A Quiet Undertaking

Connor Westphal #4

by Penny Warner

Macavity Award-winning author Penny Warner knows there's no rest for the dead....

Life is never dull in the California Gold Country town of Flat Skunk. But deaf journalist Connor Westphal is shocked all the same when she learns that boxes of human ashes have been found stashed in a nearby self-storage facility. The space is leased to one Jasper Coyne, a bourbon-happy fisherman hired by the Memory Kingdom Memorial Park to scatter the ashes at sea.

Connor thinks the scandal will make great copy for her paper, the Eureka!--until Jasper is murdered and suspicion falls on Connor's own best friend, Memory Kingdom owner Del Rey Montez. Connor is sure Del Rey is innocent. To prove it, Connor must navigate mortician politics and skinhead teens to untangle the secrets of Del Rey's past. But when she gets too close to the truth, she makes an enemy who's determined to make sure the intrepid reporter bites the dust along with her biggest scoop of the year.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery

272 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Penny Warner is an award-winning author of over sixty books, including DEAD BODY LANGUAGE mystery series (Macavity winner), HOW TO HOST A KILLER PARTY series, and the upcoming Food Festival series. Her middle-grade mystery, THE CODE BUSTERS CLUB, won the Agatha Award for Best Children's Mystery.

Reviews

[Mark Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deaf reporter Connor Westphal is hot on the trail of another scandal in her small Gold Country town for her weekly newspaper. A storage locker full of human ashes has been found near the town of Flat Skunk, California. The ashes were supposed to be scattered at sea by Jasper Coyne, but before anyone can question Jasper, he is found dead near his houseboat. With the scandal impacting Connor’s friend, Del Rey, Connor has an extra motive to investigate. But with Del Rey hiding secrets of her own, will Connor ever figure out what really happened?

This was an inventive mystery that kept me guessing until the end. There were plenty of surprises on the way to the logical climax. Unfortunately, Connor did make some pretty stupid moves as she was investigating, which is a bummer since I like her overall. She leads a strong cast of fun characters. I love how her deafness is worked into the book and how it makes certain scenes even more suspenseful. There are more four letter words than usual in a cozy mystery, so know that going in. The book was first released over 20 years ago, so some of the technology is dated, but keep that in mind as you read it, and you’ll be fine. Overall, this was another fun, confusing mystery. I’m glad I’m finally reading this series.

Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

[Kirsty Darbyshire]

the fourth book in the series and i've finally decided that i like it. up to now i've been a bit lukewarm about it, it's seemed a bit too light at the same time as it's trying to be serious. our heroine, connor, is deaf, which gives a whole new angle on the misunderstandings that play a part in any detective story and adds a lot of fun to the plot. sometimes it's a little overdone, the secondary characters are larger than life and the murder rate in the small town setting is a bit unrealistically high. but it's not a one gimmick series and i enjoy reading the books. that said, i still think there were some holes in the plot in this installment.

[Beverly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the fourth of this series I have read. It's enjoyable light reading, and as you can see, I'm working my way through the series--I think.

In the first three, I found occasional typos and formatting errors. In the fourth, the number of problems had greatly increased. The switching to italics and back again kept me confused until I realized that it was a formatting error and did not have meaning to the form of the book. Extraneous letters, wrong words (die for the) and typos kept pulling me out of the book. The author needs to hire a professional editor or fire the one she has.

[Chi Dubinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jasper Coyne, a fisherman who drinks to excess, is paid by Memory Kingdom Memorial Park to scatter ashes at sea. But when a storage locker is discovered to be chock full of yet-to-be scattered ashes, the local sheriff wants to question Jasper. Jasper will forever remain silent--he's found drowned along side his houseboat. Deaf journalist Connor Westphal is shocked to discover that the prime suspect in the fisherman's death is her friend Del Rey.
This is the fourth book in an engaging series, and readers of Carolyn Hess and Jill Churchill will enjoy this book.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good cozy, set in California's "Gold Country."

Deaf reporter Connor Westphal whines about gun control while playing paintball.

A storage unit collapses, revealing that someone wasn't disposing of cremains the way they were legally required. The scatterer winds up dead, and so do a number of other people.

Not bad. Could have left out the whining.

[Robert Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

++Finished 08/22/2014. Connor Westphal is the deaf editor of the Eureka, a weekly newspaper. She & her boyfriend Dan are part of a team paintball competition which degenerates int a brawl Then they & Sheriff Mercer are called to a storage facility by a fellow Sheriff Locke who is female & forms a mutual admiration society with Sheriff M. Then the space is full of cremains which had supposedly been distributed at sea & the renter of the space is discovered murdered. Only the beginning & involves CW's friend Del Rey Montez & her several ex husbands & CW under estimates a disabled man tho' she is herself disabled.++