Final Undertaking

February 5, 2007
In this colorful, engrossing fourth adventure for funeral home owner and former cop Barry Clayton (after 2006's Foolish Undertaking
), an ordinary afternoon in Gainesboro, N.C., is interrupted when an elderly man visiting from Florida opens fire on Main Street. The shooter, Mitch Kowalski, hits a handful of people, including sheriff Tommy Lee Wadkins, who, from his hospital bed, asks Clayton to take over the investigation. Clayton suspects the recent death of Kowalski's octogenarian wife had something to do with his inexplicable shooting spree. When Clayton heads to the Sunshine State to dig a little deeper into Kowalski's past, he learns that Kowalski's late wife had been taking medicine that hadn't been prescribed to her. More people will die before Clayton gets to the bottom of a nefarious medical scam. De Castrique has married the complexity and fast pace of a police procedural with the folksy setting and lovable characters of a cozy.

Starred review from April 1, 2007
At the summer street dance in the North Carolina town of Gainsborough, four people, including Sheriff Tommy Lee Wadkin, are gunned down by an elderly man upset over his wife's death. Ex-cop Barry Clayton is sworn in as a deputy and put in charge of the case. Nothing, however, is simple in a de Castrique mystery, and this fourth series entry (after "Foolish Undertaking") features his trademark plot twists and turns. Juggling the case, the family funeral business, and his dad's Alzheimer's leaves Barry a bit frazzled but still capable of figuring out what happened. For readers who enjoy mysteries with a bit more depth, de Castrique offers original plots, strikingly human characters, and a heartwarming portrait of American culture. His writing is to be savored; recommenced for all libraries. De Castrique lives in Charlotte, NC.

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.