Dark Undertakings

Rating:
Summary: Clever plotting
Review: Fifty-five-year-old Jim Lapsford was in perfect health. He had not seen a doctor since 1986 until he went last week to see Dr. Lloyd for a bum knee. Now Jim is dead with Dr. Lloyd insisting, without any examination, Jim died from a heart attack

Only an undertake trainee for a month, Drew Slocombe feels something is wrong with the way Dr. Lloyd handles the death, especially someone as healthy as Jim apparently was. Drew begins to wonder if a homicide has occurred. Drew is unable to ignore his hunch because he carries guilt from what happened to a child at his previous job at a hospital. He investigates his feeling that a clever individual killed Jim even knowing it could cost him his latest position.

Once readers accept Drew's need to investigate against the policy of his employer and the expert opinion of a doctor, fans will find the story line quite an exciting amateur sleuth tale. Drew is a wonderful caring person and his spouse Karen is an ideal individual to help the audience understand the hero. The plot is clever as Rebecca Tope keeps the embalming fluid to a minimum and the suspense to a maximum in what is a unique undertaking.

Harriet Klausner