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Thursday, April 28, 2022

Life Sentence by A.K. Turner

Happy Thursday! Today I'm a stop on the Compulsive Readers tour for A.K. Turner's latest, Life Sentence. 

Cassie Raven believes her job is a calling. As a mortuary technician, it's her responsibility to offer consolation to grieving family but also to prep the dead. 

She'd always been fascinated by death. It helps that the dead speak to her as well. Which is why she occasionally gets caught up in solving mysteries too. 

This time, though, the mystery is closer to home. 

Cassie had always believed that her parents died in a tragic car accident. As it turns out, her father served over a decade in prison for beating her mother to death in a drunken rage. It was only after a stroke that her grandmother finally revealed the truth to an adult Cassie. Which causes mixed feelings, to say the least. And in all the time since her father was released, he's never contacted her. Until now. 

He's always sworn innocence. But now it's up to Cassie whether or not to listen. 

This is technically the second book to feature Cassie Raven, after Body Language. Rest assured, though, while there are some relationships and back story alluded to, it is quite easy to sink into this one as a newbie to the character and series!

Cassie is an interesting character. A former goth girl raised by her Polish grandmother, she's a bit of an underling in her job—especially now that her former boss and coworker have both left her to completely new and a bit haughty colleagues. 

Because this book deals so much with Cassie's family, it works as a bit of a standalone. She has fond memories of her parents. Especially her father. Which is why the real story behind her mother's death and her father's incarceration come as such a shock to her. But more than that, she's always wondered why her father never got in touch after serving out his sentence. And has to consider whether she really wants him to. 

And this is how the story begins!

If you're a fan of early Cornwell and Reichs, I think you'll be really excited to dive into a new forensic mystery series with such a young character still learning her way in the industry!

(A.K. Turner formerly published under the pen name Anya Lipska.)

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