An old man who fears his fall from a cliff overlooking Lake Michigan wasn't an accident asks Seamus to investigate. To protect the old man's granddaughter, he must go to great heights--like the top of the Mackinac Bridge.
When Seamus is asked to take a detective in training along on his next investigation, he reluctantly agrees. Mildred seems nice enough, but it quickly becomes clear that she has her own way of looking at things.
William Dunbar thinks he was pushed off a cliff overlooking Lake Michigan, and he fears his beloved grandson Bud might be blamed. Delving into the secrets of family and staff, Seamus sees no one who benefits except Bud. He also detects an undercurrent between Bud and Scarlet, the tutor who works with Dunbar’s grand-daughter, Brodie. She’s done wonders with the girl but seems antagonistic toward Bud.
Brodie disappears, and events move quickly toward a stunning climax at the Mackinac Bridge. Brodie’s life is in danger, and Seamus must do what he can to help her despite weather, greed, false leads, and the interference of the partner who is supposed to be helping him.
Excerpt
“Who knew heaven was like a luxury liner?” the man across from Seamus said, spearing the last bite of his steak. His head was shaved and shiny, and tattoos curled around his ears like ram’s horns. He was called Joshua, but he did not bring Jericho to mind. More like pure Jersey. “It’s not what I imagined.” He leaned back from his empty plate, patting his stomach with a satisfied air, “but I gotta tell you, it’s pretty great.”
“This is our introduction to the afterlife.” Seamus glanced at the speaker, a sweet-faced young woman in a diaphanous turquoise evening gown. Noting her work-roughened hands, he guessed it was the nicest thing she’d ever worn. “This ship, the feeling that we’re on a cruise” she waved vaguely at the elegant room around them. “It’s all designed to help us adjust to the fact that our lives are over.”
“That’s right,” another woman put in. “They provide all the comforts while we prepare for the final step.”
“Which I hear is much better.” The first woman looked around the table. “I believe that.”
There was a moment of silence as the diners considered their own opinions. In the background, the band finished a smooth rendition of “The Impossible Dream.”
As the notes of a new song began softly, a wide-eyed girl of about nineteen asked, “What about punishment?” Her food had hardly been touched, and Seamus figured she had not yet adjusted to the idea of being dead.
“Oh, that will all be taken care of,” said a woman a few chairs down whose facial wrinkles were intensified by a screaming red dye job on her hair. “My caseworker said not to worry about it.”
Although he generally stayed out of such conversations, Seamus could not ignore the look of dread on the girl’s face. “Think of all the good things you’ve heard about the afterlife,” he told her. “That’s what’s true.”
Her spine relaxed a little and she smiled timidly. It was the same every night: new faces, but the same fears, anticipation, and wonder. The newly dead talking about being newly dead.
“It really is like a sea cruise,” one man said.
“With everything you can imagine and more,” Joshua agreed.
Seamus wondered how many of them understood that they would soon forget the details of their former lives. In a day or two, the pretty girl in the red dress would recall that she liked musical comedies but would be unable to name a specific occasion when she had seen one or any one of the friends who accompanied her. Glancing around the table, he assessed the likelihood that someone here might object to that. No. Not a Portalist among them. All of his dinner companions would all accept the forgetting and make the crossing, content to leave the world, and even this ship, behind.
He was not like that. No matter how wonderful the next step might be, Seamus was unwilling to let go of Seamus. Like a small minority who chose to remain and remember, he stayed on the ship, waiting for the time when it felt right to give up who he was for whatever lay beyond.
Joshua’s mind apparently ran along the same track. “I understand that the workers on the ship are people who chose not to go on.”
“Not yet,” said a young man who had approached with a pitcher to refill their water glasses. As ice plopped and water splashed, he explained, “Portalists can go on anytime, but we choose to stick around a while.”
“If the next step is so wonderful, then why not take it?” asked the woman in turquoise.
The waiter, whose face was pleasantly freckled, thought about that for a few seconds. “I guess I want to enjoy this step,” he said finally. “You gotta admit, this ain’t bad. I work a few hours a day, and the rest of the time I get the same treatment you all are getting.”
“It’s really something,” Joshua agreed. “Anything you want to eat or wear, lots of things to do. My wife and I used to take a Disney cruise every year, but it was never as good as this.” His eyes clouded at the word wife, and Seamus imagined his thought: My wife—now what was she like?
“What if a person wanted to go back, back to Life? Could she do that?” asked the young girl.
Everyone paused at the naive question. Most of them understood that their lives were over, but it was undoubtedly hard for the very young, who never had much of a life at all, to accept that fact.
The waiter, who had been on the ship longer than anyone present except Seamus, said gently, “No, that’s not possible. No one goes back.”
That was not true, but Seamus did not contradict the speaker. He had gone back many times. What was true was that returning to Life was not what the girl imagined, not what she would want. It was a job, and only a few could handle it.
As the meal progressed, Seamus observed the other Portalists serving food, taking away empty plates, playing in the orchestra across the room. Those who stayed on the ship were given jobs: nothing too taxing, but work that made them feel useful. Waiting tables or handing out towels in the gym was not enough for Seamus. He tried not to feel contemptuous of either the guests who blithely journeyed forward or the Portalists who hung around to enjoy the ship’s luxury. It was their choice, he reminded himself. Maybe I’m the selfish one.
