Wild Wild Death by Casey Daniels

I had been anxiously awaiting the latest installment in the Pepper Martin series and it was worth the wait!

Pepper Martin can see and talk to ghosts--in fact, she's a sort of paranormal investigator, helping ghosts settle unfinished business so that they can cross to the other side.  Thus far, she's helped a lot of spirits cross over, but it's wreaked havoc on her social life.  Her opportunity to be with Dr. Dan was thwarted by the ghost of his dead wife and Quinn, well he's seen it and still won't believe it.  Her latest adventure, however, might just change all that.

Dr. Dan is in trouble:  he's been kidnapped and his abductors have contacted Pepper to bring the bones of a Native American buried in Cleveland to New Mexico, supposedly to break a curse on the city that exacts itself on the Cleveland Indians baseball team.  Bringing the bones to New Mexico brings Pepper into a whole new world, one where she doesn't need to hide her abilities.  In fact, her abilities are looked upon as a gift by the Native American community and she is accepted and appreciated for being Pepper.

I really enjoyed this new adventure.  I admit, I get worried when a series reaches more than five books because they can become repetitive, tedious or just plain ridiculous.  However, this is the eighth installment in the Pepper Martin series and the change of scenery was refreshing.  Placing Pepper in a situation where she has the opportunity to explore her gifts and what they mean to her showed growth in her character and bodes well for the future of the series.  While I was a bit disappointed in the ending, I think I understand Casey Daniels' reasons for ending the book as she did and I look forward to the next Pepper Martin mystery.

A Hard Day's Fright by Casey Daniels

I love the Pepper Martin series :)  It's like chick lit wrapped in a mystery with a paranormal bow on top.  Pepper is such an interesting character--a survivor with an impeccable sense of fashion.  After the high society world she was groomed for falls apart, thanks to her father & some Medicare fraud, she picks herself up, dusts herself off and gets a job as a tour guide at the local cemetery.  A mishap at the cemetery leaves Pepper with an interesting gift:  she can communicate with the dead.  She can see, hear and speak to them.  Apparently, she is quite a novelty because after word starts spreading around the afterlife, she keeps getting approached by souls with unfinished business.

A Hard Day's Fright (A Pepper Martin Mystery) is the seventh installment in the Pepper Martin series.  Pepper gets approached by a young girl who was murdered in 1966, the night she attended a Beatles concert with some friends.  She needs Pepper to find her body so she can rest in peace.  Unfortunately, her body was never found and Lucy can not seem to leave the Rapid (train) car that holds her last happy memory, so Pepper is basically on her own.  Until, she discovers that Ella not only knew Lucy, but was with her that fateful night at the Beatles concert.

Casey Daniels really surprised me in this one.  I really thought I had it all figured out about 2/3 of the way through the book and actually wondered how she was going to drag the book out for that much longer without Pepper figuring it out--when I found out that I was wrong.  I had a part of the mystery right, but there was so much more going on.  Not only did she provide an interesting mystery, but the changes to Pepper's personal life were pretty remarkable as well.  Now, I can't wait to read the next book in order to find out how Pepper snaps back.