Book Title: Don of the Dead- A Pepper Martin Mystery
Author: Casey Daniels
Publishing Company: Avon Books- HarperCollins
Number of Pages: 333
ISBN: 978-0-06-082146-3
Released: May 30^th 2006

Reviewed By: Monika Wierzbicki (Vancouver Correspondent - Canada)

Summer is finally here! Time to dust off your beach bag, suck in your stomach, and head for the water! And if you need some light reading while lolling around those sunny sands throw this one in your tote: Don of the Dead by Casey Daniels. A cute twist on a familiar formula, Don of the Dead takes a mystery story and spritzes it up so that it is just original and appealing enough to make you want to read it. A combination of Nancy Drew meets The Sopranos, this light-hearted little romp introduces us to Pepper Martin, a spunky and stylish redhead slogging her way through a tour guiding job at the local cemetery. After her wealthy father's fall from grace via insurance scam and her own disastrous broken engagement, Pepper finds herself struggling along as a less than enthusiastic cemetery tour guide.  

Her life suddenly changes further when one day a chance bump on the head at work gives her that famous "sixth sense" ability that no one would envy, that's right, the lady can see dead people. Said dead guy is Augustino (Gus) Scarpetti, an old time mobster who needs Pepper's help in solving his own murder which occurred thirty years ago. Naturally the two are an instant odd couple and hi-jinx inevitably ensue. If you are thinking that there might be a cliché or twenty brewing in this mix then you'd quite obviously be right. To be fair though, writing a murder mystery about well endowed women, or the mafia for that matter, is fairly difficult to do without running into a few clichés. So I'll save you some suspense- yes Gus does seem a bit like he came off of a Godfather/Sopranos/Goodfellas template, and yes Pepper does use her ... assets to aid her in solving the case. Clichés and stereotypes a-plenty but in the end it really does not matter.

The ghostly twist on what could have been just another little mystery for women makes it unique, fun, and light hearted, all aspects often lacking in regular mysteries which can sometimes make them less appealing for women.  

Keeping in mind that this is the perfect time of year to indulge in a little fun reading, Don of the Dead is a great way to pass a summer day. This is chick-lit perfect for bed, beach, or bath and with the promise of a continuing series of these books, hopefully Casey Daniels' stories will keep us company on plenty of beach blankets to come!