"An entertaining character-driven story of renewal and empathy."
Available in Paperback and Kindle from Amazon.
Martin Eke’s predictable life is turned upside down in a rapidly escalating series of events. A dependable undertaker and funeral home manager, Martin begins Sorry For Your Loss as a fairly meek and mild man, but his life is transformed when a body goes missing. What comes after is a panicked response that takes things from bad to worse and decisions that lead to him being connected to a criminal operation and facing criminal charges.
Set among current events, this is a character driven story that sees Martin embark on a rocky journey of character development.
Throughout the story, supplemental narratives are provided by the support cast of characters but the focus is on Martin as he struggles to decide what to do when a body goes missing from the funeral home the day before the planned burial and the knock on effects of his decision. Although dark subject matter is addressed throughout the book there are also moments of levity.
The reactions to Martin’s Amateur detective work are entertaining and dare I say realistic, with misinterpretation of interest and Martin finding himself under more scrutiny than he had been initially. A mildly farcical demonstration of how amateur detective work is definitely best left to fiction.
Although this book starts out with a mystery, by the end I thought it was a bit of a comeback story. My main takeaway from Sorry For Your Loss is one of resilience and empathy. As a reader I was behind Martin as he hit rock bottom, hoping he would be able to turn things around. The connections made at his lowest ebb providing positive change is surely also a message that resonates off the page, to think on your own darkest times and use the strengths found by getting through them to help others.
| Primary Genre | General Fiction |
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An unusual and engaging mixture of comic novel, thriller, social commentary and a story of hope
This book was surprisingly original and engaging. It's an unusual and genre-defying mixture of comic novel, thriller, social commentary and a story of hope - without too much saccharine. It's a fairly short novel and I read it in a single afternoon and evening.
It seemed to be a black comic caper at first. Martin, a mild-mannered and conscientious funeral director in an average small English town, was horrified to find that the body of a former Mayor had disappeared from his funeral parlour on the eve of the funeral. A spiral of increasingly bizarre, but strangely believable, events followed. These included references to bereavement, funeral procedures, exhumation, murder, people smuggling, sexual abuse and other sensitive subjects. These were not treated lightly and dealt with sympathetically but there was a lot of humour and humanity in the book despite the dark subjects.... Read Full Review
A tale of loss (literally), funny, body goes missing and a bit of a farce. A recommended read
I was asked to review this humorous book, not as I first thought that this was just anecdotes of being a funeral director but that this was a bit of a thriller/detective story also. You would think this would be a bit of a mundane read- how wrong I was.
A body goes missing and events go from bad to worse, I know this should be quite sombre but the dark humour emerges, and there is empathy too. When something happens you dig deep and I think this shows someone's character and how we help each other.... Read Full Review
Very different but strangely moving at times.
This book was certainly different and I don't really know what to say about it. I found it hard going at first and I must have been half way through before I suddenly began to enjoy it. There were little flashes of humour which I enjoyed but the descriptions of what happens to a dead body I didn't enjoy.... Read Full Review
Available in Paperback and Kindle from Amazon. The critical responsibility of an undertaker is to take care of people’s nearest and dearest on their final journeys.
Sorry For Your Loss features in the following genres: General Fiction, Indie Author Books, Indie Books We Love, Humorous Fiction, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Satirical fiction and parodies, Fiction, Recommendations
Paperback. Not Available.
Sorry For Your Loss was written by John Newton and published by Independently published
