Ask the Dead

Jo Epstein Mysteries #1

by Joyce Yarrow

Jo Epstein can’t run from her mistakes. Then again, who can? Certainly not the Harlem photographer accused of manslaughter, the social worker with the heart of gold, or Jo’s ex-friend, the anarchist. But that doesn’t stop her from trying to cut all ties to the detective business that almost made her an accessory to murder in L.A. Unfortunately, she’s good at what she does, and they always find her—the folks with loved ones who are most certainly guilty, but in need of one last chance. Starting life over in New York City is pricey, though, and a desperate mother’s plea is too difficult to resist, especially with the money she offers. Suddenly, Jo is drowning in a tangle of money-laundering, kidnapping and murder, haunted by shadows from the past and guilt over debts unpaid. And then there’s Ellie, the girl who died in Jo’s bathtub As Jo wades through a sea of red herrings, she learns that to save herself, she must do what no one else can...ask the dead.

Genres: Mystery

208 pages, Paperback

First published July 20, 2005

About the author

A New York City transplant now living in Seattle, Joyce Yarrow began her writing life scribbling poems on the subway and observing human behavior from every walk of life.

Joyce is the award-winning author of the Zahara Series and, according to Library Journal, her literary novels of suspense “appeal to readers who enjoy unusual mysteries with an international setting.”

ZAHARA AND THE LOST BOOKS OF LIGHT (Book 1 in the Zahara Series), was awarded 5 Stars by Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and chosen as a Best Book in the Historical Fiction category by the PenCraft Awards (Spring of 2024). It has also been translated into Spanish and Portuguese. The second book in the series, STOLEN LIVES earned the 2024 Firebird Award for International Suspense.

In 2022, her coming-of-age novel SANDSTORM, won a the 2022 gold medal in Women's Fiction at the CIPA/Evvy Awards.

Joyce's other published novels of suspense include ASK THE DEAD, RUSSIAN RECKONING, and RIVERS RUN BACK (co-authored with Arindam Roy).

Yarrow is a Pushcart Prize Nominee with short stories and essays that have been widely published. She is a member of the Sisters in Crime organization and has presented workshops on “The Place of Place in Mystery Writing” at conferences in the US and India.

Reviews

[Marilyn Saul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three-quarters of the way through this book, it was a 4* for me. Then I realized I was getting lost - a LOT! That's not like me - Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy are favorites of mine. But in "Ask the Dead" there were many twists and turns, a plethora of characters (some of whom were well-defined, others of whom were just names mentioned without any real persona to imprint them in one's mind - but they'll show up later, leaving me scratching my head trying to place them), some side-line investigations touched upon in the beginning and then appearing again in the end (such as Amy Bingham appearing 12 pages from the end of the book - who the hell is this??? I'm not about to go through the first half of the book trying to find a reference to her). So, I'm giving it three stars because, overall, I liked the character of Jo Epstein - a strong, sometimes acerbic, sometimes lost, sometimes found woman whom, I'm led to believe, has lots of potential.

[J.G. Follansbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jo Epstein is a PI with a past in LA and a future in New York, or so she thinks. Hoping to start anew, she finds herself wrapped up in money laundering and murder, and a mystery in her own bathtub. Told with a sardonic voice reminiscent of Raymond Chandler, Joyce Yarrow's debut novel is a great start to a series featuring a strong female protagonist. Mystery readers who enjoy New York's ambiance as a city of light and darkness will love the details of life--and death--in the Big Apple, but the narrative is accessible to everyone who likes a hard-boiled gumshoe.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jo Epstein is a PI in New York City, originally from the Bronx. Well, she's trying to escape the PI business, but she can't resist the appeal to help someone no one else will help. She also works parttime at Ted's West Side News. She has a troubling past which led her to close her agency in LA and come back to NY. The varying neighborhoods of the city give the story color and depth.
Ever go to a poetry slam?

Jo is a no-nonsense investigator with a sense of humour.
While working on the new case of the Harlam photographer accused of manslaughter,she runs into the mystery of the missing social worker, the one who might have the info she needs.
Then there's her apartment. A woman died there, committed suicide it seems. Jo doesn't know her name, but she feels akin to her and wonders about her.
There's plenty of action and suspense, all those colorful big city characters, heart, and a depth that most PI series lack.

[F.C. Etier · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Fear not the path of truth for the lack of people walking on it,” is a proverb quoted by Robert F. Kennedy in his last speech. There may be more on that road less traveled than you think. Maybe those travelers are not the lonely wayfarers they think they are. Maybe they just need to look over their own shoulders.
About the time this reviewer decided to become a self proclaimed “apolitical inactivist,” I took an online test to determine my political preferences. The result was, “You want so little government in your life, you’re an anarchist.” Jo Epstein, private investigator, says that Washington Square is the “place where, if you stay alert, you just might see the meaning of life unfold before your eyes, one of the few places I know where it seems that nothing is left to chance.”


Read more: http://blogcritics.org/books/article/...

[Jennifer Cloud · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining and enjoyable.