A Grim Reaper's Guide to Catching a Killer

September 1, 2024
The unlikely duo of a grim reaper and her teenage catch investigate the boy's insistence that his death was murder. Everything you've heard about death is true, from the soul moving on to another place to the grim reaper coming to collect you. Well, that last part is a little more bureaucratic than you'd think, thanks to S.C.Y.T.H.E. (Secure Collection, Yielding, and Transportation of Human Essences), an under-the-radar agency that's just like the post office except that instead of delivering mail, it collects souls. Like all bureaucracies, S.C.Y.T.H.E. is full of employees who are just doing their jobs without asking a lot of questions, and middle-aged Kathy Valence is one of them--at least until she goes on a routine pickup and learns that 507032, the soul of 17-year-old Conner Ortiz, is nowhere to be found. With just 45 days to get Conner to move on or become a ghost, Kathy has no idea what to do, and her intense boss, Stu Calhoun, seems to have a bee in his bonnet about the case. Weird. Nor is that the extent of Kathy's troubles, since she's still sorting things out as a soon-to-be first-time mother with her almost-ex-husband, Simon. Maybe this crazy case is the perfect distraction from her personal life. Once Kathy finally finds Conner, things only get more complicated. He insists that he's been murdered by someone within the S.C.Y.T.H.E. organization, and he refuses to go with Kathy until she helps him figure it all out. Unsure whether she has any other options, Kathy teams up with Conner in a chalk-and-cheese combination sure to lighten the darkest mood. Come for the mystery, stay for the punched-up pairing. This new series is one to watch.

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Starred review from September 1, 2024

DEBUT Kathy Valence is 42, mid-divorce, and six months pregnant. She feels her life is a mess, except for her job with S.C.Y.T.H.E. (Secure Collection, Yielding, and Transportation of Human Essences), where she's a soul-collection agent. As a nondescript middle-aged woman, she's deemed perfect for collecting souls to help them move on to the next stage. Souls have 45 days to move on, or they're doomed to remain as ghosts on Earth. But Kathy's latest case, 17-year-old Conner, is a problem. Conner is supposed to have died from a seizure, but when Kathy tracks down his soul, his essence, he insists someone from S.C.Y.T.H.E. murdered him. Now Kathy, who's feeling lonely and whose marriage dissolved in part because of her low self-esteem, is forced to ask for help. She gathers together Conner, Simon (Kathy's ex-husband), and a retired coworker, Jo. Together the small band will hunt down a killer within S.C.Y.T.H.E. despite danger, break-ins, and threats. Kathy is determined to help the angry teen she's learned to love. VERDICT This debut paranormal mystery offers humor, love, and a strong cast of characters who form a found family. S.C.Y.T.H.E. is a fascinating premise that offers great possibilities for future mysteries.--Lesa Holstine

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2024
In this paranormal cozy mystery debut, things are not going well for Kathy Valence. She works for a soul collection agency in the natural causes division, but while the body of a teenager is on the floor, the soul she is meant to collect--in order for it to be led to the next, mysterious realm--has disappeared. Once she finds the soul, he tells her he didn't die by natural causes at all, so in order to prevent him becoming a ghost forever stuck on earth--and to appease her bosses--Kathy becomes a reluctant sleuth, and in the process begins investigating her own organization, corporate structured "grim reapers." To further complicate matters, she's pregnant by the man that she is in the process of divorcing. Fun and lighthearted despite the presence of death, the characters are relatable and funny, and the paranormal aspects are balanced with the ordinariness of Kathy's messy life. The ending fleshes out this creative premise and sets the book up for the next in a heartwarming series.

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