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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Ever since the former rich girl-turned-Cleveland cemetery tour guide banged her head on a headstone, she sees dead people. Worse still, she hears them--and they won't shut up! Now it's Didi Bowman, a poodle-skirted relic from the Great Beyond, who's bending Pepper's ear, complaining that her famous author sister, Merilee, has done her wrong. Trouble is, if Pepper proves it, she'll break the hearts of millions of Merilee's fans. And if she doesn't, Didi's ghost may never go away.
Pepper needs peace and quiet (and rent money), so the cash-strapped ex-heiress agrees to take a job as Merilee's secretary and dig around the family tree. But when she unearths more than she bargained for--like an illegitimate daughter, a bunch of illicit love affairs, and a possible murder--suddenly a very poisoned pen is all set to write Pepper out of the story permanently.
One of my favourite series.
Pepper needs peace and quiet (and rent money), so the cash-strapped ex-heiress agrees to take a job as Merilee's secretary and dig around the family tree. But when she unearths more than she bargained for--like an illegitimate daughter, a bunch of illicit love affairs, and a possible murder--suddenly a very poisoned pen is all set to write Pepper out of the story permanently.
One of my favourite series.
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Pepper Martin's boss at Garden View Cemetery has just gotten some exciting news; you see Ella is the president of the fan club for the multi million selling book So Far The Dawn, which was turned into a highly successful film [think bigger then the Harry Potter and Twilight series combined] and the book's reclusive author Merilee Bowman is returning to Cleveland for the premiere of the new digital version of the movie, as well as overseeing the completion of the So Far The Dawn museum [it'll be connected to the author's old family home].
But there is some bad news too; Merilee's summer long stay in Cleveland means that paparazzi and fans follow her and the wave of publicity and crowds of people means that there won't be any tours of the cemetery for the summer. No tours means there is no need for a tour guide, so Pepper is now temporarily out of a job.
That's problem one; problem two is that Pepper has encountered another ghost. Didi Bowman is Merilee's long dead younger sister and she is claiming that it was actually her that wrote So Far The Dawn and now she has to watch her granddaughter live just above the breadline with few friends, while Merilee is living in luxury with her ill-gotten royalties.
Desperate for both money and peace, Pepper finds herself agreeing to be a live in assistant to Merilee for the summer. But will she help Didi - and indirectly her granddaughter - by involving herself in the world of fraud and proving that Merilee is a fraud and what about Merilee's manic fans?
The thing that I thought about before I'd begun to read THE CHICK AND THE DEAD was how the author was going to expand Pepper's ability to see any more ghosts. In the first book she only saw the ghost of Gus Scarpetti - the man whose headstone that she banged her head on and that's it. There was no suggestion that she is able to see other ghosts and as Gus has now gone how was the author going to progress things?
In this book she does see multiple ghosts and it's implied that she isn't being bombarded by ghosts asking for her help because she has just come into her 'gift', so they simply don't know that she can communicate with them. That does makes sense, but now I'd like more information on her 'gift' since we now know that it wasn't a one off freak accident - but I suppose that isn't yet any way for her to learn about it and for the author to work information naturally into the storyline. But it's something I'd like to have the author somehow expand on soon.
I found ex-society-princess-turned-jailbird's-daughter Pepper more likable as she seems more alert to her surroundings and the people in them this time around, which is good as it shows that she is learning and retaining skills from her previous adventure.Yes; we do still repeatedly about Pepper's ample chest, but as she demonstrates a bit more brain power this time, as opposed to flashing cleavage non-stop to get answers from people I can [just about] put up with it. She does think about her incarcerated Dad a few times, but this is to show where her trust and self-belief issues originate and it doesn't come across as a pity party. One scene that sticks with me is seemingly innocent and seemingly meaningless at first glance; Pepper is in her apartment with nothing to do and as she thinks of things she dismisses them as her friends have dumped her, so she has no-one to do them with.
Once again Pepper refuses to get involved with our central spook and her problems, as she knows that resolving Gus's murder involved a huge helping of luck and - oh yeah - she was almost killed. Unfortunately for Pepper Didi Bowman knows hows to lay on the guilt in order to push Pepper into a corner and get her to help her [as did Gus in the first book].
I'd previously thought that the guilt tripping was simply Gus and his mafioso don attitude, but now I think that it must be the ghosts general desperation after finally finding someone who actually is able to help them after being stuck on earth for so many years after their deaths. I have the third book in the series [Tombs Of Endearment], so I'll soon see if that theory pans out.
I enjoyed the whole mystery plot-line a lot more this time round, mainly because Didi does accompany Pepper for various parts, so we're not just following one woman stumbling around and thinking over various points. True; I could see the who/why ahead of time, but I still had fun following the twists and turns along the way.
More added fun comes from the fact that we don't know who is telling the truth; Didi is soon exposed as a daydreamer, who is prone to making things up because "it's fun to pretend", but Merilee hasn't published another book, so has Merilee not published another book because she is simply a perfectionist, or is it just because she can't write after all?
The love interests are still mainly background dressing; For me doctor Dan is emerging as the more interesting of the two. He has less 'page time', but his Big Secret promises to answer some of the questions Pepper [and I] have and could progress the series as a whole. So yeah - team Dan.
I took an instant dislike to homicide detective Quinn and his alpha male behaviour in the first book and his attitude in this book hasn't inspired me to warm to him; he swings between an irrational barely suppressed anger towards Pepper and flirting with her. Oh and at one one point he tells Pepper that he knows her well enough to not believe her over something [double checks that THE CHICK AND THE DEAAD is indeed the second book in the series], but as she points out he doesn't really know her at all.
Sadly [for me at least] so far Pepper seems to be more attracted to Quinn then she is to Dan, so he is emerging as the primary love interest. Sigh. It's early days so hopefully that can [and will] change. I'm sure some people will find Quinn protective and romantic, but I don't fall into that camp.
THE CHICK AND THE DEAD still isn't a perfect entry to the Pepper Martin series, but it did pull me into the story more and the author has rounded out the character of Pepper out fully, as well as introducing her boss Ella deeper into things - in the first book I kept reading her name, then forgetting who she actually was. Hopefully the author will now flesh out Dan a bit more - I don't want the series to focus too much on romance, but the love interests are just cardboard cutouts at this point.
THE CHICK AND THE DEAD does contain a few reference to characters from the first book, but it is able to be read as a stand alone book.
** Don Of The Dead is the first book in the Pepper Martin Mysteries series **
But there is some bad news too; Merilee's summer long stay in Cleveland means that paparazzi and fans follow her and the wave of publicity and crowds of people means that there won't be any tours of the cemetery for the summer. No tours means there is no need for a tour guide, so Pepper is now temporarily out of a job.
That's problem one; problem two is that Pepper has encountered another ghost. Didi Bowman is Merilee's long dead younger sister and she is claiming that it was actually her that wrote So Far The Dawn and now she has to watch her granddaughter live just above the breadline with few friends, while Merilee is living in luxury with her ill-gotten royalties.
Desperate for both money and peace, Pepper finds herself agreeing to be a live in assistant to Merilee for the summer. But will she help Didi - and indirectly her granddaughter - by involving herself in the world of fraud and proving that Merilee is a fraud and what about Merilee's manic fans?
The thing that I thought about before I'd begun to read THE CHICK AND THE DEAD was how the author was going to expand Pepper's ability to see any more ghosts. In the first book she only saw the ghost of Gus Scarpetti - the man whose headstone that she banged her head on and that's it. There was no suggestion that she is able to see other ghosts and as Gus has now gone how was the author going to progress things?
In this book she does see multiple ghosts and it's implied that she isn't being bombarded by ghosts asking for her help because she has just come into her 'gift', so they simply don't know that she can communicate with them. That does makes sense, but now I'd like more information on her 'gift' since we now know that it wasn't a one off freak accident - but I suppose that isn't yet any way for her to learn about it and for the author to work information naturally into the storyline. But it's something I'd like to have the author somehow expand on soon.
I found ex-society-princess-turned-jailbird's-daughter Pepper more likable as she seems more alert to her surroundings and the people in them this time around, which is good as it shows that she is learning and retaining skills from her previous adventure.Yes; we do still repeatedly about Pepper's ample chest, but as she demonstrates a bit more brain power this time, as opposed to flashing cleavage non-stop to get answers from people I can [just about] put up with it. She does think about her incarcerated Dad a few times, but this is to show where her trust and self-belief issues originate and it doesn't come across as a pity party. One scene that sticks with me is seemingly innocent and seemingly meaningless at first glance; Pepper is in her apartment with nothing to do and as she thinks of things she dismisses them as her friends have dumped her, so she has no-one to do them with.
Once again Pepper refuses to get involved with our central spook and her problems, as she knows that resolving Gus's murder involved a huge helping of luck and - oh yeah - she was almost killed. Unfortunately for Pepper Didi Bowman knows hows to lay on the guilt in order to push Pepper into a corner and get her to help her [as did Gus in the first book].
I'd previously thought that the guilt tripping was simply Gus and his mafioso don attitude, but now I think that it must be the ghosts general desperation after finally finding someone who actually is able to help them after being stuck on earth for so many years after their deaths. I have the third book in the series [Tombs Of Endearment], so I'll soon see if that theory pans out.
I enjoyed the whole mystery plot-line a lot more this time round, mainly because Didi does accompany Pepper for various parts, so we're not just following one woman stumbling around and thinking over various points. True; I could see the who/why ahead of time, but I still had fun following the twists and turns along the way.
