Dying With a Secret

The Dead Detective Casefiles, #4

by

T.J. O’Connor

Complex and clever new case for the ghostly detective.

Dying With a Secret is the fourth novel in author T.J. O’Connor’s unique Dead Detective Casefiles paranormal mystery series, and Tuck and Angel’s latest adventure treads pretty close to his obsession with aliens from outer space. One afternoon, when Angel is working on a newly discovered cache of letters, maps, and records from Winchester’s Civil War days, she’s called to meet with an FBI agent in the library’s main rotunda, but before he can explain the purpose of his visit, he is swiftly, violently, and invisibly attacked right before her eyes and several other witnesses, including Tuck. The man falls to the ground, dead, his body liquified from the inside out. As law enforcement scrambled to discover what happened, locking down the library, fearing a possible outbreak of an infectious disease could be the culprit, Tuck is thrown into the man’s body and experiences his last few moments. No one believes him when he describes the murder weapon as a ray gun. 

Meanwhile, Tuck is visited by the beautiful spirit of Sally Mosby, a former resident of Winchester and infamous Confederate spy. She’s seeking justice for being falsely accused and executed, and the papers Angel is working on may hold long-held secrets that could clear her name. 

Angel and Tuck are back and have settled into their unusual second chance at a life together. While Tuck is still trying to figure out this being dead thing, he’s getting more comfortable, and the description of their daily life is almost normal. Their banter is certainly lively and full of wit. They depend on a small circle of close friends and former colleagues for moral support and for information about what’s going on in Tuck’s old department. But shocking betrayals by some of their nearest and dearest left me reeling alongside the couple. 

The plot is well-paced and unfolds from multiple points of view as the disparate storylines progress. Early on, readers are aware they are related, but how, who, and why remain big unknowns. There is action and suspense galore as Detective Cal Clemens falls off the radar, and no one knows where he is. There are creepy goings-on at a local classified research facility involving children, and that kept me glued to the pages, dreading where it was going. However, the tension really ratcheted up as a group of characters navigated a treacherous underground cave system in search of a rumored lost treasure. I honestly had to remind myself to breathe as the suspense kept building and they went further and deeper, and I never guessed who the real danger was all along. 

I recommend DYING WITH A SECRET to readers of paranormal mysteries and thrillers, especially those who enjoyed the previous books in the series. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours.