Have you ever wondered what book to NOT read at 2:30 in the morning? Wonder no more - I've got the answer. This book. For the love of all that is holy, don't read this one in the middle of the night. I did.

I meant to just skim it to get an idea of it, as Biz had left it behind for me. Next thing I know, I'm reading about gruesome deaths, even more horrifically detailed accounts of grisly crime scenes (the heroine and her partner clean up after murders), descriptions of a woman's throat post-slitting, and getting an idea of the blood, gore, and bone splatter left behind after gun deaths far beyond what CSI showed me. Not to mention genuinely tense scenes where Sadie is being stalked and shot at, and heart breaking scenes about her brother and her best friend. And I enjoyed every minute of it.

The fantasy aspect comes in from Sadie's ability to see ghosts and help them cross over to the other side. It was an integral part of the mystery plot without going overboard. I thought it was really well written (outside of two typos I encountered early on - glad I didn't let those sway me) with perfect atmosphere and I look forward to the next book in the series. To be read during daylight hours.fantasy mystery11 s Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*2,584 1,136

My God, the ending of this book was depressing.

Good book, and if I run into the second somewhere I'll nab it. I won't actively hunt for it or order it online, though.

Mystery wise it was average. There weren't many players in the field so it was easy to guess who it could have been. Not enough leads to other sources. I was able to guess the motive pretty early too if I was right on the killer (turned out being so.) Pacing didn't lag so the book was never dull and there were enough little shockers to fill the void of suspense. The majority of the novel wasn't on the mystery exactly, but character interaction and lots of time on various jobs. It sounds distracting but these were the most interesting scenes of the story.

The major issue with me is the main character, Sadie. I just don't really her. Sure, I understand her reasoning behind the job she chose and it's a noble one. Despite her speeches about being caring and loving letting a spirit go free, when she does stumble upon an ocassional ghost she's basically rude most of the time and it's clear they mainly just annoy her. I also took offense with the way she phrased her objections to her sister about the wedding engagement, and especially how ridiculous she was with the psychic. Thankfully the woman pointed out how annoying her skepticism became, but even after proven the woman was genuine, trying to help, and similar to Sadie's abilities, Sadie was generally still too short and rude half the time. The woman just was too moody and bitchy for me to latch on to as a heroine. I didn't hate her but she's not someone I can understand.

Zach was awesome though, as was the fun friend Pam and the other characters. The author writes well and it's easy to fall into her story as she keeps the dialogue realistic, doesn't muddle the page with pointless ramblings of decor and description, and keeps the pacing smooth and moving forward.

I do recommend to fans of paranormal mysteries.3-star a-own-book-form mystery ...more7 s Stacy Leenay17 14

At first, I wasn't sure what to expect. The cover looked it will be a contemporary or mystery. But the genre said it also has fantasy. Overall it was a nice read and seemed different. 2 s Julie (jjmachshev)1,069 286

Wendy Roberts is a new (to me, at least) writer with a first book, "The Remains of the Dead", that's the harbinger of a new and interesting mystery series. The heroine is a woman who cleans up death scenes. She cleans not only the house, but also helps any ghosts left behind find their way home.

Sadie is an interesting heroine. The story of how she became involved in her cleaning business is part and parcel of the plot of this first book, so I'll just say that it hooked my attention and leave it at that. Sadie has depth of character, but also sometimes barges in where angels may fear to tread! She also has one employee and he's intriguing on his own too. He may also be interested in a little more than just cleaning with Sadie, but we'll have to see more in the next book.

Sadie's current job is going well...until the ghost of the murdered lady of the house shows up apparently in shock (as well as dead). Said ghost has no intention of moving on as she seems determined to communicate with Sadie but refuses to 'talk'. About the only thing Sadie can figure out is that the woman is positive her husband didn't kill her--in direct opposition to what the police decided. So now Sadie must find a way to investigate the 'murder-suicide' that she's coming to believe was actually a murder-murder.

