DEVIL MAY RIDE
By Wendy Roberts
Obsidian, 2008 ($6.99)
ISBN-10: 0451225651
ISBN-13: 978-0-451-22565-8
Reviewed by Shirley Wetzel
Have you ever wondered who cleans up gruesome crime scenes and other places where people have died of natural or unnatural causes, leaving behind material the average Merry Maid wouldn’t touch? There is an industry that deals with that very problem, and Sadie Novak’s Scene-2-Clean is one of the best in Seattle. Sadie got into the business after having to clean up the decomposing body of her own brother, Brian, a suicide victim. She didn’t want anyone else to have to go through such a terrible ordeal with a loved one. She can handle the blood and guts part with detachment, but a funny thing happened to her after her brother died -- she began to see ghosts, those who need some help crossing to the other side, and some who have their own, evil, agenda. Think of Melinda Gordon with a haz-mat suit and heavy-duty cleaning supplies.
The county is doing a major crackdown on meth labs, and there aren’t enough people to handle the specialized methods of cleaning up volatile and potentially lethal chemicals. As a favor to someone who she owes big time, Sadie and her crew -- Zack, an ex-cop and one-time lover, and Jackie, who has an attitude and a yen for Zack, take on some of the meth lab jobs. One problem with cleaning up and shutting down these labs is that the people who’ve been running them may object, violently, especially if there’s a fortune hidden in the walls. Pretty soon, Sadie’s on the run from some big, bad bikers. As if that’s not bad enough, she’d stumbled across signs of devil worship at one of the sites, setting ghosts with glowing red eyes and live worshippers of the dark arts on her trail too. Add her mother’s nagging about when she’s going to plan her very pregnant sister’s baby shower, some strange goings-on at a bed and breakfast run by her almost-sister-in law, Brian’s fiancée, unwelcome attention from a hot TV news anchor, infuriating news about her sleazy ex-husband, and poor Sadie’s just about ready to turn to drink.
This is the second in the Ghost Dusters Mystery series, following REMAINS OF THE DEAD. While Sadie makes some really dumb decisions -- if I saw a mob of bikers loitering in my driveway in the middle of the night, I do believe I’d call 911 rather than my ex-boyfriend, for example, and if devil worshippers were looking for an infant sacrifice to replace the one I’d deprived them of, I think I’d get any pregnant women I knew out of harm’s way, but that’s just me. Sadie is likable, flaws and all, the plot is well-done, and her career is unique, with just enough detail to be interesting without totally grossing the reader out.
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