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Summary
Summary
He's suave, he's sexy, he's cool . . . and he's an undertaker. Hitchcock Sewell is back in one of the funniest and most fast-paced novels yet, in Tim Cockey's celebrated award-winning series.
A man has been murdered in his kitchen. And the apparent killer wants Hitch to scoop up the body and take it away . . . before the police have arrived. Meanwhile, across town, Hitch smells a rat--maybe two--in the nursing home where an old friend of his has taken up residence. With his matchless wit and uncommon ability to dig out the truth, Hitch is once again up to his old tricks . . . and mystery readers couldn't be happier.
Author Notes
Tim Cockey is the award-winning author of the Hitchcock Sewell novels, including The Hearse You Came In On, Hearse of a Different Color, The Hearse Case Scenario, Murder in the Hearse Degree, and Backstabber. He has been a story analyst for many major film and television companies, including American Playhouse, ABC, and Hallmark Entertainment. He grew up in Baltimore and now lives in New York City.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
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) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Hitchcock Sewell, Baltimore's crime-busting mortician, undertakes to solve a homicide before the cops know it's happened. Sisco Fontaine was never the yearbook staff's choice as most likely to succeed. Now Sisco has a body on his hands. The stiff is Jake Weisheit, owner of the kitchen floor on which he now reposes, dagger protruding from his back. Also present in Mr. Weisheit's plush suburban home is Polly Weisheit, his relict. In a manner of speaking she belongs to Sisco as well, though lovers have shakier legal standing. All Sisco wants from his old schoolmate Hitch is some help disposing of the corpse. He insists that he's innocent, but he's not eager to dial 911 only a few days after publicly threatening to kill the late Mr. Weisheit. Wisely, Hitch turns thumbs down on Sisco's request, but he can never resist an intriguing homicide. Between prepping corpses and beguiling a nonstop array of local females, he proves once again that when it comes to sleuthing, a ratiocinative funeral director can do more than sniff the formaldehyde. Up till now, Hitch's ebullience has carried the series (Murder in the Hearse Degree, 2003, etc.). But when the energy it feeds on flags in this fifth outing, disbelief sets in. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
No more hearse puns ( Hearse of a Different Color0 , etc.) this time, but Cockey's screwball mystery series starring undertaker-sleuth Hitchcock Sewell remains in fine fettle, offering a thoroughly amiable mix of comedy, murder, and mortician mayhem--all set against the daily life of blue-collar Baltimore. In the fifth installment in a series that continues to earn its comparisons to Lawrence Block (the Bernie Rhodenbarr novels) and Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum), Hitch finds a new way to get involved in a murder: his so-called friend Sisco (of the band Sisco and the Kids) calls him to the scene of a crime, hoping that Hitch will be kind of enough to remove a dead body from Sisco's mistress' kitchen floor before 0 the police arrive. Hitch demurs, but before you can say rigor mortis, he's involved in another murder investigation, once again playing dual roles as suspect and sleuth. Numerous other dead bodies turn up along the way--both in and out of the funeral parlor--but Hitch keeps us chuckling throughout. Great entertainment for fans of comic crime capers. --Bill Ott Copyright 2004 Booklist