de Castrique, Mark – FOOLISH UNDERTAKING

[LJ Roberts]

FOOLISH UNDERTAKING (Amateur Sleuth/Former Cop-North Carolina-Cont) – VG de Castrique, Mark – 3rd in series
Poisoned Pen Press, 2006- ARC

Barry Clayton has returned from the police force and returned home to run the family funeral parlor. Y'Grok Eban, is a Montagnard and a hero to the US troops he helped during the Vietnam War. A U.S. Senator, three-star general, and famous Hollywood star are among those en route to the funeral. But the night before the service, Barry is knocked unconscious and Y’Grok’s body is stolen. Will the tattoos Y’Grok recently put on his own body be the clues to finding him and to uncovering a secret from the past?

What a good series. Berry is a terrific main character, a former copy—a patrolman, not a detective—with a strong relationship to his family and friends. I enjoyed the secondary characters but a weakness was that his girlfriend Susan seemed unsympathetic in this book, so you didn’t quite understand the ending. The sense of place is well done, there’s good tension and a couple twists along the way. I particularly liked learning about the Montagnards of Viet Nam, about whom I had never heard. This is a very good series, well written series and is perfect for those who like some action but nothing overly dark