Book Review: "The Remains of the Dead" by Wendy Roberts

New York, NY: New American Library/Penguin Group, 2007. 272 pages.

Yesterday, I went to the library and rummaged through the new book section and the yellow banner on a book with the words "A Ghost Dusters Mystery," caught my eye. Wouldn't it have caught yours too? The book was "The Remains of the Dead" by Wendy Roberts. This is her first book. If this book is any indication Ms. Roberts is going to be a top selling author. It is well written with interesting characters, humor runs throughout the book, and for a bonus it has a paranormal angle.

The main character is Sadie Novak, she is a former second grade math teacher, who now owns a business called "Scene-2-Clean." It's not your mother's cleaning service; no she specializes in cleaning up messy crimes scenes involving murder and/or suicide with the occasional regular death that goes unnoticed for awhile. I won't tell you why she gets into the business; I'll let you find out for yourself. She calls herself a social pariah because once people know what she does for a living they get a disgusted look on their face and they can't get away from her fast enough. This isn't your normal mystery novel. Not only does Wendy Roberts write from a different slant on a crime scene, but her character Sadie Novak sees ghosts. Not just any ghosts; no she only sees those souls, who have not passed over yet, but she never sees the ghosts of suicide victims.

What I like best about Sadie is her reactions and thoughts about seeing ghosts. Here is an excerpt to illustration what I mean:
Sadie turned around and took a step-and went right through Trudy Toth.
"Eww, yuck!" Sadie shuddered and goose bumps popped out on her arms. "I hate when that happens!" She wagged a finger at Trudy. "Don't sneak up on me!"

See! Sadie is an ordinary human reacting in a normal manner. I can relate to that. By the way, Trudy's death is the mystery Sadie needs to solve. The police say that Grant, Trudy's husband killed her then committed suicide. Trudy says that's not true. Is she right? That's what Sadie with the help of Zack needs to find out.

Zack Bowman, a former police officer, is Sadie's employee and is known to help her, whether she wants the help or not. Not only do we get to tag along with Sadie and Zack while they are on the job and out solving mysteries, but we get to meet her family and learn about her issues with her family. The interaction between Sadie and her sister, Dawn help form a clearer picture of Sadie herself.

I enjoyed "The Remains of the Dead." It is witty, humorous, has strong ties to family and friends, and it is a mystery with a twist of the paranormal interjected into the plot line. I am really looking forward to Wendy Roberts' second book.

If you want to know more about Wendy Roberts, her website is www.wendyroberts.com. The trailer to her website is spectacular; it's worth visiting her website just to view it. Ms. Roberts has a bio, blog, news, and a way to contact her. Good news I just read that she is in the midst of writing her next book "Dating can be Deadly."