Calling the Dead

Deputy Tempe Crabtree #6

by Marilyn Meredith

Tempe Crabtree is the resident deputy of Bear Creek, a small mountain community in the southern Sierra. Her continuing interest in the spiritual side of her heritage often causes unrest in her marriage to her minister husband. In Calling the Dead, Deputy Tempe Crabtree investigates a murder that looks like death from natural causes, and a suicide that looks like murder. Putting her job on the line, she investigates the murder on her own time and without permission from her superiors. Jeopardizing her marriage, she uses Native American ways to call back the dead to learn the truth about the suicide.

Genres: Mystery

209 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2006

About the author

aka F.M. Meredith.

Marilyn Meredith is the author of over thirty published novels, including the award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series and the under the name F. M. Meredith, the Rocky Bluff P.D. series. She borrows a lot from where she lives in the Southern Sierra for the town of Bear Creek and the surrounding area, including the nearby Tule River Indian Reservation.

For the Rocky Bluff P.D. series, she uses a lot she remembers from her time living on the coast, in a place much like Rocky Bluff.

She does like to remind everyone that she is writing fiction. Marilyn is a member of EPIC, three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America
Series:
* Deputy Tempe Crabtree

Reviews

[Patricia Gligor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last night, I finished reading "Calling the Dead" by Marilyn Meredith and I loved the book!
The main character, Tempe Crabtree, is a deputy in a small mountain town. Normally, her job consists of monitoring traffic, breaking up the occasional bar fight and intervening in domestic disputes. But because Tempe refuses to see an innocent person go to jail or a guilty person get away with murder, she decides to investigate two murder cases on her own. And, in doing so, she incurs the wrath of her superior officer and the detectives assigned to the cases.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a murder mystery with a taste of supposedly Native American tradition thrown in for good measure. I felt that the author could have done so much more in developing the setting and characters. It lacked depth and came across as formulaic.

[Linda Brue · Rating 4 out of 5]

CALLING THE DEAD, Marilyn Meredith, 2006
Amazon says this is the 5th book of 17 in the Tempe Crabtree series. I really don't keep track, as I've read them completely out of order. So I well might have missed a great deal of growth in her marriage, but all of the books I have read so far, and in particular this one, have dealt a great deal in the pressures between her own Native American beliefs and that of her husband Hutch, the pastor of Bear Creek Chapel. This time, the small community has suffered two deaths, both of which seem curious to Tempe, and one of them, to Hutch as well. The first is Arthur, a member of Hutch's church who dies, seemingly of natural causes, before Hutch arrives at the house. But the death bothers him, anyway. Why does his widow seem unconcerned, even relieved? The second death is a young woman who dies after jumping from an old bridge into Bear Creek. At least, that's what her boyfriend Jimmy says happened.

Tempe feels compelled to investigate both of these incidents, even though she is risking her job to do so. Something doesn't feel right to her, and regardless of the fact that she is told to butt out, she has to find her answers. In doing so, will she have to defy her husband's wishes and return to her Native American beliefs and rituals and summon the dead?

As usual, the story is well written and plotted. There is a great sense of place and time, and all of the characters feel real and engaging. I also enjoy the relationship between Tempe and Hutch. If you like your mysteries full of fast action and little of the personal life of the characters, these books aren't for you. If you like a story that is centered on and around the character's lives (and you don't mind a little whoo-whoo), then you should try this series. Of the ones I've read, they've all been very good reads.

[Kimm · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's no real mystery here since the description and back cover tell you that the death from natural causes is a murder and the event which seems like a murder is a suicide. Once you open the book and start reading, these conclusions happen fairly quickly and it's just a matter of the main character going thru the paces to try to get her sexist, exasperated colleagues on board. At times I wondered why I even bothered since the journey was rather uneventful. Although the main character has a son in late high school and so is of a certain age, she comes off as quite immature and irresponsible. The "native America ways" are of course the hook but they are very generalized and lean more toward neopaganism than anything authentic, but that's to be expected. The main character's Christian minister husband warning her about the danger to her soul by dabbling in her spiritual heritage and his inexplicable dislike for another native American character fits right in with the other -isms present in this tale.

For some reason I thought this was the first book in the series so I considered trying one or two more to see if the writing matured, but then I found out it's the 6th book and so I doubt I'll read anything more by this author.

[Lorna Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all of Marilyn Meredith's books I've read to date, this is my favorite - and I enjoy them all.

In this one, she mixes the Native American spiritual elements with the pragmatism of a modern-day policewoman. Together they provide a story compelling and well-told.

Marilyn knows how to tell a great tale!

[Tricha Leary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this on my lunch breaks and hated to put it down to go back to work!