A great premise, and a nicely realized world/framing. For me there was a little too much focus, especially at the beginning, with Kathy going back and forth to work and home. But for readers who enjoy leisurely spending time with a likeable character, this will be a good mystery choice.

𝗔 𝗚𝗿𝗶𝗺 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿
SCYTHE Mystery #1 5 ⭐️

| Thank you @berkleypub @maxiedara for the #Gifted early e-arc access. |

𝚆𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚢: 𝙼𝚊𝚡𝚒𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚊
𝙿𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎: 𝚃𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢!

ˀ𝙦𝙤𝙩𝙙: 𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙚𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢? 𝙊𝙧 𝙧𝙪𝙣 🏃‍♀️💨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙨?

🍃🍂🌼 🍃🍂🌼 🍃🍂🌼 🍃🍂🌼 🍃🍂

Ｈａｐｐｙ Ｂｏｏｋ Ｂｉｒｔｈｄａｙ！

ꜱᴇɴᴛᴇɴᴄᴇ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ: ɪ ᴅɪᴅɴ’ᴛ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ɪᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴇɴᴅ!
ᴇᴍᴏᴊɪ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ: 😭❔🫥👻👨‍🦱🕵️‍♀️👩‍🦯👚🚛💡

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎: ↴
𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙡 • 𝙢𝙞𝙭𝙚𝙙 𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙧𝙚𝙨 • 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 • 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙮 • 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙦𝙪𝙚 𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙩𝙨 • 𝙖𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 • 𝙛𝙪𝙣 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚 • 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 • 𝙗𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙨 • 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 • 𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙢 • 𝙁𝙈𝘾𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 40𝙨 • 𝙘𝙤𝙯𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙚𝙨 • 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙨 • 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 • 𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧

💭:
What can I say, I ate this book up! Nom nom nom! 🤣😂🧐

I was not expecting to love it as much as I did. So a huge thank you to the author for delivering a tale I won’t easily forget.

📖:
The first few chapters started off a little slow but once it got started, I couldn’t stop hitting the next button of my kindle.

Plot heavy, I still found myself sympathizing with the characters, as well as feeling a connection with them.

AGRGtCaK (try saying that out loud like I just did😂) was an easy 5 star read for me.

The ending could have been wrapped up a little neater, but it doesn’t detract from the enjoyment I had reading this.

(Disclosure: free book from Berkley)
I found it to be SO refreshing. Premise: Kathy is 42, mid-divorce, and pregnant, and the last thing she needs is her very dependable job escorting souls to the afterlife in the Natural Causes department to give her any grief, it’s the only part of her life she can trust in. Until, 17 year old Conner is adamant he was murdered and won’t move on while her boss is saying otherwise and is rushing her to get the job done possibly raising some red flags. And she’s got 45 days to figure this all out.

Yes, I don’t normally gravitate towards things with child death but this book handles so many real life and death aspects of the world with so much care. Conner is an integral character and this moody teenager turned investigative partner made me cry?! Kathy is also on her own journey, ya know while she tries not to get caught or become a target herself, of unexpected impending motherhood and how she got in this position with her job having shared little with her ex husband who she now needs to lean on… (as well as her super fun retired mentor, the side characters in this are chefs kiss)

This is a somewhat cozy mystery (saying somewhat cause there was a lot of action for a pregnant lady and I was on the edge of my seat for a lot of this) and I think romance readers who dabble outside the genre in particular would really enjoy this. This had my jaw dropping, laughing out loud, and crying (cathartic cry). I just really loved this and the voice of it.

Synopsis: Kathy is your typical 42-year old woman, except for her job as a modern day grim reaper. She works for SCYTHE, the agency responsible for collecting souls to move on to their next destination. When a routine collection goes wrong, Kathy is left to solve the mystery of her client’s death before the end of his 45 day processing deadline.

Thoughts: If you’re a fan of cozy mysteries, add this to your list! I thought this was such a fun read and a great start to a series. With a super unique concept and a riveting mystery (with a twist I didn’t see coming!), I was super captivated with this book. The main character, Kathy, is a little bit frustrating, but throughout the story her motivations become more clear and she ends up being pretty relatable. I love seeing a mystery with a little romance involving super ordinary middle-aged people because honestly we just don’t get that very often. There are also some really great found family vibes which is always a win for me. Highly recommend for fall reading!

