The Undertaker's Wife

this was a hard book to follow it took me a while to read as it didn't keep my interest the whole time but about the middle of the book I picked up and became more enjoyable......more

This is one of Estleman's Westerns. I grabbed it from the library shelf without looking at it very carefully. (Plus it had a "mystery" label applied.) The Western is a genre I have assiduously avoided. I know Elmore Leonard works the genre, as did Robert Parker, but I just figured I could get by wit......more

A slightly boring look at what it was like to be an undertaker in the 1850-70 time period. The wife just tagged along and told the story, but wasn't really in the novel most of the time. She had a difficult life and no one wanted to be friends with them or her daughter because of what the dad did fo......more

Really, really liked this book. Not for the squeamish, because the author details the whole undertaking process, but the story is SO well-written and engaging. I especially liked the bits with Wild Bill Hickock.......more

A fascinating history of the mortician's trade from the mid 1800s. While I found the details intriguing, it might be a bit off-putting for others. The title seems a bit misleading as it deals with the undertaker more than his wife.......more