Reviewed: 26 October 2023

The Last Word

by: Gerri Lewis

A Deadly Deadlines Mystery

Rating: (4/5)

Never thought I would be up all night reading about an obituary writer.

One would not think of an obituary writer solving a murder. Probably most don't even know that obituary writers exist. Winter Snow (love the name) is a young person who has experienced death that she believes helps her to empathize with those mourning. She is also the curious sort, well, that and she has a journalist background which means she gets paid to be nosy. I found that I liked her right away. I also liked the family she has "created" with her uncle, elderly neighbor, former colleague and more.

Winter's approach to paying tribute to those who have passed on is the impetus to her digging into their lives to know more than the fact about them, their likes, loves, and such. She is looking to earn and save enough to move into a larger market for her services and with that agrees to write an obituary for someone who is still alive.

So right there you know something is going to happen. You may even figure out some of the "whys" but you may not put all of the pieces together.

I'd intended to read a couple of chapters before bed and found that I couldn't put it down, I wanted to know everything. There may be a thing or two that are not "realistic" but it's fiction, go with it.

There are two dogs in the story. I am not a dog person but found myself taken by Diva. Basically, the writer, Ms. Lewis drew me in and held on until she was done with her story.

I want to read the next one because there are a few things I still want to know.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the opportunity to do an early read and share my thoughts on the story.

Happy Reading!

Release Date: 6-February-2024

Cozy Mystery, Female Sleuth, NetGalley

Plot Summary

An obituary writer finds one of her neighbors dead before her time in this debut cozy mystery perfect for fans of Jenn McKinlay and Eva Gates.

Obituary writer Winter Snow is no stranger to grief, and writing obituaries for the citizens of Ridgefield, Connecticut, is her way of providing comfort to those who have been in her shoes. But funerals and eulogies are meant for the dead, so when the very much alive Leocadia Arlington requests her own obituary by the end of the week, Winter’s curiosity is piqued. Even more so when she finds Mrs. Arlington dead soon after. Officer Kip Michaels and his relentless partner Tom Bellini make it clear that Winter is under suspicion for the death.

Drafting an obituary for someone who hadn’t died yet certainly looks bad, but Winter knows that it wasn’t her, and she becomes obsessed with trying to figure out the real killer. She dives headfirst into the investigation to give Mrs. Arlington and herself some peace. When Winter realizes Mrs. Arlington was working on a revealing memoir that has now gone missing, Winter begins to wonder if the death wasn’t exactly random–accident or otherwise.

With the help of her foodie Uncle Richard, her wise octogenarian neighbor Horace, her best friend Scoop, and Diva, the Great Pyrenees puppy she inherited from Mrs. Arlington, Winter must uncover the killer before the next obituary written is her own.