He had not come to dinner tonight for the company, but because Mike, the guy Seamus thought of as the Manager Angel, had stopped by his stateroom earlier. The visit had made Seamus’ day, though he had tried not to show it.
After knocking on the cabin door and being invited inside, Mike entered, wrinkling his nose at the smell of what was almost certainly cigarette smoke. He was much too polite to mention it, though. Instead he asked, “Are you up for some work?”
Seamus had been lying on the bed, fully clothed except for his hat, working a crossword puzzle with a pen. “You know better than to ask,” he answered, setting the book down and shifting his feet to the floor.
Mike held up a hand, signaling patience. “He’s with Nancy right now, but she’s pretty sure this guy will need you.”
“Murdered?”
“He thinks so.” Mike, who looked to Seamus like Leslie Howard, took a step into the room and closed the door behind him. “He’s old, and I’d guess he was pretty shaky on his feet. He fell off a cliff while watching a yacht race. It could have been by accident, but he doesn’t think so.”
“So I would go back and see what the police think?”
“Yes. If he decides to go ahead with it, you’ll meet him after dinner and get the full story.”
Seamus lay back on the pillows stacked against the headboard. “You’re the boss, Mike.” Mike grinned at his pretended reluctance, knowing his “employee” was thrilled when a new job came along. Seamus liked the idea of working for Mike, or better still, for Good.
Professional Reviews
P.J. Coldren Review
Though Seamus may be dead, he isn't ready to continue his post-death journey; he lingers on the cruise ship that is the space between death and "what lies beyond," whatever that may be. Occasionally he pursues his in-life profession of private detective. He goes back and tries to clear things up for people who are also not quite ready.
William Dunbar is one of those people. He wants to know if he really committed suicide or if, as he fears, his grandson Bud pushed him off that cliff overlooking Lake Michigan. Seamus decides to accept the case. He is far more reluctant to take on a partner, but does so against his better judgment. Mildred wants to go back as well, but her motives are less altruistic than they seem at first glance.
Seamus and Millie (a name Mildred hates) find that just about everyone has a both motive and opportunity. The only person Millie is absolutely convinced is not the murderer is Dunbar's granddaughter Brodie. There are undercurrents of emotion and financial interests flowing among all of Dunbar's relatives and servants. Seamus is hard put to rule out anyone, and Millie's insubordination makes his task all the more difficult. She thinks that she can "fix" Brodie's insecurities; Brodie thinks the voice in her head is evidence that she really is crazy.
The chase at the end of DEAD FOR THE MONEY takes place on the Mackinac Bridge, between lower and upper Michigan, a fantastic and lovely structure. The suspense is enhanced by the details about the bridge that Herring provides. Anyone afraid of heights will almost certainly not be comfortable reading this portion. Or anyone who has driven a Yugo over a bridge.
Herring's ability to make this plot device work amazes me. While not even attempting to give the reader a vision of what Heaven and Hell are like, or even if they exist at all, she creates a place that most people can accept. She creates characters that are believable, and pre-death scenarios that could easily occur. The ability to place Seamus in any place or time period gives this series great flexibility, while the constraints she places upon Seamus give a structure that makes him less than omniscient or omnipotent. I look forward to more in this series, as should many other readers.
Maryann Miller Review
Had I known the concept of this Dead Detective series, I might not have agreed to read the book for possible review. When I was telling my husband what the book was about, he gave me this one-eyebrow-raised look. "A dead guy is a detective."
"Yeah."
"Okay..." with that he went back to reading the newspaper.
This is the second book in the series that debuted with The Dead Detective Agency and introduced Seamus, a man long-dead, who doesn't care to go to whatever awaits him beyond the portal. He'd rather go back to the living and solve crimes. So that is what he does. The concept sounds a bit too far-fetched when simply explained like that, but in this series the concept works. I was surprised to discover how well it works.
One key to effective reader engagement is to give her a character that she can like and relate to. Now, I can't relate to the dead aspect of Seamus, but his desire to do right and seek justice is something that resonates with me. And Seamus is just enough of a quirky sort of guy that you want to stick with him to see what he is going to say or think next. He is a bit of a philosopher and shares bits of wisdom like this, "That's what it's like to get old, Seamus thought. Tiny victories over a rebellious body. Small achievements that help you believe it isn't over."
Cases to investigate spring from an issue that a newly "departed" person has with thinking his or her demise was not an accident or due to natural causes, and that person is given the opportunity to talk to Seamus to see if he would be able to determine who did the dastardly deed. To accomplish this, Seamus travels back to earth, or his spirit does, and enters a "host" body. He can move from one host to another, so he becomes privy to thoughts that can help solve the puzzle.
Again, that seems to stretch believability to the breaking point, but if a reader simply enters into this with a spirit of fun and adventure, it works. This is a good book, fast paced, and filled with interesting characters.
The only issues that kept me from giving the book four stars were a couple of places where the dialogue became a bit stilted and a couple of other places where things happened a bit awkwardly. But those were very minor issues in an otherwise well-written book.
Amazon Review N. LaVeque
I really looked forward to this book, as I enjoyed the first in the series. The investigations are never simple for Seamus. This time he has a "detective in training" along with him who keeps things interesting. From the charming lakeside city of Frankfort, MI, to the Straits of Mackinac, I couldn't put this one down. From the troubled teen, Brodie, to the victim, "Gramps", the characters are fun and unique. A little romance, lots of twists and turns, and an exciting climax make for another winner for Peg Herring. What's next??? I can't wait.
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