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Gulf Coast Reaper Mysteries #1
Dead and Misled
Reapin' ain't easy but at least it's not boring.
Being a reaper's not a bad gig. Go to the place of death, collect the soul, and help them to their Great Beyond. Sounds easy, right?
You'd think, but some people insist on being difficult even after their last breath.
My name's Wren, and that's how I spend my work hours. My mentor tells me to just go in, avoid conversation, collect the soul, and call it a day. He may be that slick, but I haven't quite gotten it down yet. I do generally manage not to get coerced into investigating a murder, though. At least until Old Man Schmidt strong-arms me into investigating his death even though it seems natural.
Let me tell you, folks, never underestimate an eighty-year-old man's ability to play dirty.
If I manage to scrape through without getting myself killed or losing my job, I swear I'll never talk to my assignments again.
This is Book 1 in my Gulf Coast Reaper Chronicles series, and if you like your mysteries mixed with a heaping dose of magic and a whole lot of wit, then you're going to love this cozy mystery series!
Being a reaper's not a bad gig. Go to the place of death, collect the soul, and help them to their Great Beyond. Sounds easy, right?
You'd think, but some people insist on being difficult even after their last breath.
My name's Wren, and that's how I spend my work hours. My mentor tells me to just go in, avoid conversation, collect the soul, and call it a day. He may be that slick, but I haven't quite gotten it down yet. I do generally manage not to get coerced into investigating a murder, though. At least until Old Man Schmidt strong-arms me into investigating his death even though it seems natural.
Let me tell you, folks, never underestimate an eighty-year-old man's ability to play dirty.
If I manage to scrape through without getting myself killed or losing my job, I swear I'll never talk to my assignments again.
This is Book 1 in my Gulf Coast Reaper Chronicles series, and if you like your mysteries mixed with a heaping dose of magic and a whole lot of wit, then you're going to love this cozy mystery series!
Kindle Edition
About the author
Tegan Maher
100 books346 followersI was born and raised in the South and even hung my motorcycle helmet in Colorado for a few months. I've always had a touch of wanderlust and have never feared just packing up and going on new adventures, whether in real life or via the pages of a great book.
When I was a little girl, I didn't want to grow up to be a writer—I wanted to raise unicorns and be a superhero. When those gigs fell through, I chose the next best thing: creating my own magical lands filled with adventure, magic, humor, and romance.
I live in Florida with my two dogs and when I'm not writing or reading, I'm racing motorcycles with my taller, more handsome half, hanging out at the beach, or binge-watching anything magical on Netflix.
I'm eternally grateful for all the people who help make my life what is today - friends, readers, family. No woman is an island.
To become a part of my readers group and learn about my new releases, giveaways, and other exciting news, check out my website at www.teganmaher.com.
When I was a little girl, I didn't want to grow up to be a writer—I wanted to raise unicorns and be a superhero. When those gigs fell through, I chose the next best thing: creating my own magical lands filled with adventure, magic, humor, and romance.
I live in Florida with my two dogs and when I'm not writing or reading, I'm racing motorcycles with my taller, more handsome half, hanging out at the beach, or binge-watching anything magical on Netflix.
I'm eternally grateful for all the people who help make my life what is today - friends, readers, family. No woman is an island.
To become a part of my readers group and learn about my new releases, giveaways, and other exciting news, check out my website at www.teganmaher.com.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 20, 2026
DNF 55%
This book is just plain bad. I tried to stick with it because the plot was interesting but my god the writing and editing is atrocious!
I get the feeling this is poorly written by ai, except there’s far too many grammatical and spelling and typing errors for that to be true.
Some examples of the inconsistencies I found.
Chapter 2 - two male characters swap names. First it’s Johnathon with the FMC and he calls Bill, then suddenly the one with the FMC is Bill and Johnathon is on the other end of the phone. 🤦♀️
Chapter 5 - the sofa changes from green to blue within 4 pages.
Chapter 12 - FMCs bike is suddenly a car.
Chapter 15 - the timing of Elmer being found in his house has changed completely, as has who found him and why. Considering the previous day he’d already mentioned that police chalking it up to natural causes, this is a massive inconsistency.
Also chapter 15 - she takes off her cape twice in the span of 4 paragraphs without having put it back on after the 1st removal.
Chapter 19 - introduces herself to a suspect, asks to talk about something important. Very next sentence mentions suspects tension when Paisley is mentioned, except she never said why she was there or the name Paisley.
Also chapter 19 - Sarah goes to answer the phone in reception, literally next paragraph, no one is at reception. Come on!
Why would she “confess” looking into Paisley’s disappearance to Eddie, who she just met and had no need to know anything about it? Then there’s a group of people discussing Paisley’s disappearance when they’re not involved in it in any way and are supposed to be discussing Elmer. What. The. F!?
So much of this book makes zero sense. Lydia moved back to town a couple years ago, Eddie knew and didn’t tell Elmer because “I needed your focus on the open cases..” these guys are in their 70s, they retired at minimum a decade earlier!
All the above combined with a super weak (pushover type) FMC was just too much for me.
This book is just plain bad. I tried to stick with it because the plot was interesting but my god the writing and editing is atrocious!
I get the feeling this is poorly written by ai, except there’s far too many grammatical and spelling and typing errors for that to be true.
Some examples of the inconsistencies I found.
Chapter 2 - two male characters swap names. First it’s Johnathon with the FMC and he calls Bill, then suddenly the one with the FMC is Bill and Johnathon is on the other end of the phone. 🤦♀️
Chapter 5 - the sofa changes from green to blue within 4 pages.
Chapter 12 - FMCs bike is suddenly a car.
Chapter 15 - the timing of Elmer being found in his house has changed completely, as has who found him and why. Considering the previous day he’d already mentioned that police chalking it up to natural causes, this is a massive inconsistency.
Also chapter 15 - she takes off her cape twice in the span of 4 paragraphs without having put it back on after the 1st removal.
Chapter 19 - introduces herself to a suspect, asks to talk about something important. Very next sentence mentions suspects tension when Paisley is mentioned, except she never said why she was there or the name Paisley.
Also chapter 19 - Sarah goes to answer the phone in reception, literally next paragraph, no one is at reception. Come on!
Why would she “confess” looking into Paisley’s disappearance to Eddie, who she just met and had no need to know anything about it? Then there’s a group of people discussing Paisley’s disappearance when they’re not involved in it in any way and are supposed to be discussing Elmer. What. The. F!?
So much of this book makes zero sense. Lydia moved back to town a couple years ago, Eddie knew and didn’t tell Elmer because “I needed your focus on the open cases..” these guys are in their 70s, they retired at minimum a decade earlier!
All the above combined with a super weak (pushover type) FMC was just too much for me.
July 11, 2026
This author is quite good, so I expect that the series is fine but just not for me. It feels like a rip-off of the Grimlock series. Maybe if I stuck with this book longer, I would come to like the MC, but it did not happen quickly enough to catch my interest. Add in the extreme incompetence, but surely she'll come through in the end, and the nobody will solve the mystery but her and there is no reason for her to even be attempting to solve the mystery ... it's just not my cup of tea
July 4, 2026
Really good storyline, I'm glad to see Tegan writing again. Some editing mishaps but a very good read overall.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews