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Ashes to Ashes
454 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 4, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 3, 2026
After reading Crossing Under, the first book in there series, I was hooked. It's hard to get a second book right in a series but fear not because Diane has succeeded with flying colors. Not only succeeded but blew it out of the park in all the very beast ways. She masterfully picked up where the last book ended and somehow managed to make this book even more captivating.
You meet Marlowe Morley, an introverted, quiet mortician in book one. Her job is to deal with the dead. Give them the final "primping"before they take their final voyage between heaven or hell. She spends her days absorbed in her job and loves her calling until the dead start talking to her. Even then she sees this as a way to save the pour souls who are destined for an afterlife in the fiery pits of hell.
What she doesn't expect is to have a serial killer end up on a slab in her morgue. She's torn between trying to save him or let him end up where he belongs. Having seen most of his victims come through her morgue she knows the devastation he's caused. The poor souls he's tortured. Does he deserve to be saved?
What I love so much about Diane's writing is how she takes the reader on a journey. It's written with so much feeling and vivid descriptions it's impossible not to see, feel and hear every scene.
In an otherwise dark setting she manages to sprinkle in humor at all the right places. I absolutely love the banter between Marlowe and her bestie, the coroner, Tony. Their relationship is so relatable and heart warming. He affectionately calls her mouse which is the cutest!
With the dark theme you would think it might get depressing but trust me it's anything but. The scenes are so powerfully written, so brilliantly described, you can't get enough. I inhaled this book and can't wait for the third. Well one, Diane. Well done!
You meet Marlowe Morley, an introverted, quiet mortician in book one. Her job is to deal with the dead. Give them the final "primping"before they take their final voyage between heaven or hell. She spends her days absorbed in her job and loves her calling until the dead start talking to her. Even then she sees this as a way to save the pour souls who are destined for an afterlife in the fiery pits of hell.
What she doesn't expect is to have a serial killer end up on a slab in her morgue. She's torn between trying to save him or let him end up where he belongs. Having seen most of his victims come through her morgue she knows the devastation he's caused. The poor souls he's tortured. Does he deserve to be saved?
What I love so much about Diane's writing is how she takes the reader on a journey. It's written with so much feeling and vivid descriptions it's impossible not to see, feel and hear every scene.
In an otherwise dark setting she manages to sprinkle in humor at all the right places. I absolutely love the banter between Marlowe and her bestie, the coroner, Tony. Their relationship is so relatable and heart warming. He affectionately calls her mouse which is the cutest!
With the dark theme you would think it might get depressing but trust me it's anything but. The scenes are so powerfully written, so brilliantly described, you can't get enough. I inhaled this book and can't wait for the third. Well one, Diane. Well done!
March 14, 2026
I think it is her best work to date. Love the layered descriptions. I was sad about Zedie. Pissed about Sam and now wondering my own beliefs. I struggle with grace too. I identify with Marlowe. Loved the book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews