Synopsis

When a determined killer targets her brother, a grim reaper risks everything to save him in this delightful cozy mystery.

Nora Bird works for S.C.Y.T.H.E., which might seem odd for someone as terrified of death as she is. But ever since her parents died in an accident when she was six, she’s been obsessed with avoiding risk, and what better place to learn how to cheat death than the company that employs the nation’s grim reapers?

The work enables Nora to learn all about the myriad ways you can kick the bucket, which is comforting…until one day, a file crosses her desk with a name she recognizes. Her twin brother’s.

The twins haven’t spoken in six months, but Charlie is all Nora has left. Completely against her cautious nature, Nora steals the file and flees, racing to her brother’s house. She begs him to trust her that his death is imminent, and they hit the road (with his parrot, Jessica, who has plenty to say) in an attempt to evade both death and S.C.Y.T.H.E., whose sole mission of collecting souls has been disrupted by Charlie’s continued existence.

Alas, every time Nora saves him, a new cause of death appears in his file. Someone is determined to take Charlie out, and Nora will have to use everything she’s ever learned about death to discover the culprit.

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Review

Death comes, but sometimes when you are least expecting it.

Nora works for S.C.Y.T.H.E., the organization that collects souls when a person dies. But when she comes across her twin brother’s file, all the rules go out the window. What ensues is an adventure to help her brother avoid death, while uncovering a mystery she didn’t even know existed.

This novel had me laughing and shaking my head at Nora’s antics. Nora is petrified of life, or maybe it is really the fear of dying. She can’t help it after losing both of her parents at eight, but she takes this to a whole new level. Her twin, Charlie, appears to be the opposite. He takes life by the horns and doesn’t care what happens. This could be his downfall!

While Nora and Charlie are on the run from S.C.Y.T.H.E., they uncover the truth about their parents and a few other family tidbits. I don’t want to give away too much, but once they land in Virgo Bay, life isn’t the same.

I appreciated Nora’s cautious nature, but after a while, I just wanted to shake her and tell her to live life, not live life in fear of the unknown. I can only imagine how wearing it is on the psyche to not enjoy life and live in fear. I also wanted to tell Charlie to take things a little more seriously.

I liked how the story unfolded and the mystery that had to be solved. There were so many possibilities, but I did not guess correctly. The author leaves quite a few red herrings around!

When I looked at the genres assigned to this book, I don’t think I agree with several of them. This is not a horror or a thriller. I can get on board with it labeled as a cozy mystery.

This is the second book in the series. I usually don’t want to read a series out of order, but I felt this book could be read as a standalone. However, there might be useful information on Nora’s background and how she came to work for S.C.Y.T.H.E. that would have been helpful when reading this book. The author does provide some background, but not as much as you might get from the first book.

We give this book 4 1/2 paws only because by the end, Nora was a bit annoying! But I still highly recommend the book.

About the Author

Maxie Dara is from a tiny, Hallmark movie-style town in Ontario, Canada, where she works as a writer and actress, because rejection-heavy careers are her passion. She is also a two-time award-winning playwright. Maxie knew she wanted to be a writer at the age of seven, when she first fell in love with the written word. She also wanted to be a mermaid, but has mostly focused on the writing side of things.

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