Jasper Coyne is a local fisherman under contract to Del Rey Montez, a good friend of Conner’s and the owner of a local mortuary. Jasper is to take the remains of all bodies Del Rey has cremated who have specified in their wills that they wish their ashes to be scattered at sea. The community is aghast when it is revealed that a local storage locker rented to Jasper is filled with boxes containing the ashes of persons supposedly scattered at sea. Conner realizes that covering such a scandal will sell many copies of the Eureka!, but Del Rey is her best friend and publicizing the scandal would be ruinous for Del Rey’s business.

The situation really gets sticky when Jasper Coyne is found dead, floating in the bay. Naturally, the most likely suspect is Del Rey. Although Del Rey reveals to Conner information about her past that makes her an even more promising suspect, Conner believes that her friend could never harm anyone and vows to prove her innocence. Small towns, being what they are, it is soon no secret what Conner intends to do. She soon finds herself pursued by an unknown assailant, presumably for putting her nose too close to the source of Del Rey’s trouble.

Typical of most ‘cozy’ books, A Quiet Undertaking contains numerous situations which are difficult for the author to present as logical. Ironically, through the use of a deaf heroine, the author is able to deal with this problem more easily. For instance, face-to-face meetings are beneficial for Conner for she is able not only to lip read, but also to pick up on her subject’s body language. And being deaf, she is much more adept at looking for visual body clues. For a hero without such a disability, it would be more difficult for the author to explain why the hero was deliberately putting himself in direct physical contact with potentially dangerous suspects.

The mystery involved in A Quiet Undertaking is not particularly difficult for the devoted mystery buff to unravel. The author does a creditable job of not making it too obvious, but, with a limited of suspects in a small town, there are not many places to introduce red herrings. The solution does not, however, depend on divine revelation, or a remarkable series of coincidences for Conner to gather enough facts to fall to the correct solution, a real plus in a mystery of this variety.

Author Warner does an excellent job of educating the hearing world in the problems of the deaf. In many small ways, she indicates rather ingenious methods deaf or hearing impaired people have developed to cope in a hearing world. She also offers some tips that the hearing population can use to make life easier for their non-hearing friends. Speaking louder does not necessarily help, and whispering makes it more difficult.

Ms. Warner has a subtle sense of humor adding a lighter note to the novel. For instance Conner is trying to converse with teenager, Courtney. She is distracted in her attempts to lip read by a new stud, located in the middle of Courtney’s tongue.

A Quiet Undertaking has been preceded by several other offerings starring Conner Westphal, including, Dead Body Language, Sign of Foul Play, and Right to Remain Silent. If A Quiet Undertaking is any indication, they might be well worth searching for as well in your local mystery bookstore.

--Andy Plonka