More added fun comes from the fact that we don't know who is telling the truth; Didi is soon exposed as a daydreamer, who is prone to making things up because "it's fun to pretend", but Merilee hasn't published another book, so has Merilee not published another book because she is simply a perfectionist, or is it just because she can't write after all?
The love interests are still mainly background dressing; For me doctor Dan is emerging as the more interesting of the two. He has less 'page time', but his Big Secret promises to answer some of the questions Pepper [and I] have and could progress the series as a whole. So yeah - team Dan.
I took an instant dislike to homicide detective Quinn and his alpha male behaviour in the first book and his attitude in this book hasn't inspired me to warm to him; he swings between an irrational barely suppressed anger towards Pepper and flirting with her. Oh and at one one point he tells Pepper that he knows her well enough to not believe her over something [double checks that THE CHICK AND THE DEAAD is indeed the second book in the series], but as she points out he doesn't really know her at all.
Sadly [for me at least] so far Pepper seems to be more attracted to Quinn then she is to Dan, so he is emerging as the primary love interest. Sigh. It's early days so hopefully that can [and will] change. I'm sure some people will find Quinn protective and romantic, but I don't fall into that camp.
THE CHICK AND THE DEAD still isn't a perfect entry to the Pepper Martin series, but it did pull me into the story more and the author has rounded out the character of Pepper out fully, as well as introducing her boss Ella deeper into things - in the first book I kept reading her name, then forgetting who she actually was. Hopefully the author will now flesh out Dan a bit more - I don't want the series to focus too much on romance, but the love interests are just cardboard cutouts at this point.
THE CHICK AND THE DEAD does contain a few reference to characters from the first book, but it is able to be read as a stand alone book.
** Don Of The Dead is the first book in the Pepper Martin Mysteries series **
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
19 reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Better than the first in the series...
23 July 2007
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Pepper Martin's life has definitely taken some unexpected twists. Her father's unexpected imprisonment and bankruptcy has turned her life of leisure into one spent as a tour guide at the Garden View Cemetery. Worse yet, she has started seeing ghosts! This time her ghostly visitor is Didi Bowman, sister of the bestselling author of So Far the Dawn. Or is she? Didi alleges that Merilee took credit for writing the manuscript that was actually Didi's. Pepper doesn't want to investigate, but money issues force her into it. Unfortunately, some secrets may be worth dying for....
THE CHICK AND THE DEAD is the sequel to DON OF THE DEAD and has a lot more depth to it than the first book. Pepper is still focused on the luxuries in life, but she seems to have more spunk than in the first novel. In DON OF THE DEAD, Pepper seemed to blunder her way into things but she is starting to think things through a bit better in THE CHICK AND THE DEAD. I enjoyed seeing the growth in her character and it made me much more appreciative of the storyline.
Casey Daniels does a good job at maintaining the quirkiness of a character talking to ghosts. Pepper isn't handed all of the answers by Didi and it is fun to see Pepper uncover the mystery. THE CHICK AND THE DEAD isn't a hardcore mystery but is a fun and lighthearted story. I had some concerns in the previous book about the men in Pepper's life, Quinn Harrison and Dan Callahan, but Casey Daniels seems to have some ongoing threads developing that are quite intriguing in THE CHICK AND THE DEAD.
THE CHICK AND THE DEAD is a solid sophomore effort for the series. Pepper Martin is turning into a very entertaining amateur sleuth. What a fun story!
COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES
THE CHICK AND THE DEAD is the sequel to DON OF THE DEAD and has a lot more depth to it than the first book. Pepper is still focused on the luxuries in life, but she seems to have more spunk than in the first novel. In DON OF THE DEAD, Pepper seemed to blunder her way into things but she is starting to think things through a bit better in THE CHICK AND THE DEAD. I enjoyed seeing the growth in her character and it made me much more appreciative of the storyline.
Casey Daniels does a good job at maintaining the quirkiness of a character talking to ghosts. Pepper isn't handed all of the answers by Didi and it is fun to see Pepper uncover the mystery. THE CHICK AND THE DEAD isn't a hardcore mystery but is a fun and lighthearted story. I had some concerns in the previous book about the men in Pepper's life, Quinn Harrison and Dan Callahan, but Casey Daniels seems to have some ongoing threads developing that are quite intriguing in THE CHICK AND THE DEAD.
THE CHICK AND THE DEAD is a solid sophomore effort for the series. Pepper Martin is turning into a very entertaining amateur sleuth. What a fun story!
COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
An entertaining mystery series targeted at a younger generation
17 April 2007
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The second book in Casey Daniels' mystery series about former rich girl Pepper Martin picks up right where Don of the Dead, the first book in the series, left off. In the last book, Pepper took on a job as a tour guide in a Cleveland cemetery and--in one of the hazards of the job, hit her head on one of the headstones. When Pepper woke up, she discovered that she could see dead people, and one of them, a Mafia don named Gus Scarpetti, sought her help in solving his murder. In exchange for $9000, Pepper took on the role of amateur sleuth, but after nearly being killed vowed to get out of the crime solving business.
That was before famous author Merilee Bowman came into town and caused Pepper to be laid off from her job as a tour guide. Merilee, the author of the successful novel So Far the Dawn, brings paparazzi and press with her and the rash of publicity means that there's no need for tours of the cemetery. Dejected, Pepper has to find a new way to make money, since she's spent nearly all of the $9000 she made from solving her first case on new clothes and old debt. When Merilee's deceased sister, Didi, shows up and asks Pepper to help her prove that she is the true author of So Far the Dawn, Pepper is hesitant. At least, until she realizes she might get a small cut of the millions of dollars in royalties earned by the book if she helps prove that Didi is the real author.
The Pepper Martin series is a fun, entertaining mystery series aimed at the younger generation. It just goes to show that there is more to mystery than Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes. Pepper is a young, vivacious 20-something who is fun-to-read about and interesting to boot. The scrapes she gets caught in are increasingly hilarious and closer to chick lit than a stodgy old mystery. I didn't read the first book in the series, Don of the Dead, but I caught on fine when I started with this book. I'd recommend the Pepper Martin series to anyone in the mood for a light mystery series targeted at a younger generation that is just as much romantic comedy as it is super sleuth story.
That was before famous author Merilee Bowman came into town and caused Pepper to be laid off from her job as a tour guide. Merilee, the author of the successful novel So Far the Dawn, brings paparazzi and press with her and the rash of publicity means that there's no need for tours of the cemetery. Dejected, Pepper has to find a new way to make money, since she's spent nearly all of the $9000 she made from solving her first case on new clothes and old debt. When Merilee's deceased sister, Didi, shows up and asks Pepper to help her prove that she is the true author of So Far the Dawn, Pepper is hesitant. At least, until she realizes she might get a small cut of the millions of dollars in royalties earned by the book if she helps prove that Didi is the real author.
The Pepper Martin series is a fun, entertaining mystery series aimed at the younger generation. It just goes to show that there is more to mystery than Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes. Pepper is a young, vivacious 20-something who is fun-to-read about and interesting to boot. The scrapes she gets caught in are increasingly hilarious and closer to chick lit than a stodgy old mystery. I didn't read the first book in the series, Don of the Dead, but I caught on fine when I started with this book. I'd recommend the Pepper Martin series to anyone in the mood for a light mystery series targeted at a younger generation that is just as much romantic comedy as it is super sleuth story.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Great cozy series with a ghost
13 Mar 2007
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Pepper Martin has just finished solving Gus' murder and is happy she won't be seeing ghosts any more, until Didi Bowman shows up who's been dead for fifty years. She claims she's the real author of the Civil War novel "So Far The Dawn" by Merilee Bowman, her sister. Merilee is coming to town for the opening of the new museum related to the book and Pepper's boss Ella at the cemetery turns out to be a huge fan of her book.
Pepper decides to look into Didi's claims, but is often unsure of whether she believes Didi. She ends up working for Merilee which is no picnic. When there's an attempt at Pepper's life, she decides there must be something to this and starts digging deeper. She knows this is probably putting her in more danger. Detective Quinn Harrison was watching her back, wasn't he? Could she figure out who the real author of the novel is without ending up in the cemetery permanently?
I love this fun cozy series. Pepper is such a great character. She's funny but definitely not stupid. There aren't many ghost mysteries I like, but I love this series. I like how Pepper often says things in public to a ghost and has to quick cover up the fact that she was talking to a ghost. I like the sexual tension between Pepper and Quinn. The mystique of Dan adds to the series as well.
I can't wait for the next one. I highly recommend this book and series.
Pepper decides to look into Didi's claims, but is often unsure of whether she believes Didi. She ends up working for Merilee which is no picnic. When there's an attempt at Pepper's life, she decides there must be something to this and starts digging deeper. She knows this is probably putting her in more danger. Detective Quinn Harrison was watching her back, wasn't he? Could she figure out who the real author of the novel is without ending up in the cemetery permanently?
I love this fun cozy series. Pepper is such a great character. She's funny but definitely not stupid. There aren't many ghost mysteries I like, but I love this series. I like how Pepper often says things in public to a ghost and has to quick cover up the fact that she was talking to a ghost. I like the sexual tension between Pepper and Quinn. The mystique of Dan adds to the series as well.
I can't wait for the next one. I highly recommend this book and series.
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