Rating: 
Summary: Well written, interesting with darkly comic touch
Review: Undertaker Hitchcock Sewell runs into an old flame--a woman with a story. The woman's missing nanny turns up dead and Hitchcock dragoons his private investigator buddy Pete into helping him. The trail of the dead girl gets turns messy, with political corruption, questionable religious organizations, and stories of child abuse coming into the picture. Still, between embalming the occasional customer and chasing after a multitude of attractive females, Hitchcock sticks to his investigation. Author Tim Cockey uses Hitchcock's introspection to inject a sardonic humor into a serious mystery. Be careful. Picking up a novel with a title like MURDER IN THE HEARSE DEGREE might lead you to expect belly laughs. Instead, Cockey deals up an assortment of wry grins. Inclusion of ex-wife Julia, 12 year-old Darryl, and aging aunt Billie add a touch of humor but seem sometimes slightly forced. The novel is set in Baltimore and Anapolis, Maryland, and Cockey, a Baltimore native, delivers the real feel for the place, down to the corruption that has never quite been eliminated from the Free State. Smooth writing and an intriguing story compell the reader through this fast-paced murder mystery.
Rating:
Summary: lighthearted dark comedic romp
Review: When a former lover Libby Gellman asks, Baltimore undertaker Hitchcock Sewell agrees to look for a missing nanny, the innocent and sweet Sophie Pitts. Hitch quickly learns that Sophie took a swan dive off the Naval Academy Bridge in Annapolis. The local police department declared that a pregnant Sophie committed suicide, but the victim's mother claims otherwise. Hitch decides to investigate starting with Sophie's final employer, Libby and her estranged husband, he abusive Michael. Looking for clues leads Hitch to The Alliance for Reason and Kindness where other dead don't line up for final resting at Sewell and Sons Family Funeral Home, but Hitch interferes into their lives anyway. With all the deaths in MURDER IN THE HEARSE DEGREE, one would think the funeral business would be too busy for Hitch to spend most of his time investigating. The story line is amusing at times as Hitch tosses puns throughout the novel. The support cast, especially the preadolescent who, when she grows up plans to be a mortician, are fun to observe. This is a humorous series and the fourth tale has many funny moments for readers who like a lighthearted dark comedic romp.
Rating:
Summary: lighthearted dark comedic romp
Review: When a former lover Libby Gellman asks, Baltimore undertaker Hitchcock Sewell agrees to look for a missing nanny, the innocent and sweet Sophie Pitts. Hitch quickly learns that Sophie took a swan dive off the Naval Academy Bridge in Annapolis. The local police department declared that a pregnant Sophie committed suicide, but the victim's mother claims otherwise. Hitch decides to investigate starting with Sophie's final employer, Libby and her estranged husband, he abusive Michael. Looking for clues leads Hitch to The Alliance for Reason and Kindness where other dead don't line up for final resting at Sewell and Sons Family Funeral Home, but Hitch interferes into their lives anyway. With all the deaths in MURDER IN THE HEARSE DEGREE, one would think the funeral business would be too busy for Hitch to spend most of his time investigating. The story line is amusing at times as Hitch tosses puns throughout the novel. The support cast, especially the preadolescent who, when she grows up plans to be a mortician, are fun to observe. This is a humorous series and the fourth tale has many funny moments for readers who like a lighthearted dark comedic romp.
Rating: 
Summary: a most eligible mortician
Review: Witty Baltimore undertaker Hitchcock Sewell brings his healthy sense of fun and his bachelor's eye for the ladies to his fourth case, a favor for an old flame, Libby, who's left her abusive prosecutor husband and wants Hitch to find her missing nanny. When the nanny turns up drowned and pregnant and the police pass it off as suicide, Hitch drags his morose, unhappily married ex-private eye friend Pete Munger into the case and gets a bit of help from his gorgeous, zany ex-wife Julia as well. Hitch's sense of humor and determination never flag as the case leads into a morass of shady dealings, adultery and quasi-religious opportunism. Another murder, a near miss for Hitch and a second missing nanny heat up the action, while Hitch juggles romance and funerals between times. The writing is clever, smooth and fast-paced, the setting is well-drawn, the plot well-paced and Hitch is a strong likable voice. For anyone who likes their noir with laughs.
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