Review: Casket Cache, A Spencer Funeral Home Niagara Cozy Mystery Book 1

Janice J. Richardson

Available on: Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Overview:

Blurb: Being surrounded by dead bodies every day isn’t for everyone. Jennifer inherited a funeral parlor and a bit of mischief beyond that! Break-ins, and funerals, and Tim Horton’s, oh my!

Trigger Warnings:

Blackmail, Dead Bodies, Death, Gambling, Gun Violence, Murder

Body Count: many, as there is not one but two funeral parlors involved.

The Specs:

• Series 
  • Series Name: A Spencer Funeral Home Niagara Cozy Mystery
  • Book Number: 1 of 4
• Genre
  • Technical Genre: Women’s Detective Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Contemporary Women’s Fiction
  • Theo Genre: Cozy Mystery, Feminist Fiction
• Page count: 292 pages; 1023 KB
• POV: Unlimited 3rd
• Publication information:
  • Publisher: Janice J. Richardson
  • Language:  English
  • ASIN: B01IYHOC8G

Other Fun Stuff:

To Read or Not To Read (Again):

Bookshelf

Rating out of five: 4.0 out of 5

Representation, Morality, and Sexism Tests:

• Bechdel–Wallace Test: 
  • Purpose: to establish actual female characters that act independently of male characters in a story.
    • Do two female characters talk about something other than a male character? Yes
  • Pass or Fail: Pass
• DuVernay Test:
  • Purpose: to establish characters of color in a story.
    • Are there fully actualized characters of color? Unknown
  • Pass or Fail: Fail
• Ellen Willis Test:
  • Purpose: to show balance in characters regardless of gender.
    • Would two related characters still work to carry the story if their genders were reversed? Yes
  • Pass or Fail: Pass
• Hays Code Test:
  • Purpose: to ignore outdated and queer-degrading/punishing standards that once were the standard for produced mass media.
  • Part One: outdated moral guidelines
    • Are there any outdated “moral content” rules gloriously kicked in the teeth by this story? No
    • Are there people of color allowed a happy ending? No
    • Is there an interracial couple? No
    • Is there profanity used at all? No
    • Is there one or more homicidal acts and/or murder? Yes
  • Part Two: queer representation
    • Are there queer characters that get a happy ending? No
    • Is there an illegal or otherwise distasteful age gap between characters, queer or otherwise? No
    • Do the queer characters die tragically, violently, or at all? No
  • Pass or Fail: Fail
• Mako Mori Test:
  • Purpose: to assure that in the story there is at least one female character independent of a male character’s story.
    • Is there a female character? Yes
    • Does she get her own arc? Yes
    • Does it do anything other than serve to support a man’s story? Yes
  • Pass or Fail: Pass
• Sexy Lamp Test:
  • Purpose: to assure that a female character in the story serves as an active protagonist, not just a device to be used by the male main character.
    • Would the plot fall apart if the female character was replaced by a sexy looking lamp? Yes
  • Post-It Note Caveat:
    • Would the character be able to be replaced by a Sexy Lamp with a sticky note on it for information conveyance? No
  • Pass or Fail: Pass
• Tauriel Test:
  • Purpose: to help support the existence of competent, independent female characters regardless of a romantic sub-plot.
    • Is there at least one woman in the story? Yes
    • Is this woman competent in her chosen occupation and not immediately shown up by a newcomer male character? Yes
    • If she has or develops a love interest during the story, either implied or explicitly stated, does she suddenly abandon her job and/or chosen path to support or pursue said love interest?  No
  • Pass or Fail: Pass
• Vito Russo Test:
  • Purpose: to establish more characters that are on the SAGA (Sexuality And Gender Acceptance), QTPOC (Queer and Trans People of Color) or LGBTQIAP+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual/Biromantic/Bigender, Transgender, Queer/Genderqueer, Intersex, Asexual/Aromantic/Agender, Pansexual/Panromantic, and others not listed here) spectrum.
    • Is there a character on the queer spectrum? Not that I recall.
    • Are they a character beyond their orientation? No
    • Do they actually affect the plot? Not applicable
    • Is the character something beyond a punchline? Not applicable
  • Pass or Fail: Fail

Overall review:

Thoughts: While I wouldn’t re-read it, I would absolutely read more of series. It was an entertaining read

Was it engaging?

Yes

Review format updated 5 March 2019