In his fifth amusing gig after 2003's Murder in the Hearse Degree
, Hitchcock Sewell, sage undertaker by profession and amateur sleuth by inclination, is drawn into a nasty murder case by an old high school chum. A bit rough around the edges, Jonathan "Sisco" Fontaine lives somewhat dangerously, especially after hooking up with a married woman, Polly Weisheit. When Polly's husband turns up dead with a knife in his back, neither Polly nor Sisco phones the police. Sisco's bright idea is an urgent call to Hitch, who rushes over. Hitch politely refuses his friend's request to make the body disappear, but ends up in hot water anyway after neighbors report seeing a hearse at the Weisheit home before police are called to the scene. Cranky Lieutenant Kruk, Hitch's longtime nemesis, is none too pleased to find Hitch involved in another bizarre murder. Toss in decades-old secrets, greed, jealousy, troubled teens, a lovesick thug and nefarious deeds at a local nursing home, and Hitch is neck deep in mayhem. Aunt Billie and ex-wife Julia are along for the ride, as well as Angela, a new love interest for Hitch. Cockey keeps the pace fast, the plot twisted and the laughs plentiful—as always, he does not disappoint. Agent, Richard Pine. (July 7)
