Dead And Kicking [Mass Market Paperback]

I have been a big fan of Ms Roberts two previous books in the Ghost Dusters Mystery series, but was disappointed in this one. The mood through the entire book was dark with little, if any, lightness. Sadie was angry, irritable, impulsive, and unreasonable toward everyone. She grumbled over everything and everyone. I realize that death of a family member affects people differently, but her main character was not as charming in this book. I was happy to see the return of characters from past books, and that made the read more enjoyable. The ending seemed abrupt, and while various issues were resolved in points one (check), two (check), and three (check) fashion,.... there was a still a feeling of huh? That's it?
I've donated the previous book copies to my local library for community sharing, but feel uncomfortable donating this one. Overall, it just felt too much heaviness, and the rushed ending wasn't satisfying enough to leave me feeling glad I chose it over some other books.

I loved the last two books in this series & I love this one too, but I'd be lying if I said that it didn't irritate me a little bit. Why? Well, I can't go into that without giving away mondo spoilers, but I'll try my hardest to explain.

This book picks up about a year after the end of the previous book. Zack & Sadie have moved in together, but over the last few months they've been drifting apart. Sadie's dad just passed & she's been seeing his ghost at his house. If that's not enough, Zack's talking to an ex-girlfriend (who obviously still has the hots for him). When Sadie agrees to help clean out said ex's mother's house (the woman was a hoarder), Zack gets injured by a malice-filled ghost & Sadie discovers the corpse of a mummified baby...

(The following may be considered spoilers.)

Where do I start with this book? First off, there's a new love interest introduced in this book. How do they introduce this character? By semi-assassinating the character of Zack Bowman. I say semi-assassinating because while Zack spends much of the book being a jerk, there is enough of a buildup to explain why he acts this way. It's just that honestly it all felt a little forced. It also doesn't help that the new love interest just isn't that interesting & his interactions with Sophie feels a little stiff & un-organic as well. I won't deny that I'm a little irritated that Roberts is introducing a love interest after seemingly wrapping up the "will they or won't they" plot point in the previous book, but I just didn't feel any real sparks between them. (And besides, I would have actually imagined Petrovich to be a better suited love interest for her- there are sparks between the two of them!) It also doesn't help that the plot point that introduced the two of them (a murder scene cleanup in a elementary school) felt really rough & unfinished. I can't help but wonder if Roberts' publishing company leaned on her to add a second love interest for Sadie- after all, such things aren't unheard of in the publishing world. (Patricia Briggs was pressured by her publishers to draw out the love triangle in her books.)

Now what did I like about the book? I loved the amount of detail that Roberts puts in about the crime scene cleanup business & I loved the character of Maeve- she's honestly one of my favorite characters for the series. The suspense in this book was nicely done & as always, Roberts does a very good job at writing. It's just that this book didn't seem to "pop" like the other two books did.

I will continue to buy & read Roberts' stuff as well as continue to recommend it to people, but I can't help but worry a little bit about the future of the series. This isn't a deal breaker, but one of the things I loved about Roberts' series was that the romance didn't seem like a big thing- that the mystery & ghost stuff were the main parts of the books. I guess all I can do is wait & watch.

EDIT:

I had to go back & lower the star rating from 4 stars to 3 stars. The more I thought about it, the more I got irritated by this book. While one or two plot points are dealt with for the most part, a lot of things take a huge jump backwards. I got frustrated because I figured, why put the two of them together in the last book if you are just going to break them up in this one?

I'll still buy the next book when it comes out, but if it's like this one then I'll have to just check these out from the library or read them at work instead.

In Seattle Sadie Novak owns Scene-2-Clean, a firm that cleans up crime scenes. She also is a medium who communicates with the dead. Her job is to help the deceased pass on by removing whatever makes then cling to the earth.

Most spirits she meets are not evil or even hostile, but Sadie and her lover-co-owner of the business Zack are cleaning out the apartment of his former girlfriend Paula's mother when they run into a malevolent ghost who refuses to allow them to enter "his" room. Running out of the place Zack breaks a bone in his foot. A recovering addict, he is not supposed to take drugs, but he does anyway as he moves into Paula's house to heal. Trying to forget Zack's betrayal for the moment, Sadie throws herself into her work and soon finds a mummified baby in one of the boxes. .The remains could be part of a lot Paula's mom bought at a yard sale or flea market or perhaps it something sinister that happened inside the house. Someone is trying to scare Sadie away; but that fails as she keeps cleaning and exploring while the threats turn increasingly violent.

This is an exciting paranormal amateur sleuth starring an audacious courageous psychic who does not fear mortal murders having met malevolent spirits. Sadie's father recently died and though he cannot quite fully materialize she selfishly wants to spend quality time with him before he moves on. The whodunit is cleverly devised to keep the audience absorbed with several delightful solid and ephemeral subplots as Wendy Roberts provides another witty breezy Ghost Dusters Mystery (see The Remains of the Dead).

Harriet Klausner