|
|
|
|
|
In her first Evans family novel, Bless Your Heart, author Lindy Ryan mixed horror, humor, and heart to introduce readers to a family of women battling the undead in small-town Texas. But the dead are forever restless—and they’re back to battle more in the follow-up, Another Fine Mess.
The story catches up with the remaining Evans women after the battle that took two of their loved ones from them. Teenager Luna Evans struggles to deal with her grief after losing her mother while also trying to come to terms with the latest revelations about her family and herself. Her grandmother, Lenore, attempts to adjust to running the family funeral home after losing her mother and her daughter. But while they thought that their latest battle with the restless dead was over, when another victim is discovered, they find themselves facing a whole new challenge.
Like the first novel in the series, the follow-up once again blends the lighthearted humor and family drama of a charming small-town cozy mystery with a whole lot of gruesome undead attacks, resulting in a read that’s entirely out of the ordinary. It’s not just back to business as usual at the Evans Funeral Parlor—and when the mangled bodies start showing up at their door and a recently-deceased relative returns home, Lenore and Luna have to work with the town’s new sheriff to try to cover up more deaths while they search for answers.
Once again, there’s a lot going on in this undead adventure. It picks up the story just a few weeks after the first story came to an end with a whole lot of dead bodies and plenty of information and revelations. If it’s been a while since you finished reading it, it may take you a while to settle back into the story—and it all gets even more complicated when the author adds some new kinds of monsters to this tale of the restless dead. It can be a little messy at times—and it’s not always easy to understand the different kinds of creatures—but it’s still an entertaining, imaginative, and altogether eerie cozy thriller.
Another Fine Mess is so much grislier than the typical small-town whodunit—but it’s rare that bloody supernatural thrillers are quite this much fun. It can definitely be messy at times, but the Evans women and their expanding circle of allies make for such likable characters that you’ll be eager to see what’s in store for them next.
Listen to the review on Shelf Discovery:
|
|
|
|
