Date Published: April 17, 2012
ASIN: B007V7UPUU
When Amanda's lying, cheating, scam-artist husband, Charley, saves her life in a near-fatal motorcycle accident, she can almost forgive him for dragging his feet on their divorce. Then she discovers he'd been dead for several hours at the time she thought he rescued her. And not just dead…murdered.
On the good side, at least they are no longer married.
But she's the primary suspect in Charley's murder and, as if that isn't bad enough, Charley's ghost shows up in her apartment. He was rejected, kicked back, not allowed to go into the light. The situation was bad enough when he was alive and trying to charm his way back into her life, but now he claims to be unable to go more than a few yards away from her. She can't even be certain he isn't peeking when she undresses for bed.
Even death did not them part.
As Amanda puts her life in danger in an effort to bring Charley's murderer to justice and send him into the light or the dark or anywhere away from her, she learns her knowledge of Charley's misdeeds is only the tip of a toxic iceberg. Charley blackmailed his murderer, blackmailed Amanda's father, lied about his family being dead when he is actually related to half the town of Silver Creek, Texas, and, with his treachery, has stirred up secrets that will change Amanda's life.
Where to begin....
The title is the first thing about this book that grabbed my attention. Who wouldn't love that?! And of course, the premise seemed promising. Still, I sat on it awhile. Boy am I ever slapping myself for that momentary lapse in judgement!
Amanda was charming. She knew what she wanted and she wasn't about to settle for anything less. And she wanted Charlie, her lying, cheating, no good scam artist of a husband dead. But then he died and while she was over the moon about that, she wasn't too crazy about the fact that she was being blamed for his murder or that the murderer had set his sights on her. Not to mention one pesky little detail: even in death, she couldn't rid herself of Charlie.
"If he weren't already dead, she'd kill him. Rip his lying tongue out of his filthy mouth, cut off his arms and legs with a chainsaw, then shove his body into a wood chipper set on slow."
I found this to be a lighthearted, quirky little story that appeals to my more unconventional sense of humor. Shouldn't Amanda be upset that her husband has just died? Shouldn't she be mourning his loss, his memory, something? Heck no! That jerk put her through the mill and she's just wondering why the heck til death do us part is being clearly ignored by the big man upstairs!
"Somehow, he's managed to cheat death. Not surprising. He'd cheated everybody else."
I really enjoyed the "mystery" woven in, too. it wasn't overly complicated, just mysterious enough for me to form my own conclusions, but never providing enough evidence for me to be sure until closer to the end. Turns out I had it figured out about 50% through, but that didn't detract from the story--it was fun getting there. I will say that this story could benefit from a little more editing (partial sentences that should have been deleted, misplaced commas, etc.) but the story was solid enough for them not to bother me too much and they weren't enough for me to factor them into my rating. It's hard enough writing a story, and the work this author put in shows. I wouldn't dream of giving it anything less than a solid 5 stars. I will be keeping my eye out for #2 in the series!
