Wendy Roberts - Devil May Ride (Book 2)

A Ghost Dusters Mystery

Sadie Novak is blessed with the gift of second sight. More of a curse, really, since she's the owner of a crime scene cleanup company and can't get through a job without the ghost of a murder victim popping in for a chat.

Sadie and her sexy partner, Zack, find themselves knee-deep in trouble on their latest job when they stumble over evidence of a chilling cult ritual in an abandoned meth lab, and Sadie comes face-to-face with an evil spirit unlike any she's seen before.
And it's no coincidence that a depleted hoard of stolen cash turns up at her next crime scene just in time to convince a gang meth-deprived motorcyclist that Sadie made off with their money.

With a hell-raising band of bikers hot on her heels, Sadie has to act fast. She knows the threads are all connected, but how ? It's a shock to discover that everything is linked to her own family -- and a secret so dark it makes gossiping with ghost look like child's play.

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Sadie Novak, owner of Scene-2-Clean, a crime scene mopping company, recently took up to clean meth labs in addition to cleaning trauma scenes.
So this time in an adjoining shed near a meth lab she's been cleaning with employee Zack, they find a newborn boy next to a freshly slashed open goat and an evil spirit claiming to be the mother that gave her body and newborn willingly to a cult.
At another scene Sadie finds evidence of ritualistic happenings and also a well hidden huge amount of money.
Sadie gets the sense that the labs are connected to each other without knowing that her dive into her brothers past brings her much nearer into the cults reign then she's ever imagined.

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Devil May Ride is the second novel in about the Ghost Duster Sadie who because of the ability to speak to murder victims, gets deeply involved in solving the belonging case. Unlike The Remains Of The Dead, Devil May Ride couldn't keep up with the fun I enjoyed during the first novel.
I didn't find myself caring for the main plot but more interested in the story of Sadie's brother Brian who killed himself six years earlier.
In the end everything ran pretty much together but the end came fast and uneventful.

Rating:
Visit Wendy Roberts.

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Signet (December 2, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0451225651
ISBN-13: 978-0451225658

Wendy Roberts - The Remains Of The Dead (Book1)

A Ghost Dusters Mystery

Sadie Novak has got the kind of job that kills cocktail chatter dead: She owns Scene-2-Clean, a crime scene cleanup company. And if wiping up after murders weren't enough, she can also see and talk to the ghosts of the victims.

When a grieving relative hires Sadie and her employee, ex-cop Zack Bowman, to clean up after the murder-suicide of Trudy and Grant Toth, Sadie figures she's bound to encounter at least one chatty ghost. But instead she finds herself talking to Kent, a man she meets at the scene who is very much alive--so much so that Sadie agrees to go on a date with him.

When a ghost does appear--the oddly silent Trudy-- the spirit seems determined to prove her husband's innocence, and inspires Sadie to track down the real killer. But as Sadie scours the crime scene, she quickly realizes that she's in way over her head, that Kent has a strange connection to the dead couple, and that someone wants her to give up the ghost ... for good.

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Sadie Novak has a unique occupation that might seem to be disgusting for most people but for her is a salvation to do something good for those left behind. She mops up the blood and guts after a crime scene has been cleared from police. But her job goes far beyond mopping since she developed the ability to see and talk to certain ghosts who died innocently.
Her new assignment brings her and employee Zack to the house of Trudy and Grant Toth - and most certainly she excepts a ghost to show up. It is her goal to help those souls to move on and no longer hang on their earthly life.

But Trudy, the victim, is different. Obviously she was killed by her husband who later killed himself but when the strange, mute ghost tries to communicate with Sadie all she understands is that Trudy believes it wasn't her husband who killed her.
With that being understood Trudy moves on and leaves Sadie with doubts in the watertight evidence the police gathered. Did Trudy try to tell her that Kent, Grants best friend, killed her ?

Sadie begins to investigate on her own with a disastrous outcome, endangering the life of others and her own.

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The Remains Of The Dead is a very easy and cozy mystery that nonetheless is entertaining and suspenseful.
Sadie's blunt way of dealing with the ghost and telling them they have to understand that they are dead so that they can move on shows, that she accepts that she has a gift but clearly could life without it. She is good at heart, helping those that suffer through their grief by not making it more difficult as it is.
Her partner Zack fell a bit short. He's the ex-cop who keeps everything in perspective. He knows of Sadie's gift but doesn't want to have much to do with it in the beginning.

All in all I enjoyed reading this first installment of a paranormal mystery series and am eager to follow up with the second novel Devil May Ride. A third publication in this series is planned for end of 2009 with the title Dead And Kicking.

Rating:
Visit Wendy Roberts.

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Signet (December 4, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0451222687
ISBN-13: 978-0451222688