Forgotten Book Friday – FOOLISH UNDERTAKING
Posted on March 26th, 2010
FOOLISH UNDERTAKING
MARK DE CASTRIQUE
Poisoned Pen Press HC 02/06
In Gainesboro, a small mountain community in North Carolina, Barry Clayton had to give up a promising career elsewhere when he was needed instead at the family business, Clayton and Clayton Funeral Directors. Because of Alzheimer’s disease, Barry’s father could no longer work, and Uncle Wayne needed someone else to keep the Clayton family business from going under. So, of course, Barry returned to help.
But when a client (a dead body) suddenly disappears from the funeral home, Barry—after notifying the local sheriff Tommy Lee Wadkins—realizes that he must also draw upon his own prior training and experience as a former police officer in order to recover the body as quickly and as discreetly as possible. After all, Clayton and Clayton “never lost a body in nearly eight decades of business,” and now is no time to break with tradition.
Barry and Tommy Lee, though, have a very difficult case on their hands, and the identity and prestige of the missing man makes the situation even more complicated and urgent. The missing man is Y’Grok Eban, a Vietnamese immigrant with an extraordinarily impressive record of having heroically assisted many American servicemen in his country in the 60s and 70s, and Y’Grok is scheduled to be buried later in the week when dozens of political and military dignitaries, veterans, and other Vietnamese immigrants are scheduled to attend the funeral.
The early investigation suggests that Y’Grok’s disappearance may, however, be related to something sinister that happened decades ago in Vietnam. Clues begin to accumulate: A cryptic tattoo speaks of a long-buried past; a few of the mourners who arrive for the funeral seem to be too closely guarding old secrets; and an enigmatic message in a letter announces that “Raven has come home!” But when shots are fired at Barry, and when one of the most important persons in town for the funeral is brutally murdered, Barry and Tommy Lee know that they must move quickly to prevent further mayhem in tiny Gainesboro.
FOOLISH UNDERTAKING, Mark de Castrique’s third entry in his cop-turned-reluctant-undertaker series, is incontrovertible proof that this North Carolina native and resident knows how to write a first-rate mystery thriller. A cleverly constructed, fast-paced plot and a colorful cast of characters (including a generous supply of suspects) will keep readers entertained and guessing all the way to the end of the recommended whodunit.
Tags: 60s, American Servicemen, Disappearance, Family Business, Forgotten Book, Funeral Directors, Impressive Record, Military Dignitaries, Missing Man, Mourners, Pen Press, Police Officer, Prestige, Prior Training, Promising Career, Raven, Tommy Lee, Vietnamese Immigrant, Vietnamese Immigrants, Wadkins
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