Review: Touched by Death by Dale Mayer

Touched by Death by Dale Mayer
Synopsis (Goodreads):

Death had touched anthropologist Jade Hansen in Haiti once before, costing her an unborn child and perhaps her very sanity. A year later, determined to face her own issues, she returns to Haiti with a mortuary team to recover the bodies of an American family from a mass grave.

Visiting his brother after the quake, independent contractor Dane Carter puts his life on hold to help the sleepy town of Jacmel rebuild. But he finds it hard to like his brother’s pregnant wife or her family. He wants to go home, until he meets Jade – and realizes what’s missing in his own life.

When the mortuary team begins work, it’s as if malevolence has been released from the earth. Instead of laying her ghosts to rest, Jade finds herself confronting death and terror again. And the man who unexpectedly awakens her heart – is right in the middle of it all.

My Thoughts: Dale Mayer liked to put her poor characters through some pretty tough things. This time around it's post-traumatic stress and a whole lot of dead bodies. I wish I could say that the dead bodies were the hardest thing that Jade ends up facing, but... well, I can't. She's got some baggage. She's forced to work through it and she's ending up stronger because of it but it's a rough road at first.

I liked the dynamic between Dane and Jade. They spark. Sparking is good. Sparking leads to unstoppable conflagrations that can only be tamed by large amounts of time rolling around in bed. Sparks: not such a good thing when you're in a forest, but outstanding when it's between two people.

The mystery itself ended up being a little more complex than I originally thought. There are layers here, guys. Layers! And you have to uncover those layers. It's a process. It's very similar to how Jade and her team uncover the bodies and do their thing. Okay, now, I want to say more but I feel like I'll give something vital away and I really don't want to do that.

Suffice to say, I enjoyed this book. It was just the right amount of gruesome mixed in with a main character who has to find herself again. And there might have been some sweet, sweet lovin' thrown in for good measure. *thumbs up*

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Touched by Death was provided for review.