Night of the Loving Dead

November 3, 2008
Sass and the supernatural cross paths in the entertaining fourth Penelope “Pepper” Martin mystery (after 2007's Tombs of Endearment
). Perky, fashion-conscious Pepper, a Cleveland cemetery tour guide and PI for the dead, hopes for a reprieve from ghostly visitors while at a cemetery conference in Chicago. Instead, she lands a gig representing the ghost of snide researcher Madeline Tremayne. Madeline warns that saintly psychologist Dr. Hilton Gerard is working on a shady study—patients go in but they don't come out—and Dan Callahan, his assistant and Pepper's occasional savior, is unwittingly poised to take the fall. Pepper proves once again that great style, quick wit and a sharp eye can solve any mystery, though the rushed conclusion is a little over the top and may disappoint series fans.