Book Review: A Grim Reaper's Guide to Catching a Killer by Maxie Dara

 

Goodreads Summary: Sometimes it takes working with the dead to start living.
Kathy Valence is forty-two, mid-divorce, and pregnant with her ex's baby. She's also a modern-day grim reaper employed by S.C.Y.T.H.E. (Secure Collection, Yielding, and Transportation of Human Essences), but frankly, that's the easiest part of her life right now. Or at least it was, until her latest client's soul goes missing.

When she finally tracks down seventeen-year-old Conner Ortiz, he angrily denies he died of natural causes, despite what his file says. He insists that someone at S.C.Y.T.H.E. murdered him, and he demands Kathy find out who and why.

Kathy has only forty-five days to figure out what happened to Conner and help him move on before the boy's soul is doomed to roam the Earth as a ghost forever. She’s forced to rely on the help of her retired mentor, her almost ex-husband, and some sneaky moves by Conner himself. This is the wildest case of her career... and one wrong move could cost Kathy her job, not to mention her life.

Goodreads Rating: 3.80 stars with over 8,900 ratings

Genre: Mystery, Fantasy, Paranormal, Fiction, Cozy Mystery 

Goodreads/Storygraph Challenge: 4/48

2026 Reading Challenge: #22 Read a book with a pastel cover (Find the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Hello, Readers! I hope everyone is doing well. It is a rainy evening here in Indiana, which is a perfect night for reading! I'm on vacation for the rest of the week, so I'm hoping I get at least one more book in while I'm off. We'll see, though. I'm at 4 books for the year, which is a solid start. 

Anyway, on to my two cents about A Grim Reaper's Guide to Catching a Killer by Maxie Dara. I really liked the concept of being a Grim Reaper being more of a corporation and exploring those avenues. I would have liked to get more into the science of the world Maxie Dara created for S.C.Y.T.H.E., but I get the impression that it's going to come up more in future books. 

Kathy took a while to warm up to, which fit with her background. I did like her dynamic with Conner. Jo was a really fun character, and I hope we get to see more of her in future books. The relationship with Simon felt like page filler, as did the pregnancy. That plot line could have been removed, and I really don't think the story would have changed much.

I thought that Dara provided a decent amount of clues as well as red herrings for the mystery. I didn't predict the culprit correctly, but also didn't feel surprised once they were revealed. I just felt it made sense. I wanted more on the motivation, and I felt like that was a bit rushed. This also ties in with more of the science I was wanting out of the book. I'm really hoping the series explores it more. 

I didn't love the book, but I didn't hate it either. It was cute and entertaining. I'd recommend it for anyone who wants a paranormal/cozy mystery. If I saw more of the series on sale, I'd pick it up and give it a read.