Saturday, April 1, 2023

Undertaking Irene: a disappointing mystery

Undertaking Irene is the first book in the Jane Delaney Mystery series by Pamela Burford. Janet Delaney runs Death Diva, a business in which she is hired to do what her clients don’t want to do, don’t want to be seen doing or can’t bring themselves to do it. She is hired by an old friend, Irene, to steal a gaudy mermaid brooch from a corpse at the woman’s funeral. According to Irene, the brooch is rightfully hers and the deceased refused to give it back. Unfortunately, someone else was hired to do the same thing before she was able to get a hand on it. As she returns to tell Irene that she was unable to retrieve the brooch, Jane discovers Irene has died. Convinced Irene was murdered, Jane is determined to find out who the killer is and bring them to justice. 

Undertaking Irene is my second book by Pamela Burford and unfortunately, it felt horribly flat. It seems to want to be a comedic mystery but I was so bored. I didn’t care for Jane, the mystery or the outcome. There were supposed to be lots of laughs but I didn’t laugh once. If anything, many of the jokes and comedic moments were just cringey and eye rolling. I understand Jane is driven by a sense of loyalty to Irene and concocts some outlandish theories about her death. However, Jane was unlikeable. I definitely didn’t care for the other thief. Unfortunately, I will not be continuing this series. Some reviewers compared Undertaking Irene to the works of Janet Evanovich. I have never read Ms. Evanovich’s books, so I can’t say if this comparison is true. If you enjoy Janet Evanovich’s books, you may enjoy Undertaking Irene.  


Undertaking Irene is available in paperback and eBook


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