Read this if you like:
💀 cozy mysteries
💀 found family
💀 paranormal elements

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tropes:

generational friendships
paranormal
campy
found family
grief
banter
second chance romance
twists


Synopsis:

Kathy Valence (42) is employed by S.C.Y.T.H.E. as a modern day grim reaper. She is in the midst of balancing her career of transporting souls, mid-divorce and pregnancy when one of her assignments goes missing. Conner Oritz will not go willingly with Kathy because he is convinced that someone at S.C.Y.T.H.E murder him. Kathy only has 45 days to help the 17 year old otherwise he is doomed to become a ghost and haunt his childhood home.

This one was fun and cozy at the same time.
There was a murder mystery, found family and an unexpected second chance romance (which I am not usually a fan of), but the progression of which felt natural.

Kathy was a deeply relatable character. Watching this underdog grow throughout this read was throughly enjoyable.

My favorite accept of this novel was the friendship that grows between Kathy and Conner. Their banter was hilarious.

I loved the authors take on grief and humanity. The writing was fast paced and easy to relax with.

My biggest complaint was the open ending. I feel that even if the ending had been wrapped up tighter it would have felt resolved while still having had left room for future installments.

If your niche is Paranormal- cozy - murder mystery look no further.

In this alternative reality, forty-something Kathy Valence works for S. C. Y. T. H. E. (Secure Collection, Yielding, and Transportation of Human Essences) in the Natural Causes department - the least sexy type of soul collection. But just as she delivers the world-flipping news to her soon-to-be Ex Husband that she's pregnant with his baby, her m0notonous office job takes a sharp turn as well. On a regular, routine collection, the soul of teenager Conner Ortiz claims to have been murdered. Which is impossible, as S. C. Y. T. H. E. never makes mistakes... Right? Forced to play detective, Kathy has to figure out what happened to Conner before his soul transforms into a ghost, destined to haunt the earth forever.

I'm such a sucker for a workplace comedy with a heart of gold - which is truly the best way to describe this book. With a side of death. Or, at least a reimagining of how death works. I found the world-building in this to be so creative and engaging, with the everyday commentary from workaholic Kathy anchoring these wild concepts into reality. Kathy is so relatable, and it's easy to root for her.

3.49 (I just can’t justify rounding up to four stars.)

I thoroughly enjoyed the second half of this book, but I would never have gotten there had I not made a promise to review this book. To be fair, I may have been not have been in the right frame of mind or have given it its due, but I really had to push myself to keep reading. Many a time did I strongly consider admitting defeat.

This is definitely a new storyline and not one that’s easy to get your head around. Where often characters that are super cute, even though they’re made out as outcasts, Kathy really seems to be, well frumpy and awkward. I can only think of the cartoon character when I read her name. Simon really sounds like an oddball and not one that would inspire a second date, let alone a night of passion when they are supposed to be divorcing.

As she and Connor, her charge, become close and he schools her in the modern world and she gives him the love and respect he’s never had, their relationship becomes heartwarming. Add to that Jo, who you can’t help but love and admire for her spunk, despite her blindness and age.

Annoyingly , there are a lot of leaps, logically as well as chronologically, and inconsistencies that really get hard to swallow. Obviously, if you are reading a book about a modern day organization of Grim Reapers, you have to be prepared for something otherworldly and requiring some imagination. Despite the extremely important time crunch to solve Conner’s murder and save his soul, the story jumps over days and even weeks without any apparent movement towards finding answers.

Also, Kathy is pregnant and it sounds like she’s in the early stages, but suddenly she’s in her seventh month, even though she’s just had her first ultrasound. The stress probably would induce early labor, not to mention the physical trauma, but suddenly she’s in labor without that much time having passed by.

Still, when I finished the book, I had to question whether it was my fault that I didn’t get into the first half as much as the second. I better understood and even got into the first couple of pages the second time, but that’s not how books work. I certainly wasn’t really going to reread the first half.

