This is a decent murder mystery featuring “grim reapers” and dead souls. It’s funny at times and includes some colorful support characters who clearly will play a big role in future novels in the series. I found it through a “Book Riot” recommendation. Book Riot is one of those book accounts on FB that pops up in my feed regularly and sometimes makes pretty good recommendations. A Grim Reaper’s Guide was good; not “wow, I can’t wait to read the rest of this series” good, but if I were searching for something to read and the next volume was out there, I’d give it a go.
Kathy Valence is the kind of office worker who is competent at her job, doesn’t stand out in any way, and prefers to keep to herself. She’s not one to go out drinking with the rest of the gang, but she will chit chat and keep things friendly. Kathy prefers to go home, put on the comfy pants and fall asleep in front of the TV. Yet, her life is not completely typical or boring. First of all she works for SCYTHE (Secure Collection, Yielding, and Transportation of Human Essences) in the natural causes department. This means that when someone dies of natural causes, she goes to collect the soul and moves them on to processing so they can pass on to the next life (whatever that is). SCYTHE agents have some interesting tools that allow them to do their job without notice of the public, and most souls go along without incident. But not all. Seventeen year old Conner is not going quietly. He is sure that he was murdered, but he is unable to recall important details surrounding the days leading up to his death. Kathy is initially dubious, but as she tries to talk to Conner, she collects clues indicating that perhaps murder by someone in SCYTHE is not out of the question. The clock is ticking; if a soul is not collected and processed within 45 days, it turns into a ghost, never to leave its earthly haunts. Kathy now finds herself wondering who at SCYTHE could be capable of murder and why. She feels like she’s in over her head and knows she is in grave danger. Kathy’s impression of herself is that she mostly is a failure, having what she calls the “sadim” touch — that’s the opposite of the Midas touch. Yet as she gets to know Conner, she finds that she is more willing to take risks to find the truth and save his soul.
Kathy’s quest for the truth is complicated by the fact that she is pregnant and that she is in the process of divorcing her husband Simon. She is convinced her “sadim” touch has her doomed as a parent so she is terrified at the thought of motherhood. And she actually really loves her husband, but she has kept him in the dark about her day job and feels like this is necessary to keep him safe (and perhaps to protect herself from a devastating rejection if he knew the truth). The thing is, Simon is pretty great; he respects Kathy and her boundaries and is overjoyed at the thought of becoming a dad. The only person who knows the truth about Kathy’s job is her friend Jo, a retired SCYTHE agent who is raunchy, earthy and funny. All of these people — Simon, Jo, the baby and Conner — are in danger as Kathy investigates the murder.
There is some pretty suspenseful stuff in here, and I did keep going back and forth between who I thought was a good guy and who a bad guy. The reveal at the end (who and why) was ok. I mean we are dealing with death and the afterlife so all bets are off as far as science and logic are concerned. But it does lead to a nice set up for book 2, whenever that comes out. Overall I liked the story. If you want a quick read and enjoy murder mysteries, this one is ok.