Review: Risky Undertaking by Mark de Castrique

A Mysterious Review of Risky Undertaking by Mark de Castrique. A Barry Clayton Mystery.

Review summary: Despite a cast of diverse characters led by the engaging Barry Clayton and the brisk pace of the narrative, there's something about this murder mystery that just doesn't click. The series as a whole is a strong one, and definitely worth following, but this latest entry isn't up the standard set by its predecessors. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

Risky Undertaking
Mark de Castrique
A Barry Clayton Mystery
Poisoned Pen Press (November 2014)

Publisher synopsis: When Cherokee burial remains are unearthed on the site expanding a local cemetery, the dual occupations of Barry Clayton, part-time deputy and full-time undertaker, collide. Then, during the interment of the wife of one of Gainesboro, North Carolina's most prominent citizens, Cherokee activist Jimmy Panther leads a protest. Words — and fists — fly. When Panther turns up executed on the grave of the deceased woman, Barry is forced to confront her family as the chief suspects. But the case lurches in a new direction with the arrival of Sheriff Tommy Lee Wadkin's Army pal, Boston cop Kevin Malone. He's on the trail of a Boston hit man who arrived at the Cherokee reservation only days before the murder. Malone is convinced his quarry is the triggerman. But who paid him? And why?

The accelerating investigation draws Barry onto the reservation where Panther's efforts to preserve Cherokee traditions threatened the development of a new casino, a casino bringing millions of dollars of construction plus huge yearly payouts to every member of the tribe. Leading an unlikely team — his childhood nemesis Archie Donovan and his elderly fellow undertaker Uncle Wayne — Barry goes undercover. But the stakes are higher than he realized in this risky undertaking. And the life of a Cherokee boy becomes the wager. Barry must play his cards very carefully …