I truly had a good time reading "The Remains of the Dead", cute title and all. Wendy Roberts' dialogue is quick and witty and her characters have traits that make them interesting apart from the mystery. The clues were smartly placed and the plot was good. Towards the middle of the book, Roberts also introduces a couple more characters which may become part of the cast for this series and I've already picked up the next book. How's that for a recommendation?2009-reads2 s Darcy13.2k 512

This was a fun book to read. Sadie was an easily likable character doing a job that I would never want to do. Her seeing ghosts was just a fun bonus that made her quirky. I d hearing how she stumbled into her career and why she stayed there. I did seem though that for the last few years she has been stuck in her life. Her latest job was just what she needed to shake things up, a ghost needing her help. As Sadie helps the ghost is seems everything in her life starts to go haywire. Her family is having issues, the police have reason not to trust her which could ruin her business, she has a run in with a physic that rattles her, and her friends are questioning her.

While I was able to guess the bad guy very early on it didn't matter and the story was fun, and I didn't see the twist at the end coming at all. I am hoping that things change with Zach, there seems there are unresolved issues there.2010 ghosts uf2 s EmmaMay202 3

I d the idea of this story - much more so than the delivery of it. It failed to grab me. The plot felt ho-hum and the main character was irritating.
I pushed through to the end, but it left a bad taste in my mouth as it failed to live up to the idea potential.2 s Amanda431 2

Sadie is an awesome character!

I love the chemistry between Sadie and Zack!

I look forward to reading more novels in this series soon.cozy-mysteries paranormal paranormal-mysteries1 Dez Nemec841 29

I bought the 2nd in the series at a book sale last week, so I thought I'd try this one out. I worked in between and still I read this in a half day. How creative - a crime scene cleaner who sees the dead. I devoured it. Yes, the ending is depressing, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Onto the second of the series!2018 mystery1 Amy Rosenkoetter199 10

You may have figured out by now I'm a sucker for supernatural mysteries. I love them dearly and while they by no means comprise my entire reading list, they make for a great majority of it.

This is the first book in what is so far a trilogy, but I suspect there will be more.

Former teacher Sadie Novak has left the classroom in favor of the world of gory crime scenes. (Not much difference, you say? As a former 7th-grade girl, I hear ya. Kids live to draw blood.) Armed with disposable clothing, gloves, masks, and chemicals by the truckload, she and her employee Zack (of the awesome butt) remove the horror-movie gore of real-life crimes so the victims' families never have to see what no family member should ever see. Sadie knows this all too well because she shouldered the monumental task of cleaning up her brother's suicide some 5 years previously.

In addition to her mad cleaning skillz, Sadie has a gift that makes Zack a little uncomfortable - she can speak with the ghosts of the victims. It's apparently become her job to help them move on to the next world which gives her a lot of peace, except for the irony that the one type of victim she cannot see is the one she most wishes to see - suicides, her brother.

All is going well with Sadie's ghost dismissal sideline until the day she encounters the scene of a grisly spousal murder-suicide only to learn from the wife's ghost that her dead husband did not kill her. Various events conspire to provide Sadie with some suspicions and conjectures, but little evidence to support them.

The mystery itself is well done, if a little heavy-handed when dropping clues. A couple of them land with an almost audible "thunk." Other than that, the story is well drawn and has a few ingenious moments such as the manner in which Sadie avoids being the victim of a drive-by shooter.

Throughout the book, Sadie is being haunted in her own right by the nonexistent specter of her brother Brian and by her sister's fiance who looks just Brian. She does find closure by the end of the book, and a peace with her sister, both of which are really satisfying to me. There's also a really neat twist in her relationship with her best friend that caught me completely by surprise.

All in all, a few good new characters, and some I'd to see more of.ghost medical mystery ...more1 Valerie ~ Val Hall ~123 43

This book has been sitting on my TBR pile for a while. I was recommended to me for slightly different ghost story. As a new author (to me), I had no expectations and was I on for a treat.

We first meet Sadie Novak, former teacher, now in the grizzly business of cleaning crime scenes. Normally in mystery stories, you have the detectives at the scenes and they solve the crimes and that's it. I never considered what happens to the scene when the body's gone. Who cleans the apartment or house where the murder or suicide happened? The family? What a gruesome though! It is where Sadie Novak comes in, armed with disposable clothing, gloves, masks, and chemicals in her handy truck to removes the evidence of a gory death from your home. Her trusty sidekick is the man whore with awesome butt Zack, ex-cop with a bruised ego but good heart. The main characters are very complex, they grow on you too. The graphic depiction of the cleaning process is an interesting touch seldom seen.

In addition to her crazy cleaning skillz, Sadie has developed the gift of speaking to lately departed ghosts. She has taken unto herself to help those ghost resolve their last dilemmas so that they can move on. In a sense it is her own therapy for an event that happened 5 years ago in her life.

The mystery revolves around an apparent murder-suicide that Sadie is contracted to clean. Many events leads Sadie to doubt this conclusion but little evidence to prove it. Some of the clues could have been presented with more finesse but still red herding were readily provided. It gave the chance to add some colorful characters that I hope to see more of in the next books.

All in all, a decent mystery, easy and pleasant read worth checking out.ghost1 CJ - It's only a Paper Moon2,254 158

Just a quick review --

Decent premise, I Medium - or rather d Medium - and I am interested in Forensics so this book has a little of both that will appear to fans of both genres. A crime scene cleaner who can speak to the dead.

However, her hot partner thinks she crazy, her sister just shakes her head and her Mom tells everyone she is a House Cleaner. Which she is - if your house has brain matter and bone fragments on the wall.

Sadie Novack can see some dead people, not suicides because those souls are ready to depart this world, and when she's doing a crime scene clean-up, well she sometimes has to help those souls along into the next realm, whatever that might be. She's not always very nice to ghosts, her patience can sometimes run thin and she is repulsed when they go through her - Alison DuBois she is not. However, despite her attitude, penchant for hitting below the belt and drinking to numb some of the scenes - I her.

She can be a bitch but she's quick to acknowledge when she's being one. She's wary and has baggage, I imagine she is what a Crime Scene cleaner who saw ghosts would be . Skeptic of everyone else's ability but her own and she owns a pet rabbit.

She should sleep with her subordinate, ex-cop Zack Bowman, she should get over her grief about her brother's suicide and she should, maybe, probably listen to Maeva the psychic, but if everything worked out according to plan what would the fun be in that?a-sort-of-cozy-mystery beach-read fiction-for-women ...more1 Lauren2,392 160

The Remains of the Dead
3.5 Stars

In addition to her unusual occupation (crime scene cleanup), Sadie Novak has the added “gift” of being able to speak to the ghosts of the victims. When Sadie and her partner, former police officer Zach Bowman, are hired to clean up the scene of a murder/suicide, she is shocked to encounter not only a silent ghost with an urgent need to communicate, but a handsome man who is very much alive and has a troubling connection to the case. As Sadie begins to uncover the secrets of the Toth family, she becomes the target of a desperate killed intent on getting away with murder.

While this is a cozy paranormal mystery, it does contain vivid and sometimes gruesome descriptions of decomposing corpses and blood spattered crime scenes. As such, it is not recommended for readers with weaker stomachs.

Not only is Sadie a rather prickly and oft times brusque heroine, but she also has one or two annoyingly TSTL moments.

The story is well-paced and the writing flows although the author does have a tendency to mix up character names, which can get confusing at times. The mystery is interesting despite the obvious culprit, and the climax and resolution are exciting and satisfying. Moreover, the hints at a romance between Sadie and Zach have definite potential, and as a romance fan this is sufficient for me to continue with the series.ghosts original-occupations paranormal-mystery ...more1 Jess1,509 101

I have to say I really enjoyed this one. The main character Sadie owns a "clean up company" that goes in and cleans up crime scenes with gory remains or sites of unattended deaths (where bodies are left for long periods of time and ya know, rot). She also has this little skill of seeing dead people. She helps usher them on to their next life by listening to them. While cleaning up the scene of a murder/suicide of a husband and wife, the ghost of the wife comes and manages to get the message across that her husband didn't kill her. Now Sadie is determined to figure out what really happened, and someone is determined to keep it a secret.

This was more mystery than a paranormal, but I d it. The characters were snarky to one another, there was enough romantic tension to keep me happy and the mystery was something I actually didn't figure out. That's always exciting. On to find the second book.2010 mystery1 JadeShea3,161 61

Sadie Novak has a crazy job, and she can see ghosts as well. This makes her seem pretty strange to most people. And when a ghost tells her the person the police said murdered her didn't actually do it, things go south pretty quickly.

But with her employee, Zack, her sister, and her best friend she's going to do what she can to figure out the truth, even it that proves to be more dangerous than she originally thought.

This book was really interesting, and had me guessing throughout the whole thing. I enjoyed it a whole lot, I only wish that the heroine didn't act she did at times. It was annoying when she denied what she could do, and was rude to someone else who was her. That was frustrating, and annoyed me.

Other than that I still really enjoyed it, and I'm interesting in reading more and finding out more about her and her love interests.3stars-dokay cops-military-p-i-security cozy-mystery ...more1 Hope Corizzo127 5

Sadie is a cleaning lady- of grisly crime scenes. Oh yeah, and she can talk to the dead who are haunting their own crime scene. Totally cool!

I chose this book from the big A.com because it had near 5 stars, and it was a worthy read. I ordered a ton (okay, 10 or so) of books with good ratings, expecting fluff and lots of grammatical errors. I was wrong! The writing is more than competent; the characters are well drawn, and not cliched. There's definitely a series in the works for this character (yay!!) and romance wasn't thrown at me to detract me from holes in the story. In fact, there weren't any holes I was sincerely surprised at this book and the series is now on my read-as-it-comes-out-with-a-new=one list. Well done!1 Niko Llewyn 126 182

Had this book on ice for some time, always meaning to give it some attention but being distracted by a flashier release. to not mince any more words, I'll start by saying I d it. I d it so much, I ran out and bought the next 2 books in the series the afternoon I finished it.

The heroine of this series is Sadie, owner of a Crime Scene cleaning business in Seattle with the ability to talk to ghosts. She's bright, loyal ,and tough. The added additions of a pleasant cleanness or simplicity to the writing style and the atmosphere of the trauma cleans adds compelling grit that helps it stand out from the slew of cozy mystery/amateur sleuth who-unit's. cozy-mystery mystery-whodunit-crime-solving other-monsters-that-go-bump-in-the ...more1 T. StrangeAuthor 31 books257

Holy crap Sadie is a terrible person. I have no idea how she’s stayed in business. So unprofessional. I get that she’s trying to solve a mystery and there’s a certain suspension of disbelief, but WOW.

It’s very poorly edited, with so many spelling and grammar errors and missing words.

The story itself was alright (except for a few very stupid things) and I read the rest of the series, but looking back I wish I’d never started it. 1 Alyssa White529 17

This read was a solid 4 stars. Almost 5. The idea behind the story is wonderful and you can feel the characters for real people, not written ideas. The story jumped scenes a bit, but it was over all well crafted. I already ordered the second book.cozy-mystery1 Mary663 1 follower

I didn't even make it half way through the book when the main character turns in to a TSTL (Too Stupid To Live) character. I was really hoping to this one. I wouldn't even give it one star since I couldn't finish it.don-t-read-again1 Mary Lea139 3

This was a fast read... the main character got on my nerves but I wanted to see who the murderer was so I kept reading.1 Allyn478 68

I wanted to smack Sadie Novak over the head. Many times. I didn't even make it to the half-way point. I think this was the very first book that I couldn't make myself finish. 1 Susan2,366 67

An interesting premise for a new series. I really d the protagonist, Sadie Novak.cultural-usa fun-reads mystery ...more1 Coreycw286 5

Fun new mindless series for me to enjoy when I just can't handle a DEEP subject.fantasy1 Nan Hurley307 3

Started out really liking this book, then about 1/2 way into it the author had the main character do something too stupid. Had to put the book down, that just ruined it for me.1 Wendy Cantu125 4



I wouldn’t say Wendy Robert’s Ghost Dusters Mystery series was bad, but it lacked the right proportions necessary to make it a good mystery.

I’m going to use a baking analogy (oh, come on, everyone love’s a good ol’ baking analogy): Say you are making a cake. You have cake mix, eggs, and oil – all the basic elements that will yield a perfectly acceptable cake. You can tweak the recipe, add things, or even turn it into cupcakes by using a different pan, but you have the fundamentals. But what happens if you add six eggs instead of two? Or only put a half-cup of oil instead of a full cup? Or if you mix everything perfectly but forget to turn the oven on? All the right elements are there, but it doesn’t produce a palatable result.

That’s how I felt this series. All the right ingredients were there, but something went askew in the recipe and, after giving it three chances, it didn’t result in a story that I particularly cared for.

I think the story started out with some great elements.

Roberts took a character (Sadie) with a – let’s not kid ourselves here – pretty stereotypical paranormal superpower (she sees dead people), but made her interesting by putting her in the unique profession of crime scene cleanup. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where the main character spends her time picking skull fragments out of drywall. That sounds morbid (and, don’t kid yourself, this book is not for weak stomachs), but Sadie isn’t a “weirdo” with a fetish for the macabre. Roberts presents her as a normal, humble, unsung hero – someone who turned to crime scene cleanup (after cleaning up her own brother’s suicide) to save grieving families from having to deal with the gruesome, tragic scene. And, in the process, she sometimes helps spirits pass over to the next realm.

I think the title Ghost Dusters Mystery is a little misleading, though. I mean, as the series title states, these are mystery books with ghosts, and it doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that Sadie will be sucked in to helping restless spirits who’ve been wronged (well, even more so wronged than the fact that they’re dead). But the proportion of Dusting-to-Mystery was a little lop-sided.

As much as I appreciated the unique profession Sadie held and, yes, it was the reason she was forced to play private investigator, there was entirely too much time spent “dusting” and not enough spent on investigating a mystery. For example: Sadie is introduced to mystery. Then, Sadie goes and cleans a couple more crime scenes and helps a few more ghosts over that really don’t have anything to do with anything. Then, there’s some drama in Sadie’s life and she talks a lot about her brother. Then, she cleans some more crime scenes. Then, drama. Then….in the final 10% of the book, she remembers there’s a mystery to solve.

In short, I felt I was tailing Sadie through her relatively uneventful life just waiting for something interesting to happen.

Another major thing for me was the lapse in time between books. It seems there’s about a year between each book and it’s not the characters were sitting in stasis not doing much in that time. Things happened. Important things. Things that Roberts casually eludes to but doesn’t explain until later on. Here’s the thing: When I read a mystery, I don’t the mystery to be figuring out WTF the author left out that happened between this book and the previous one. It just made me confused (I mean, I literally stopped reading THREE times in book two to make sure I didn’t skip a book – until I read some other reviewers mention the time lapses). Honestly, it just seemed kind of lazy – being able to further the plot and the relationships without actually having to write about it. Which obviously made motives pretty confusing and brings me to my next point…

Sadie was just so sporadically immature. Here’s this woman in her 30s, a successful business owner, who’s been through so much and is, really, a kind person (with a bit of a rough exterior and obvious emotional baggage). So why does she do things start drama with her sister when her sister gets engaged to a perfectly fine guy all because Sadie thinks he looks their dead brother (and no one actually sees the resemblance)? And that’s just one of many examples.

