Body Movers by Stephanie Bond is first (I thought) in a cozy mystery series with the unusual aspect of body movers for the morgue. I’ve been meaning to check it out because I love reading about different professions. Partway in, after several backstory dumps, I realized it was actually second in the series, but it was still the first for me!
Protagonist Carlotta Wren grew up wealthy until her parents skipped town to escape her father’s embezzlement charges, leaving her to raise her younger brother. Carlotta ends up working for a high-end department store in the Atlanta area and trying to keep her brother out of trouble, which seems to be a full-time job as he’s a gambling addict and teenage hacker obsessed with his father’s case. We first meet him when he’s just been arrested and Carlotta has to leave work to see him and arrange bail.
I confess the constant money problems afflicting the protagonist stressed me out, and I did not finish the book; I stopped before the murder had even happened. Better luck next time?
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