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Showing posts with label A SCYTHE Mystery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A SCYTHE Mystery. Show all posts

Monday, December 1, 2025

A Grim Reaper's Guide to Cheating Death (A SCYTHE Mystery) by Maxie Dara

In this witty and heartwarming second series installment (which can be read as a stand-alone), when a determined killer targets her adventurous twin brother, a risk-averse grim reaper will risk everything to save him—while also working to mend the rift that has come between them.
A Grim Reaper's Guide to Cheating Death (A SCYTHE Mystery)
by Maxie Dara
December 2, 2025
Genre: Supernatural mystery, humorous fantasy, cozy mystery
When a determined killer targets her brother, a grim reaper risks everything to save him in this delightful cozy mystery.

Nora Bird works for S.C.Y.T.H.E., which might seem odd for someone as terrified of death as she is. But ever since her parents died in an accident when she was six, she's been obsessed with avoiding risk, and what better place to learn how to cheat death than the company that employs the nation's grim reapers?

The work enables Nora to learn all about the myriad ways you can kick the bucket, which is comforting...until one day, a file crosses her desk with a name she recognizes. Her twin brother’s.

The twins haven’t spoken in six months, but Charlie is all Nora has left. Completely against her cautious nature, Nora steals the file and flees, racing to her brother’s house. She begs him to trust her that his death is imminent, and they hit the road (with his parrot, Jessica, who has plenty to say) in an attempt to evade both death and S.C.Y.T.H.E., whose sole mission of collecting souls has been disrupted by Charlie’s continued existence.

Alas, every time Nora saves him, a new cause of death appears in his file. Someone is determined to take Charlie out, and Nora will have to use everything she's ever learned about death to discover the culprit. 

About the Author:

Website
Maxie Dara is from a tiny, Hallmark movie-style town in Ontario, Canada where she works as a writer and actress, because rejection-heavy careers are her passion. She is also a two- time award- winning playwright. Maxie knew she wanted to be a writer at the age of seven, when she first fell in love with the written word. She also wanted to be a mermaid but has mostly focused on the writing side of things

Monday, September 30, 2024

A Grim Reaper's Guide to Catching a Killer (A SCYTHE Mystery) by Maxie Dara

A Grim Reaper's Guide to Catching a Killer (A SCYTHE Mystery)
by Maxie Dara
October 1, 2024
Genre: Humorous Fantasy, Women Sleuths
Murder is (literally) not her department, but this grim reaper has to solve one—fast—or her new client won't be able to move on.

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.

“This debut paranormal mystery offers humor, love, and a strong cast of characters who form a found family. S.Y.T.H.E. is a fascinating premise that offers great possibilities for future mysteries.”—Library Journal, Starred Review

“Fun and lighthearted despite the presence of death, the characters are relatable and funny, and the paranormal aspects are balanced with the ordinariness of Kathy’s messy life.”
—Booklist

"Come for the mystery, stay for the punched-up pairing. This new series is one to watch.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“I’d follow this grim reaper anywhere. Wildly creative and impossible to put down, sure to induce both belly laughs and tears, A Grim Reaper's Guide To Catching A Killer is full of heart and soul(s).”
—Laura Hankin, author of One-Star Romance

About the Author:

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Maxie Dara is a writer and actor from Ontario, Canada. She has been a freelance journalist focusing on the local arts and culture scene for more than five years, with bylines in publications such as Hamilton Magazine and Beyond James, among others. She is also a two-time award-winning playwright, taking home the Best of Fringe award at the 2017 Hamilton Fringe Festival for the musical comedy This Is Not a Musical: The Musical! and the 2020 Torpedo Prize for her play Alone Together, a pandemic drama. Maxie knew she wanted to be a writer at the age of seven, when she first fell in love with the written word. She also wanted to be a mermaid but has mostly focused on the writing side of things.