As a first novel and one that she’s dreamed of since age 7, I have to give the author props and also feel bad that I can’t rate this higher. I might give the next one a chance, since the cover indicates it’s a S.C.Y.T.H.E novel, implying multiple books.

Thank you to Maxie Dara, NetGalley, and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

I think this goes down as my favorite cozy mystery I’ve ever read! It really blew my mind how raw and real this book was based on the somewhat silly premise! From the middle-aged pessimistic, self-sabotaging FMC, to the sarcastic, angsty teenage essence (what souls are called before they become ghosts), every character was so spot-on realistic and relatable.

For a cozy mystery, I was surprised by how suspenseful and twisty this book was! I definitely sacrificed the little precious sleep I get every night because I couldn’t stop reading. It wasn’t “just one more chapter” for me, it was “just five more chapters!”

I did guess who the killer was pretty early on, but there were still so many unanswered questions that I wasn’t disappointed by this in the slightest (and still couldn’t stop reading).

This is definitely a book I’ve now preordered because it needs to be physically on my bookshelf! I cannot wait to read more by Maxie Dara.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the gifted ARC!

A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer by Maxie Dara
.
Kathy is 42, mid-divorce, and pregnant with her soon-to-be ex hausband’s baby. She works for a company called S.C.Y.T.H.E. which means that it is her job to get recently deceased ones to a processing center to move on. But when a complication happens with one essence, it will change how Kathy thinks and feels about everything.
.
I really enjoyed this book.

-First of all the plot was very quirky. Kathy isn’t our typical Main Character, and I loved that! To be 42 and still trying to figure out your life, I loved reading about this and relating to it.
-The mystery was very interesting and then the last quarter of the book was very suspenseful! My eyes kept going faster than I could read as I was so anxious for the people I felt for in this book.
-How Kathy and Conner interacted and got to know each other was part of what really made this book special. They learned from each other and helped each other in such sweet and emotional ways.
-The ending was so lovely and heart-warming.
.
4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 This was a delightful read!

4.25 rounded down

What a refreshing, fun to read mystery!

When I started, I knew this wasn’t going to be your average mystery. While there is a murder, and we are tasked with following the story to find out who did it, the rest is unlike others.

There’s a bit of fantasy woven into everyday, ordinary life. The main character appears to be unimpressive and the victim seems like your average kid. Throughout the story they become full of depth and emotions, making me want them to succeed.

Advance reader copy provided by Berkley and NetGalley but all opinions are my own.

This should be just another ordinary day on the job for Kathy Valence: Get file. Pick up soul. Take it to processing. Go back to the office.

It should basically be the same as every other day she has worked as a grim reaper for S.C.Y.T.H.E. (Secure Collection, Yielding, and Transportation of Human Essences), but when she arrives at the location in today’s file, the soul she is there to collect is missing.

When she eventually does find the soul of seventeen-year-old Conner Ortiz, he claims that he was murdered and that his death is connected to someone at S.C.Y.T.H.E.

With Conner refusing to go to processing and his case remaining wide open, forty-two-year-old Kathy dons her amateur detective hat. Something nefarious is going on at work, and pregnant Kathy, soon-to-be-ex-husband Simon, mentor Jo, and dead-but-still-hanging-around Conner are determined to get to the bottom of it.

This is a fun start to a new cozy mystery series. I was a big fan of the show Dead Like Me when it was on years ago, so when I saw the premise for this book, I knew I wanted to give it a try.

I especially enjoyed the found family aspects, seeing Conner blossom from the scared and angry teen striking out at everyone to feeling comfortable being himself with Kathy and her crew, and pretty much everything about fun and feisty Jo.

I don’t always love the marriage-in-trouble trope, but I liked watching Kathy finally open up to Simon who has just wanted to see her and accept her as she is all along. He is such a sweetheart.

I’m interested to see where Maxie Dara takes this series next.

I received an advance copy of the book from Berkley. All review opinions are my own.