There were so many character and plot contradictions, it was hard to keep them straight. (These are vague spoilers/p into second and third books).

# 1 Zach was this sweet guy in the first book, but apparently they slept together (the night after the first book ended) and he acted all cold to her so, now (in the second book), things are awkward. That just didn???t seem where they were leading with Zach’s character. But that doesn’t compare to what happened in the third book where he’s basically reduced to a weak, untrustworthy addict. Why? He was such a good character.

#2 Sadie doesn’t believe anyone else can have “special” abilities in the first book – as she makes clear to Maeva, the psychic. Then…wait for it…Maeva and Sadie are BFFs in the second book. I understand how she went through a lot and how they could become friends, but it’s weird to book up a book and they’ve become instant friends.

# 3 Sadie’s sister Dawn (although a minor character – or at least should’ve been a minor character) was so in love with her fiancé in the first book, but then cheats on him with her new boss and, by the second book, is about to pop out a baby. I’m not sure if Roberts was going for a “when it’s right, it’s right” theme with this, but it made Dawn seem a complete ho and made me wonder why I just spent so much time reading about how Sadie didn’t her fiancé because he looked their deceased brother and now, oh, I guess it doesn’t really matter because he’s out of the picture. Just so unnecessary.

I really could list a lot more, but I think that’s enough specifics to get the general idea.

I debated reading the fourth book in this series and giving it one final chance – and believe me when I say it’s hard for me to just quit a series, especially when I’m only one book away from the end. But I just didn’t see it getting any better. I didn’t know if I’d open it up to find that Sadie and Zach were now married with children and grandchildren and then be left wondering what the hell happened until I was halfway through the book. It was easier to cut my losses.afterlife cozy-mystery crime-and-mystery ...more Jessyka Russell59

An excellent idea poorly executed. Although I did appreciate Sadie's progress, and the very end (not the solving of the mystery) made me teary-eyed.

You know the recent memes where they say the west coast is nice and the east coast is kind?

For instance, if you get a flat tire in California, someone may say "oh, that's too bad." While in New Jersey, someone may say "oh for goodness sake, let me do it before you break your car." Nice vs. Kind.

Sadie is kind. It exasperated me that she was so annoyed when a ghost would appear. She would always do the right thing, try to help them pass on, but she would be snarky and moody while doing it. Every. Single. Time.

This story was good enough, but I won't be reading any more in the series. Bird787 29

The main character came off as a real bitch numerous times in the book. She mentions a couple times how important it is to her to be able to help ghosts cross over, but often when they show up she's dismissive and/or annoyed at their presence. I saw the bad guy coming a mile away, and was super annoyed it took the MC so long to put the pieces together. There's a weird relationship between the main character and one of her employees. I guess it's supposed to be sexual tension, but it doesn't work for me (maybe because the employee is a jerk about the MC's abilities).cozies-mysteries-detective ebooks read-in-2018 Jazel9

Very cool idea with a fun little plot twist. The final pieces leading to the reveal felt sort of dense and sudden at the end; maybe a second read would show more subtle clues throughout the entire story. Also, I don't particularly fault this book for being published in 2007, though it should be noted for those interested that a lot of the humor has not aged well (re: multiple casual SA jokes). I think if I d the main characters more, I might've been bothered to check out the next books in the series. 2.8/5 Lila897 2

First of a series set in Seattle. I was interested in reading this because I am familiar with Seattle and am a fan of the Australian TV series, Mr. and Mrs. Murder, which also involves a team of crime scenes cleaners. However, here, the main character, Sadie, is a bit of a pain, there is not much of a mystery, and the ending duplicates that of a well-known movie, but the pace is good and it is enjoyable if you can tolerate ghosts in your mystery novels. Di503 30

Autor del comentario:
=================================