( 2 reviews )
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Posted: Jul 10 2007
I really enjoyed this book. I have never read any of the author's previous novels. My daughter gave me this one to read. Keeley Farrell is a determined young woman, she has had a different and difficult life but she is a wonderful warm person. The type of person I would love to be. She is a straight shooter and abhors liars. Keeley was a nun for several yrs and worked in Africa facing murder and death daily. She is a nurse and now she has come home to save Mayday House from ruin. Her godmother has died and left the home to her. She works daily to find funding for the home to help abused and pregnant women. Gus Hammond is a former gigilo, which he freely admits to. He has come to Mayday house to try to buy it for his former lover, As a final favor. Gus has had a dark and trying life himself. He neither asks for nor gives forgiveness. He simply does what he thinks is right. The secrets of Mayday House may be dangerous and he finds Keeley needs a protector. Keeley's godmother had made three phone calls before her death and now the complications caused by these calls will land on Keeley's red head. Gus finds more than he expects when he meets Keeley. This woman is an earth mother in that she still expects the best from people and doesn't seem to find it hard to give or recieve forgiveness. She is willing to give of herself and time to others. I found the two to be total opposites and therein lies the crux of this story. Unbeknownest to Keeley someone desires her death. However, the central story revolves around Gus's ex-lover and the father of a child adopted out of Mayday House. I found this book fasinating, the relationships between Keeley and Gus, and all the other characters was so intriging I could not put it down. I will look for more books by this author.
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( 3 of 4 found this review helpful ) Posted: Feb 8 2006
Keeley Farrell never knew her godmother- Mary Weaver as anything but wonderful until after the woman's death. Secrets that were once kept locked away, never to be uttered again, have resurfaced in Mary's dying confessions to the ones she wronged, who will stop at nothing to make sure the past stays buried. Now Keeley's life is in danger from the people who think she knows too much. Gus Hammond may be the only person who can keep the peace while they uncover the clues of a horrible crime that happened nearly thirty five years earlier, but can he be trusted when he has his own agenda in the game? His feelings for Keeley Farrell, an ex-nun are confusing and yet too much for him to deny. Can he protect her from the danger quickly surrounding her home and the secrets of the past, or will he betray her trust for his own personal gain? Over Her Dead Body's main character Gus Hammond is none other than Gus Vanelleto from E.C. Sheedy's previous novel "Killing Bliss." This romantic suspense novel is not near as dark a tale and actually makes Gus out to be more of the type of man you want to read about. The book was well written. It moved along nicely keeping the suspense going. It had a flare of mystery to it. Throughout the story, the reader is presented with small clues to the outcome, and yet predictable before the conclusion, each reveal is a little bit of a twist to the plot and makes for interesting reading along the way. Even the characters were easy to connect with unlike in "Killing Bliss." So, Is it worth buying? Yes. I enjoyed it very much. I do not think it is necessary to have read "Killing Bliss" either. Yes, you could get a better idea of how tortured a past Gus had before meeting Keeley, but most of the important things are mentioned in this novel. All in all, it was a fairly decent read.
