bizarre and convoluted mystery, I highly recommend this "perfect-for-a-rainy-day" story!
January 31, 2023
I am not sure how I ended up with this book but I loved it.Jenny Cain is a director of a historical foundation tasked to find out what happened to133 bodies supposedly buried in the Union Hill Cemetery that have gone missing. This book was written in 1986 it was kind of funny how far technology has come. This book would not be so enjoyable if it was written now.As Jenny gets to sort out this mess people are dropping like flies
November 19, 2024
Almost a 2 stars but I did enjoy the story. The editor though, hopefully never worked again. So many mistakes, and the most glaring one was getting the name of a character wrong in part of the story. Jack L Smith became John L Smith for a while before becoming Jack again.
May 8, 2017
I would give this book (3rd in the Jenny Cain series) 3.5 stars if I could. Goodness please let us use 1/2 stars!!!
February 22, 2018
A good mystery, but it read like a romance novel sometimes, which was kind of lame
August 21, 2018
A very compelling mystery or two in this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
August 9, 2019
Another terrific Jenny Cain mystery - a little creepy as most of the action takes place in cemeteries or in a funeral home!
January 18, 2020
I read this book years ago and liked it, so I re-read for fun. It holds up pretty well. A nice mystery.
July 30, 2021
A clever, tidy mystery. Got me hooked on the series.
November 22, 2021
Loved this writer. Going back now to read or re-read this whole series.
February 26, 2022
This book was great! The story line and main character, Jenny Cain, was well rounded. I was not bored at all. I will definitely look for the others in this series.
May 10, 2022
This one has lots of characters in it so pay attention!
Read
October 3, 2022These books are breezy and entertaining, with lots of big personalities, goofy humor, and easy writing.
August 12, 2023
Very unique. The first solution was hilarious, the second I guessed at correctly.
Read
February 14, 2025Seems like a decent whodunnit but I will have to finish it at some point in the future. Very light reading material.
July 13, 2013
This is from a massive stash of books I had that I have purchased over the years and haven't had a chance to read. I don't know why I waited so long to read this one!
The plot is irresistable. One of Jenny Cain's former teachers slips in the mud and falls into an empty grave at an old town cemetery. Turns out that all the graves are empty. What happened to the bodies of everyone's ancestors? And why did an employee of the Harbor Lights Funeral Home become a murder victim, the body hidden in the casket of another recently departed Harbor Lights employee?
The story is a lot of macabre fun. Lively characterization and realistic dialogue. A couple of the characters/plot points went a wee bit over the top, but that's far better than having them lie motionless like a (pardon the expression) dead body. I highly anticipated the resolution of the mystery, and although I'm not sure I believe in the way Jenny figured it out, I found it to be pretty darned creative.
Also, very cool use of Bruce Springsteen lyrics!
A great read! This was published back in the mid-1980s and is apparently #3 in a series. It stands quite well on it's own, and I will definitely read others in the series if I can find them.
The plot is irresistable. One of Jenny Cain's former teachers slips in the mud and falls into an empty grave at an old town cemetery. Turns out that all the graves are empty. What happened to the bodies of everyone's ancestors? And why did an employee of the Harbor Lights Funeral Home become a murder victim, the body hidden in the casket of another recently departed Harbor Lights employee?
The story is a lot of macabre fun. Lively characterization and realistic dialogue. A couple of the characters/plot points went a wee bit over the top, but that's far better than having them lie motionless like a (pardon the expression) dead body. I highly anticipated the resolution of the mystery, and although I'm not sure I believe in the way Jenny figured it out, I found it to be pretty darned creative.
Also, very cool use of Bruce Springsteen lyrics!
A great read! This was published back in the mid-1980s and is apparently #3 in a series. It stands quite well on it's own, and I will definitely read others in the series if I can find them.
September 26, 2013
The beginning grabbed me like no other. It might not be exact, but it goes something like this: “Some days are better than others to walk into a cemetery.” Is that gripping, or what? What happened to 139 bodies buried in the old town’s graveyard? I thought that was a hard one to pull, but Nancy –and of course, Cain –managed beautifully while reminiscing about the fifth grade school teacher, Ms. Lucille Grant, and about the town’s history and illustrious founder families in “Poor Fred”. I gave myself a little pat on the shoulder for cracking the case way before the middle of the novel. The murderers are harder to spot in later mysteries.
Currently reading
November 11, 2010Interesting Jenny Cain mystery - starting with several empty graves in an historic graveyard. There are lots of characters that I am getting confused, though. Her cop boyfriend is conveniently out of town so far.(That just happened in a couple other books I just finished reading - it is rapidly becoming an overworked plot device to have the significant other go out of town for a month long work conference.)
November 19, 2011
#3 in the Jenny Cain mystery series. Set in a small New England coastal town, Jenny decides to discover why graves in the town's historical graveyard have no bodies in them. As she starts to do this, she becomes involved trying to solve two recent murders that appear to be connected to the town's funeral home.
A bit on the light side and follows the pattern of mysteries in which the mystery is solved by the non police person who is smarter than police.
A bit on the light side and follows the pattern of mysteries in which the mystery is solved by the non police person who is smarter than police.
February 25, 2008
I don't know why but I just could not get into this book. I started it and just couldn't finish. So as it did not capture my attention long enough to read I gave it one star.
July 4, 2009
By far my fav by Pickard.
July 12, 2009
Here Jenny takes on the funeral industry. Despite the book's deathly overtones, it still has time to be funny.
March 31, 2011
empty graveyard, overfull coffin,"prearranged" death
October 10, 2011
A lot of people sure die in Port Frederick, MA! Jenny Cain plays cop and detective (while still tackling her tasks in her own full-time job) to figure out this murder mystery.
June 3, 2015
Jenny's kind of annoying, but the mystery was good.
July 29, 2015
This was a really intriguing mystery . . . What happened to the bodies in the town's historical section of the graveyard?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews