(Body Movers series)
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5 Bodies to Die For by Stephanie Bond |
| (Mira, $7.99, V) ISBN 978-0778327059 |
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| Carlotta Wren and her madcap group of friends and associates are back for book five of the Body Movers series. It's not quite as macabre as it sounds - Carlotta, at the beginning of the series, has taken on a second job working for the morgue in an attempt to put her life back together. However, she has quickly made the jump from ordinary morgue employee (if
there is such a thing) to amateur sleuth. Now, Carlotta's parents, her friend Michael Lane, and even Carlotta herself are or have been suspects in a string of killings dubbed the Charmed Murders because the killer has a habit of leaving bracelet charms in the mouths of the victims.
At the opening of this installment of the often darkly comical whodunnit series, Carlotta has just realized that her former coworker, Michael Lane, has been camped out in the little-visited room her parents once shared. This is a scary prospect in itself for obvious reasons, but Michael had recently tried to kill Carlotta, and is at the top of the cops' shortlist of suspects. Though Carlotta is having a tough time keeping herself off that same list, Detective Jack Terry is doing his best there and doing as much as he can to keep Carlotta safe - at least until he's booted from the case. One of three men in Carlotta's now bizarrely active social life, Jack's involvement with her - though they've tried to rein it in - is probably what got him kicked off the case. But that's not stopping him from sticking his nose in, anymore than not being a cop has kept Carlotta from doing the same. In the meantime, since Michael Lane - whether or not he is the Charmed Killer - has made a target of Carlotta, she's temporarily staying with her former fiancé, Peter Ashford, much to Peter's delight and Jack's chagrin. And to her concern, the other romantic interest in her life, Coop, hasn't been heard from either by his friends or his boss at the morgue. Periodically, Bond switches perspectives to Carlotta's brother, whose need for Oxycotin grows exponentially worse as the book moves along. Not surprisingly, his love life isn't doing much better. Although his input - at least in book five - doesn't add a whole lot to the story itself, Wes's foibles, though not endearing in the slightest, lend a clarifying sense of reality to the novel. As with your average amateur sleuth, Carlotta's part in the storyline is hard to believe.
Bond does a wonderful job of introducing facts from the previous novels without boring the reader or leaving them in the dark. However, I must warn you that 5 Bodies to Die For or any of its predecessors will drive you to pick up the others - nowhere else will you be able to get such a worthwhile mystery with a touch of romance and a dark twist.
--Sarrah Knight |
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