REVIEW: Better Dead

Better Dead
Author: Pamela Kopfler

Even after his death, Holly Davis' cheating, philandering husband Burl won't get out of her life. Just as she is toasting his abrupt exit from her life following a plane crash, his ghost appears. Burl needs her help with some unfinished business so he can move on to the afterlife. St. Peter won't let him in the gate until he clears up his mess. She reluctantly agrees to investigate the drug smugglers her husband got involved with so that Burl can rest in peace and to save her beloved B&B from the damage he caused their finances. Holly is under the gun....she has 30 days to get Burl into heaven or be stuck with his ghost for the rest of her life. Throw in a touch of romance, some great one-liners and lots of zany antics, and you have a great start to a new cozy mystery series!

I like Holly as a main character. She is intelligent and driven. She loves her family's plantation home, Holly Grove, and is dedicated to keep it in the family by operating a B&B. She is intelligent,  sarcastic and quirky...she can't cook, she's not above using feminine wiles to get her way and she's not about to take any more of Burl's crap, dead or alive. The banter between Holly and the ghost is cute, and added a lot of humor to the story. My favorite side character is Nelda, the B&B's housekeeper. I wish she had been developed a bit more, but I love her personality.

All in all, a great start to a new series. A second book, Downright Dead, will be out in September 2018. A third book, Hog Wild Dead, is in the works. I will definitely be reading more in this series!

For more information on the author and her books, check out her website: https://pamelakopfler.com/

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Kensington via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**