Sunday Salon: A Hard Day's Fright by Casey Daniels

Can you believe another week has come and gone bringing us to Sunday Salon once again.

Time to share our thoughts on the books we’ve read and/or received. Settle in now, get comfortable and let’s talk books. The book I share today is a light-hearted cozy mystery that has it’s share of surprises and suspense.

A HARD DAY’S FRIGHT by Casey Daniels

Pepper Martin learns it’s a small world (or universe) indeed when her latest client turns out to be the best friend of her boss 40-plus years ago.

Pepper, you see, has an unusual side job. She works as a private investigator for the dead helping them find out who killed them so they can rest in peace. Her paying job is just as unusual, she’s a cemetery tour guide.

It seems Pepper has garnered quite a reputation on the ghostly grapevine so Lucy Pasternak knows just who to see to help her. One night in 1966 Lucy and a group of her friends went to a Beatles concert. Lucy ran on stage, kissed Paul, and then she and her friends headed home. Lucy was the last one off the train that night and she was never seen again. That is until Pepper sees her ghost 45 years later. She wants Pepper to find her killer and her body.

As Pepper begins checking into Lucy’s disappearance, she learns her boss, Ella, was one of Lucy’s friends and the last one off the train before Lucy. Pepper can’t tell her she’s seen Lucy but Ella has always felt guilty about Lucy’s disappearance and is glad Lucy’s checking into it.

Throw into the mix Ella’s 15-year-old daughter, Ariel, who’s rebellious to say the least. Pepper has her own personal problems to deal with too - longing for her ex-boyfriend, Quinn, who took off when she told him she talked to dead people. You’d think a cop could handle such revelations.

When Pepper starts questioning Lucy’s other friends, one turns up missing and another is found hanging from a ceiling fan.

The closer Pepper gets to the killer, the more dangerous it becomes for them all. Can Pepper solve the mystery of Lucy’s death, find her body and keep all the people she loves safe at the same time?

Pepper Martin is a refreshing protagonist that you will be drawn to immediately. She’s got wit, charm and a knack for solving murders. A HARD DAY’S FRIGHT is the 7th installment in the Pepper Martin Mystery series, but is a stand alone book. It will entertain you from beginning to end. Author Casey Daniels weaves in a few surprises along the way and an ending that I didn’t see coming.

Author Casey Daniels’ website is www.caseydaniels.com

A Hard Day’s Fright by Casey Daniels, A Pepper Martin Mystery, Berkley Prime Crime, @2011, ISBN: 9780425240564, Paperback, 304 pages

FTC Full Disclosure - This book was sent to me by the publihser in hopes I would review it. However, receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review.