A Grim Reapers Guide To Catching A Killer by Maxi Dara, Cape Valens works for the SCYTHE agency, collecting the soles of those recently departed the department she works for is the natural causes department but when she goes to retrieve Connor a newly dead teenager he’s nowhere around. His dead body is there but he isn’t and that is extremely abnormal but this is just the first of many abnormal things that will happen while investigating Connor‘s case but first she has to find him. Kate is newly divorced from husband Stew but has recently found out the Goodbye night together will soon make them coparents something that causes Stew to be over the moon. Before they can celebrate cake must immediately get back on the case then fine her latest client and while investigating she not only finds out things that are upsetting and hit close to home but are also very dangerous. Kate feels like she’s never succeeded at anything except her job so she is determined to find out what happened to Connor and who caused it this case will teach her many things but the most important is that she is way better than she believes she is. I always do a terrible job with the reviews for books that I absolutely love and I was gaga for this book I couldn’t wait to read it for the first time in a while was not disappointed. This is the type of book that even though you know what’s going to happen you’re OK with it and totally down for it this is a feel good found family awesome awesome read. I do want to say however in the book while in labor she grits through it and keeps running just an FYI no woman who’s ever been in labor could raise their hand and say I could do that because OMG regular cramps are nothing like contractions and to say you can grit your teeth and keep going is not true at all. Either way though again awesome awesome read it’s funny with lovable characters great writing and an awesome ending… Did I mention how awesome this book is? Since I am blind I just want to give a shout out to one of the characters Joe who like me is blind southern and fabulous… Loved her I thought Maxi Dara did a great job writing a handicap character and I want to say I have no complaints about her portrayal of blind people just awesome.#NetGalley, #BerkeleyPublishing, #MaxiDara, #AGrimReapersGuideToCatchingAKiller, #ScytheAgency,

I wanted to like this book more. I feel like I was hoping for a bit more comedy interspersed with mystery. Instead, I just felt incredibly sad for Kathy. The mystery was mediocre at best. Honestly I just was stuck in how depressed Kathy felt most of the book. I am glad that she was able to come to terms with her life and realize that she could be an amazing mother. Yet this book just wasn’t quite what I was hoping it would be.
Thank you so much Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title for an honest review.

This was absolutely adorable! A GRIM REAPER'S GUIDE TO CATCHING A KILLER is the first book in a new SCYTHE Mysteries series. We are following Kathy, a 42 year old woman who works for SCYTHE, the agency responsible for gathering up the souls of the departed and taking them for processing to their next destination. She likes her work, but she lives a pretty solitary existence, not able to share her job with anyone not in the confidential loop. For this reason, she is in the middle of a divorce, even as she's just discovered that she is pregnant with her husband's baby.
When attempting to make a routine collection, Kathy finds the soul of the young man who died missing. She is able to eventually track the young man down, but what he tells her about his death has her confused as to what is really going on. With only 45 days to get his soul processed, Kathy is on deadline to find out what has happened in order to make sure her charge remains safe.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for this e-arc.*

This book was so much fun!

I LOVED the show "Dead Like Me" and was so excited to pick up this book because the blurb gave the same type of energy. And I wasn't disappointed! We've got a FMC in her 40s who believes everything she touches turns badly--the one thing she has going for her is her job, and Connor threatens to ruin that too. It was refreshing to have adult characters acting like adults and only the teenager acting like a teenager.

The relationship development between Connor and Kathy (or "Grim" as he likes to call her) was so sweet--an "enemies to found family," if you will. Over the span of 45 days, we see Connor learn he's worthy of love and protection, and we see Kathy learn that she's going to be a better parent than she thinks. I loved how their relationship was developed--it didn't feel rushed, and it only felt moderately cheesy at the end of the book.

The pacing of the story was well done--I don't really think any part of it felt like a drag. And I LOVED the characters--especially Jo. I want to be Jo when I grow up. Was some of it a liiiitttlllleee unbelievable, even with the story having the paranormal aspect that it does? Sure, but welcome to the cozy mystery genre. The ending also felt a tad rushed, but that feels like part of the point given the time crunch of the story. I definitely wanted a bigger punch with the ending--we get to a point where it seems like a big conspiracy, and the reveal was just....a let down for me? I wish it had been a bigger moment, or that there was a more specific reason for all of this. The story makes it feel like the stakes were high, and then they....weren't.

Overall this was a really fun cozy mystery, and I'm glad I picked it up! I'll definitely be reading the next book in the series when it releases.

