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Dying Echo

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

It's been years since Casey Maldonado visited her hometown, and the only reason she's returning now is to get her brother Ricky out of jail, where he sits after being arrested for the brutal murder of Alicia McManus, his girlfriend of several months. Casey believes in her brother's innocence, but proving that to the cops is a different thing altogether, especially since she has her own murder warrant to worry about. Perhaps even more frightening than the law is Casey's confrontation with her personal demons—the home she shared with her late husband and son, the resentment of her mother, and even the presence of Eric (Embrace the Grim Reaper), who wants to be more than just a friend.

As Casey and her ever-present companion Death investigate Alicia's murder, it becomes clear she was not who she claimed to be, from her name to her non-existent past. Instead of a solid history, she left only questions when she died. Where did she come from? What secrets did she know? And, most importantly, who were the three people she spoke of when Death carried her away?

Casey must sort the truth from the elaborate fiction of Alicia's life in order to clear Ricky's name, but as she reveals the woman's secrets Casey begins to see just how alike their lives appear. Is Casey destined to an existence as empty and dark as Alicia's, or can she overcome the tragedy of her past and move forward into a life worth living?

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 11, 2012
      In Clemens’s flawed fourth Grim Reaper mystery (after 2011’s Flowers for Her Grave), tough-girl crime-solver Casey Maldonado and her sidekick, Death, hitchhike from Florida to her nameless hometown, where her younger brother, Ricky, has been charged with murdering Alicia McManus, a waitress he’d been dating. In order to prove Ricky innocent, Casey and her “sweet, good-hearted, handsome” new friend, Eric Van Diepenbos, have to untangle Alicia’s complicated, tragic past. In between bashing baddies with her hapkido training, Casey suffers such grief over her dead husband and baby son that she wants Death to take her. She also fights to keep her hormones under control when in Eric’s presence, but the sex role reversal of hard-boiled detective and gentle supporting pal never quite comes off because Casey’s too snarky with Eric and he’s too forbearing for their mutual attraction to be convincing. The self-conscious reverberations of classic detective fiction dwindle off into a few feeble whimpers.

    • Kirkus

      July 15, 2012
      A woman with a dark past must confront her demons to save her brother from a murder charge. Ever since a fiery car crash claimed her husband and son, Death has been Casey Maldonado's constant companion. Now she returns to her Colorado hometown in the hope of clearing the name of her brother Ricky, who stands accused of brutally murdering his girlfriend, Alicia McManus. Alicia, a greasy-spoon waitress with no verifiable background, was obviously hiding from something in her past. The cops have no interest in looking further, especially since someone has obligingly framed Ricky by hiding a bloody shirt and incriminating documents in his apartment. Death gives Casey a tip that helps her and her friend Eric, who's come after her despite her efforts to put him off, track Alicia to a small Texas town. There, they discover that 14-year-old Elizabeth Mann, aka Alicia, had vanished on the very day her father was murdered. Though she was never a serious suspect, she'd apparently been on the run for years until whatever she was running from finally caught up with her. Elizabeth's family, including her look-alike cousin, remain in town, but although Elizabeth and her father had been living in his car ever since he lost his job, none of them has any idea who wanted him dead. Casey and Eric, accompanied by the ever-present Death, ask many questions and go through the detritus of the past until they find a motive that can lead them to the killers. Having Death as her tipster makes sleuthing easier for Casey (Flowers for Her Grave, 2011, etc.), whose latest adventure provides mystery, romance and the hope that she'll get her life back together.

      COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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