Fatal Undertaking

Starred review from August 1, 2010

When the son of Gainesboro's (NC) wealthiest man is murdered in a coffin donated by funeral director Barry Clayton (Final Undertaking) to the Jaycees' Halloween fund-raiser, Barry investigates the crime in his other job as deputy sheriff. Complicating the situation is the arrival of Barry's ex-wife, an unstoppable investigative reporter. VERDICT De Castrique writes complicated mysteries that lead his sleuth on journeys of self-discovery while unwrapping the motivations behind murder. Here the focus is on how greed warps the human spirit. De Castrique's unassuming but commanding prose style is comparable to James Lee Burke and Margaret Maron. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 5/1/05.]

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2010
Funeral director and part-time sheriff Barry Claytons latest case begins when local businessman and Jaycee member Archie Donovan asks to borrow a casket for a Halloween haunted house. The charity event turns into a murder investigation when the Jaycee president is murdered in the casket, and the national press descends upon sleepy Gainesboro, North Carolina. As Barry investigates, readers will learn that North Carolina has a new major cash crop, Christmas trees, and that the workers who tend the trees are sometimes illegal immigrants. The murder victim, son of a local power broker, had plenty of enemies; but he was not the person who was supposed to be the ghost in the casket. Was he murdered by mistake? Complicating matters is the fact that one of the reporters on the scene is Barrys ex-wife, Rachel. In the fifth in his Undertaking series, de Castrique gives readers a tantalizing mystery full of humor and eccentric characters, along with a nice dollop of current social issues.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)

August 23, 2010
When the stabbed body of Jaycees president Carl Atkinson turns up in a coffin at the Jaycees' Halloween haunted house fund-raiser, Barry Clayton investigates in de Castrique's absorbing fifth mystery to feature the Gainesboro, N.C., undertaker and police officer. Since Carl wasn't supposed to be in the coffin, might someone else have been the intended victim? Barry's carefully ordered universe shifts on the arrival of his ex-wife, Rachel, a reporter for a cable news network, looking for the scoop of a lifetime. As Barry and his fellow cops try to solve the Atkinson murder without upsetting Carl's town-bigwig father, they must also contend with a shooting incident, an illicit affair, spousal abuse, and Christmas tree rustlers. Filled with ample wit, wry humor, and multiple plot twists, this is a fine place to start for anyone who has yet to meet Buryin' Barry and a welcome visit for those who have.