One-word review: Everything
Emojis: 🫨🥹🥲🥰
Rating: 4.5🌟s

Favorite Quote:
"Why do . . . did you love me?" Simon sat back in his chair at that, his hands coming to rest on his stomach. He looked at me for a long moment, as if I'd asked him to explain the formation of the universe. Perhaps loving me was just as puzzling. Finally, he leaned across the table and took my hand. "Because, Kathy Valence, you are worthy of love."

My Top-Five-style Review:

5. It's EVERYTHING you could want in a fun paranormal world, with unique and fascinating elements that left me wanting more. The world-building is so immersive that I found myself lost in its intricate details. I'm left with a few questions, eagerly anticipating their answers in future books.
4. It's EVERYTHING you could want in a second-chance romance. The love between Kathy (Grim) and Simon is palpable on every page, making me root for them. If she can admit it and fight for their relationship, all will be right.
3. It's EVERYTHING you could want in a found family story. The only thing Conner missed out on in his short life was a real sense of family, and witnessing that thread of the story play out truly touched my heart in the most profound ways, making me feel a part of their journey.
2. It's EVERYTHING you could want in a cozy mystery. Loads of suspense make the pacing consistently quick throughout the story. The mystery kept me guessing, with plenty of red herrings to distract me.
1. It's EVERYTHING you could want in a story of any genre. With characters that come to life right on the page and a whimsical, cozy, suspenseful, mysterious, and poignant tale, I couldn't have asked for more and hated to leave the story. When is Book 2 coming out?

Kathy is in her early forties, in the middle of a divorce, and currently pregnant with her soon-to-be ex-husband's baby. (Fun times!) Her job is being a modern-grim reaper, collecting the souls of those dying of natural causes and transporting them to the processing center. She is pretty good at her job, though her job is part of the reason she is mid-divorce.

Unfortunately for Kathy, her bad luck continues when her most recent client, Connor's, soul goes missing, and that had never happened before. Scared for what will happen to her and her baby, should she get fired, Kathy is determined to find Connor and get him to transition. Along the way, Kathy learns that something more sinister than natural causes caused Connor's death, and she is determined to find out more.

This was refreshing read and I really enjoyed it! I can't wait to read the next book in this series.

4 out of 5 stars.

Kathy isn’t having a great day. She’s running late for dinner where she plans on telling her soon-to-be ex-husband she’s pregnant and the soul she was meant to collect went missing.

As a grim reaper — sorry, Collections Agent — for S.C.Y.T.H.E, Kathy’s a case worker tasked with visiting the recently departed (unlike Murder or Accidental Deaths, Kathy works in the Natural Causes department) and assisting the newly released souls with Moving On.

What should have been a simple assignment turns out to be anything but: Conner insists he was murdered. And by someone wearing a S.C.Y.T.H.E badge. Now the two must work together to figure out what happened — and they only have 45 days before Conner is doomed to an existence of life as a ghost.

A GRIM REAPER’S GUIDE TO CATCHING A KILLER was an absolute delight start to finish! I went in expecting a fun paranormal cozy mystery — and while I got that, this book is so much more! Family, both biological and chosen; individual worth and value; and relationships are all explored while dealing with ghosts and possibly-nefarious coworkers.

A pregnant woman in her 40s teaming up with an angry teen and her ex-husband, it shouldn’t work, but it does. I had such a great time reading this one and am eager to see where the series goes from here!

thank you to berkeley for the e-ARC!

4⭐️. all in all, a very cute, feel-good urban fantasy mystery. the romance was sweet and low-conflict, the family feels were adorable, and the plot was coherent. I liked the elements of an impromptu detective-team, and the grim reaper concept was fun.

this book took me a while to get into, and wasn’t *that* immersive, otherwise there’d be an even higher rating. I think the resolution of the mystery was pretty unexciting but overall I think the interpersonal drama made it worth it. writing was not an issue throughout, characterization stayed consistent, and I liked the ensemble cast.

I absolutely loved this book. It's perfect for spooky season of you want something spooky light. It's LOL funny, such great characters, living ones and not so living ones. In fact, Connee was probably my favorite but his relationship with Kathy was so special.