Relatively Dead, the second Carol Golden mystery, takes place a few months after the first one, Forget to Remember, in which Carol (a name she gave herself when she didn’t know her real name) suffers amnesia from being hit on the head, and struggles to regain her identity.
In Dead, Carol has regained her identity if not most of her memory, and sets out to find some cousins. Her grandmother, the only relative she found initially, has Alzheimer’s and has fallen prey to the Grandparent Scam. If these things aren’t enough to deal with, she discovers that her cousins seem to be targeted for murder. In addition, at least one of them appears to be involved in a Ponzi scheme (Remember Madoff who bilked people out of millions—or was it billions?).
Carol’s mathematical mind helps her separate truth from scam as she travels from North Carolina where she’s living with her grandmother, to Los Angeles where more several of her cousins live. From there she goes on to Edinburgh, Scotland where another cousin resides.
While she’s trying to figure out who’s trying to kill off her cousins, she discovers that she may also be targeted for murder. It’s a lot for a young woman to handle.
On the bright side, she discovers the joys of mountain hiking, with a cousin (who else?), and gets to drive a Porsche. The fact that Rigo, the young man who found her in the Dumpster, lives in Los Angeles isn’t a bad thing because the two of them may have a romantic thing going.
If Carol can survive this adventure, there are more awaiting her, so stay tuned.
