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

Storming Meg: a disappointing second chance romance suspense mystery

Storming Meg by Pamela Burford is the first book in the Wild Ones series. Meg Wolf was planning on spending Thanksgiving with her quirky relatives on her uncle’s private island with her three daughters and her fiancé, Winston. The person she didn’t expect to be there was her ex-husband, Jack. When a violent nor’easter storm leaves them stranded, their only option is to wait it out. When the storm takes out the electricity, she finds herself fighting to resist her sexy ex. The situation gets more complicated when her uncle is found dead at the bottom of the stairs and one of them is a murderer. Everyone has a motive and fingers start pointing as accusations fly. Will they find the murderer? Can they survive the weekend? 

With a book blurb like this, you would expect a steamy suspense story, right? Maybe for some readers; but for me, it fell horribly flat. Right from the opening chapter, I did not care for Meg. Her relatives weren’t quirky, they were downright cruel and vindictive. The only person I liked and cheered for was Jack and even that was difficult at times. Advertised as “a witty romantic suspense novel about second chances,” I didn’t find any humor in the story at all. Many cringey moments and eye rolling dialogue, though. The sex scenes were quite explicit. I don’t mind steamy but geez louise! I did not like Storming Meg. It was essentially a game of Clue with a romance thrown in. I do not recommend Storming Meg. 

Storming Meg is available in eBook.