Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Secret Undertaking
    Unavailable
    Secret Undertaking
    Unavailable
    Secret Undertaking
    Ebook325 pages4 hours

    Secret Undertaking

    By Mark de Castrique

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    "The dark humor, a small community in a regional mystery, and a strong supporting cast of believable characters will appeal to Margaret Maron's readers." —Library Journal STARRED review

    Towns like Gainesboro, North Carolina, may be small but go big on local traditions. When funeral director and part-time deputy sheriff Barry Clayton and his childhood nemesis, Archie Donovan, Jr., unite to create a fundraising float in Gainesboro's annual Apple Festival Parade, what could go wrong? With Archie involved—anything!

    First, the Grand Marshal, NC Secretary of Agriculture Graham James, is attacked by a gunman and Barry's Uncle Wayne is critically wounded in the melee. The assailant is killed. Then, when the body of a convenience store owner is discovered less than an hour later with the gunman's food stamp card in his wallet, the case escalates. Two men dead. What is the connection?

    Barry and Sheriff Tommy Lee Wadkins swiftly learn their small town offers no protection against big-time crime. The body count rises as the scope of their homicide investigation crosses into the realm of the U.S. Marshals and their secretive Witness Protection Program. To penetrate its walls, Barry and Tommy Lee resort to a most unlikely ally: Archie. Is the insurance agent, generally a victim of his own hare-brained schemes, capable of breaking the case, or will Archie find a way to become another of its casualties?

    The trio's secret undertaking into a convoluted conspiracy becomes a fight for survival in a world filled with betrayals where it's impossible to know which people to trust.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSourcebooks
    Release dateSep 4, 2018
    ISBN9781464210389
    Unavailable
    Secret Undertaking
    Author

    Mark de Castrique

    Mark de Castrique grew up in the mountains of western North Carolina where many of his novels are set. He's a veteran of the television and film production industry, has served as an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte teaching The American Mystery, and he's a frequent speaker and workshop leader. He and his wife, Linda, live in Charlotte, North Carolina. www.markdecastrique.com

    Read more from Mark De Castrique

    Related to Secret Undertaking

    Related ebooks

    Police Procedural For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      A Year in Reading: David Heska Wanbli Weiden

      Dec 9, 2020

      Little did I know that, in September, just two weeks after the release of my novel, I’d be sitting in my home office in Colorado giving a reading in front of a computer, and that a completely naked eighty-year-old man would appear on the screen. The

      5 min read

    • Article

      Paltry Gestures

      Jan 5, 2021

      Paltry Gestures
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Great Divide

      Apr 22, 2022

      It’s easy to imagine a conversation about Louise Kennedy’s debut novel, Trespasses, that goes something like this: “What’s it about?” “Well, it’s about a young Catholic woman in Belfast in the 70s, at the height of the Troubles.” “Punishment beatings

      2 min read

    • Article

      Sightings

      Oct 1, 2021

      FOR MANY YEARS, in this tiny mountain town, we avoided certain signs. Oh, we had trailhead signs and wooden slabs on brush-hidden driveways adorned with family names. But there was an unspoken rule: No signs for political candidates. Even when a neig

      3 min read

    • Article

      Seeing The Light

      May 29, 2020

      Seeing The Light
      2 min read

    • Article

      Dark Tales

      Dec 2, 2021

      Dark Tales
      6 min read

    • Article

      Fight For Life

      Sep 25, 2023

      by Lauren Groff (Hutchinson Heinemann, $37) As climate change wreaks havoc on our precious Earth, many writers have chosen to contemplate the end of days by imagining dystopian universes inhabited by sole survivors of the planet’s destruction. These

      3 min read

    • Article

      Salvaged & Renewed

      Jan 4, 2022

      Salvaged & Renewed
      1 min read

    • Article

      Agaves

      Oct 5, 2021

      Agaves
      4 min read

    • Article

      Poe Winners

      Jun 2, 2022

      The winners of the 2022 Edgar Allen Poe Awards are: Best Novel, Five Decembers, James Kestrel; Best First Novel by an American Author, Deer Season, Erin Flanagan; Best Paperback Original, Bobby March Will Live Forever, Alan Parks; Best Fact Crime, La

      1 min read

    • Article

      Ride Of Passage

      May 17, 2021

      Ride Of Passage
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Next Great American Crime Writer May Be Living in Norway

      Apr 5, 2018

      Derek B. Miller caught the eye of readers of The Millions with his 2013 debut novel, Norwegian by Night, lauded by Richard Russo in his Year in Reading and staying atop our Top Ten for months. The novel featured an octogenarian ex-Marine, Sheldon Hor

      7 min read

    • Article

      Ott v. Ott

      Nov 25, 2022

      Ott v. Ott
      24 min read

    • Article

      Behind the Story

      Nov 25, 2021

      Behind the Story
      1 min read

    Reviews for Secret Undertaking

    4.5/5

    5 ratings1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      procedural, law-enforcement, friendship, suspense, twisty, murder, the Mob, USA -----He's a part time funeral director and part time deputy, husband, son, nephew, staunch friend. And he's got a whole lot of firecrackers to juggle. There's the murders, the uncle with a severe concussion sustained while saving a life at the parade, the good friend who gets people in trouble with his inability to keep his mouth shut, the mob, several federal agencies, and then there's the family funeral home. The publisher's blurb gives some more hints, but it's the compelling nature of the characters, the writing, and the suspense that keeps you reading too late. And the plot twists complete with red herrings! Excellent read! I requested and received a free review copy from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley and now I have to go find more by this author!