Excited about my new book, Funeral Daze, coming out July 15 and that the first advance review to come back calls it “Unmissable reading.” While it has its dark side (my books always do), it’s a definite change of pace from the dark and gritty Emily Calby Series.
In Funeral Daze, I return to my South Florida and debut novel (Psycho-Tropics) roots in a subgenre I dub “humorous suspense” or “humorous crime fiction.” Think Carl Hiaasen on steroids, with a lot of heart. I think (hope) readers who loved Emily Calby will also love tween mortician Jessica Jewell. Very different characters, but Jessica, like Emily, is a force. It’s available for preorder on Kindle now. Paperback and Kindle will both be available July 15.
Here’s a back cover description:
SUMMER 2000. When down-and-out surfer and former lottery winner Danny Teakwell was framed for a grisly murder, he got help from a family of wacky morticians that included seven-year-old embalming expert Jessica Jewell (Psycho-Tropics). Five years later, the tables are turned when Jessica shows up, alone and desperate, seeking shelter. Her parents suddenly sold their family funeral home and vanished.
Danny’s not in a good place. Grieving the recent death of his wife, he’s let life crumble. He reluctantly agrees to take the girl in for one night, but the willful twelve-year-old convinces him to join her investigation to find her parents and get back their funeral home. The trail leads them into a ghastly criminal enterprise of corpses, caskets, and killers. As the bond between the unlikely pair grows, it becomes unclear who’s saving who and which one is really running the show.
Hilarious and heartwarming suspense with a walloping conclusion, Box’s sequel to Psycho-Tropics takes readers on another dark joyride through the Sunshine State.
And here’s the first advance review, from K.C. Finn for Readers’ Favorite, who called it “Unmissable reading’ and gave it a 5-star seal of approval:
Funeral Daze is a work of fiction in the interpersonal drama, suspense, satire, and adventure subgenres. It is best suited to the general adult reading audience for its occasional use of explicit language and theming around death and dying. Penned by author Dorian Box as the sequel to the hilarious and darkly dramatic Psycho-Tropics, we find ourselves back with protagonist Danny Teakwell five years after the events of the previous novel. But when the now-twelve-year-old Jessica Jewel turns up homeless and missing her parents, the reluctant and grief-stricken Danny feels compelled to help her. So begins an investigation and an adventure that might just bring Danny back to life as a result.
Author Dorian Box has crafted a uniquely entertaining novel that gives a fresh coat of paint to the ‘unlikely duo’ trope as Danny and Jessica set off to solve their mystery together. I always enjoy tales with precocious children in them, and Box’s knack for dialogue really sparks with Jessica, offering real laugh-out-loud moments despite the dark and deadly lacing of mortuary humor that runs throughout the novel as a whole. Danny’s emotional journey is also a great triumph in terms of its pacing and intimate portrayal, as we see him handle real, powerful, and palpable grief in one moment, which is then juxtaposed against some really amusing absurdist plot interjections. This clash works beautifully to showcase all the weird and wonderful facets of life and provide color and life to smash through Danny’s gloomy outlook.
Overall, Funeral Daze is a novel that takes both light and dark elements to present a fantastically engaging, emotionally resonant story in a deeply humorous and satirical fashion. Unmissable reading.
Hope you’ll check it out!