Full Slab Death

Josie Tucker is the nosiest person I know. This time she is in Austin, Texas, to write a series on barbecue for her blog. But Josie is Josie and she finds herself not only digging into BBQ, but digging into the strange disappearance of a local woman more than twenty years ago. In Full Slab Dead, by Em Kaplan, Josie is visiting Austin with her doctor boyfriend Drew as he attends a conference. Left on her own, Josie can always get into trouble.

Rumor has it Mary Clare's husband, Billy Blake, owner of Smiley's BBQ, murdered her and hid the body. Over the years there have been no signs of Mary Clare and it is said she haunts the restaurant. Josie can barely resist this type of mystery, so she dives in.

There's a short list of suspects including Mary Clare's husband Billy, her own mother - the cold as ice Bunny Rogers, who has a serious hate on for her son-in-law, and friends from her beauty queen past.

When Josie hears the family home is still owned by Billy, but not inhabited by anyone except ghosts,

she teams up with a ghosthunter. Lizzie comes with all kinds of ghosthunting devices and a double major in Chemistry and Geology. Josie is sold and they make plans to investigate the Blake home the next evening.

She also tracks down a reporter who covered the case and pumps him for information. She hits the mother lode of information from Skip Robinson including a cassette tape marked "voicemail outgoing message."

What Josie finds at the Blake house is a eye opening and leads her to believe there is more to this disappearance than meets the eye.

Another terrific book by Em Kaplan. Josie is such a funny, smart alecky character, but I feel for her stomach issues. One thing, if Drew continues to eat french fries with mayonnaise, Josie should dump him. Just my opinion!

For my review of The Bride Wore Dead, click here. For other books by Em Kaplan, click here.