Book Review: The Singing Dead

Reviewed By: Shirley - RAM

The Singing Dead     Amazon UK HC
Ron Ellis
Class/Genre:   Mystery
Series: Johnny Ace # 4

Johnny Ace and Jim Burroughs run Ace Investigations in Liverpool, England. Jim is an ex Detective Inspector who has taken early retirement. Johnny juggles many jobs including landlord and DJ. Ace is balancing a three year relationship with Maria while still seeing a lover of 20 years standing. Busy man.

The team¹s current cases include a missing wife, and a dead husband that police have ruled an accidental death but whose wife insists was murdered. A third mystery is Ace¹s own investigation of a music tape. All three cases seem to have overlapping characters even though no connection is evident. Could they be related?

This is a lively story as Ace moves from one case to another. In one he has little progress, on another he finds deaths occurring that may be suspicious. Of course eventually he becomes a target.

Some readers dislike the had-I-but-known chapter endings. Ellis does a bit of this sort of thing. In mysteries we expect to find trouble ahead; we do not have to be warned. Still the story is fun, and I would read more.

Shirley - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Shirley - RAM