What connects a gay man, a murdered stripper, and a hazardous
fertilizer plant?

When international journalist, Paige Harrington, is told her life-long
friend, Wally Adams, the leading opponent of the plant, has committed
suicide, she suspects murder.

While home for Wally's funeral, she is given a file with a dozen news
clippings about a murdered stripper known as Peppermint and an oblique
reference to ownership of the fertilizer plant, but nothing factual and
nothing to tie Wally, Peppermint, and the fertilizer plant together.

She knows Wally; she knows how he thinks; she knows how he works; the
file isn't an accident. To find the connection, she goes to work as
Tawny Lane, stripper, in a club knows as The Garter. There she discovers
disturbing information.

Friends disappear; she fears for their lives. She is betrayed; her life
is in danger. Someone is risking everything to keep her from the truth.

Barely Dead

Allan McLeod
Lulu Books (2005)
ISBN 1847280722
Reviewed by William Phenn for Reader Views (9/06)


“Barely Dead” starts out with a quick insight into the heroine Paige Harrington, the globe trotting investigative reporter. A call from her father brings her racing back from England to her home town in Canada. What starts out as a death of a friend and a funeral ends in an ironic twist of betrayal and intrigue. Paige gets more than she bargained for when she follows the story of her dead friend. She meets gangsters, strippers, politicians, and millionaires. Paige goes undercover to get more information and is sucked into a web of adventure that will keep you glued to the pages.

When Paige Harrington asks questions that some don’t want to answer, she begins to fear for her life. While some would like to kill her, others just want her to go away.  Paige starts to uncover the reasons her friend died and sets out to prove it was not the way the police reported it. This causes a rift in the town and does more than just ruffle some feathers along the way. She uncovers some dirty laundry that can affect the whole town, yet no one is doing anything about it. Everywhere Paige turns, the web widens to include some very powerful people, including her own father.

“Barely Dead” is dramatically written and has an adventurous style. The characters are colorful and interesting to say the least. The plot is weaved with complexity to the point that the culprit could be anyone of many. This in itself was one of the many aspects of the book that made it an enjoyable read. From beginning to end “Barely Dead” kept me on the edge of my seat. For all lovers of a good murder mystery, McLeod’s book would warrant a read. The suspense and quality of writing makes me give “Barely Dead” my highest A+ rating.