Dying for Redemption by Chris Freeburn -- book review

Dying for Redemption is a mystery with a twist. The detective, Callous Demar, is dead. He runs a detective agency in Limbo. Here's the deal. The people in Limbo are there because they need to resolve a problem related to their deaths, or because they are unsure of their faith in God. The good people without problems to resolve go straight to Heaven. The truly wicked go straight to Hell. The people in Limbo could go either way. If they resolve their problem in a positive way, they can move on to Heaven. If they fail to resolve their problems, the stay in Limbo. If they cause harm while trying to resolve their problems, they could end up in Hell.

Callous helps people who were murdered, and who are stuck in Limbo because they can't accept their deaths or need to find out who murdered them and why to accept their deaths. In the course of Dying for Redemption, Callous helps a wealthy business woman, Willow, who is stuck in Limbo after her murder. While he's working on Willow's case, his great-niece Abigail is murdered, and she becomes both a client and a colleague. Since Abigail was murdered while trying to solve the mystery of her great-uncle's death, Callous ends up trying to solve his own murder while trying to help Abigail.

The premise is intriguing and the characters are mostly pretty well drawn. There are a lot of editing problems in the book--enough to be a distraction. There are also some clunky bits in the writing. Overall an interesting mystery with an unusual miss-en-scene.

Dying for Redemption was published in trade paperback by Quiet Storm Books. There is an author website here:

http://www.chrisfreeburn.com/