Don of the Dead ( Pepper Martin 1) by Casey Daniels

Hello to all,

 i hadn't planned to be silent so long but my health had other ideas and it prevented me to read like i wanted. I'm not healed yet but at least one of the trouble is under control so i had to read a book that was waiting on my night table tempting me.

If you followed me this year you may have seen that i sure read a lot of cozy mystery especially some with ghosts ( Tonya kappes series, Angie fox ones etc) ....while the main center idea is quite similar (a girl solves mysteries for ghosts with their help sometimes) each has a specifity sometimes it's the light humour, the reccurrence of some ghosts, the emotionnal side etc..so when a friend recommended this book "Don of the Dead" i was curious to see which variation it would be and i'm not disappointed ...it's darker than teh other but still with humour and i do plan to see if it's continue like that in the rest of the serie

so without delay here is my opinion on Don of the Dead by Casey Daniels

Happy reading

Publisher: Avon

Publication: 2006

ISBN:  0060821469

Genre: cozy mystery, paranormal
Violence: mild
Language: normal
sex: none
Public: 18+

Source: bought

Short description from goodreads :

 She sees dead people

Beautiful, smart, and chic, Pepper Martin never had to work a day in her life -- until her surgeon daddy was convicted of fraud, her wealthy fiancé took a powder, and the family fortune ran bone dry.

Suddenly desperate, the inexperienced ex-rich girl was forced to take the only job she could get: as a tour guide in a cemetery. But a grave situation took a turn for the worse when a head-on collision with a headstone left her with an unwanted ability to communicate with the disgruntled deceased . . . and now Pepper has a whacked Mafia don demanding that she hunt down his killers -- and threatening to haunt her until she does.

My opinion:

          Very pleasing, now the idea of a woman seeing ghosts and solving mysteries isn't new but i loved the twist and humour in this one. Pepper is an heroine i could come to like a lot....she is persistent, she doesn't give up despite what life threw at her that i really loved what i loved a little less was her willingness to sleep with all the cute guys she come across ( fortunately a certain don made sure it didn't happen)... it's not that i want her to be prude but i prefer real relationship so i do hope she will mature a bit in that domain.

That aside so far from all the book of the genre i've read she is the only one who get something from her ghost client ^^;; i found that amusing especially how he made her react after. Gus may be her " client" and pester her from time to time but deep down he care and he watches over her. i really loved that because in this story they kind of "give" to each other...She helping him find peace he is making her live for herself, see what she is capable of and protect her the best he can ( teaching her the ropes of being a mafia boss^^)....i loved that because from the time he was alive he would probably have been a bit like that too....because he sure needed to seem stern and all for his associated etc but he still cared about his men and their family and had values.

The investigation was well done ( even if i guessed a bit too early to my taste the who and why)it was funny to see Pepper learn how to do that and there are still a few mystery ( like who Dan is really) and it balanced well between the darker moment and the humour ( quite dark at time)

Really it was a pleasing read and i'm happy to have book 2 ready to see if Pepper grows on me. If you want a paranormal cozy mystery a bit darker this is the perfect one.

Score:  3,5/5

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own and i voluntary reviewed this book