“Quick,” whispered my friend Carla. “Climb in.”
How had obituary-writing become such a dangerous occupation, I wondered as I hissed back, “I am not climbing into a casket, even if it is big enough to hold a giant.”
Carla, one of my best friends and the assistant director at the local funeral home had already balanced on the edge of what she called the double-wide and lowered herself onto the silky white cushions inside. The casket had been specially designed for a man who suffered from obesity and his family wanted him to finally rest in peace in space that could accommodate his girth. Carla was particularly proud of her part in designing the double-wide.
“Are you actually plumping the pillow?” I asked in horror.
“If we have to be in here for a while, I might as well be comfortable,” she said. “Hurry, he’s getting closer.”
We had tracked the funeral home intruder’s footfalls as they closed in on the staircase that led to the basement. This was the large room where bereaved families could choose a vessel of sorts for their loved one’s final rest.
The casket room, as I called it, was spacious with an array of beautifully displayed coffins lining the wall. A shelf behind was the resting place for the urns often used for the cremains. We had hurried down here to find a clue that Carla’s friend Chester had supposedly left for us—the clue we hoped would give us the hint we needed to understand why he had been murdered.
I searched frantically for any other place to hide. Between a sleek high-glossed gray casket and a traditional hand rubbed mahogany, I fixated on a neon green choice that should have come with sunglasses. That was where the clue was hidden, I was sure of it. And it was the first place the intruder would look for whatever evidence Chester had left that might incriminate the man.
As the footsteps inched closer to the basement showroom entrance and I considered my options, I wondered at the wisdom of my career choice. Save for an occasional computer crash, obituary writing should be a safe profession. All I had to do was interview next of kin and then pound out life stories. Instead, my job had repeatedly put me in situations that threatened not only my well-being, but also that of the people I loved.
“Get in here now,” ordered Carla.
Fear made my hands shake as I backed into the double-wide, using my butt as a balance before swinging reluctant legs into the casket. The footsteps had now stopped close to the top of the staircase and Carla wasn’t taking any chances that whoever was searching the funeral home might also be the guy responsible for the murder of her friend Chester.
With surprising speed, she pulled me off the edge and into the casket. As I was about to protest, she clamped her hand over my mouth and immediately began lowering the lid just as the intruder reached the bottom step.
“Shhh,” she whispered urgently into my ear. “Or these might be the last words you ever hear.”
Grave Words – A Deadly Deadlines Mystery, Book 2
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: June 2025
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link
In the second installment of the Deadly Deadlines mysteries, obituary writer Winter Snow faces her biggest challenge yet when the body of a homeless man is found in a burning building and her best friend is the main suspect, perfect for fans of Eva Gates and Kate Carlisle.
Winter Snow has had it! With her business in a death drought, her best friend Scoop implicated in a string of arsons, and an obituary listing Winter herself as deceased, her life is heating up. But just as she’s trying to cool things down, she receives her newest assignment: an obituary for Chester, a homeless man found in a burning building.
Promising the local funeral home manager that she will have the obituary by the deadline, Winter is stonewalled at every turn, failing to discover Chester’s last name, or where he came from. When it is discovered that Chester was murdered and that the fire was set to cover it up, all fingers immediately point to Scoop. Not only is Scoop a person of interest in the arsons, he was also the last person to see Chester alive.
As more nails are pounded into Scoop’s coffin, Winter’s uncle Richard hopes to help by inviting the notorious town gossips, The Nosy Parkers, to a neighborhood food fest. Unfortunately, the breadcrumbs they toss set murder in motion.
More determined than ever, Winter must figure out the twists and turns of the case to clear Scoop’s name, putting her on a deadly deadline to solve the murder and avoid meeting the same grave consequences.
About the author
Gerri Lewis is the author of the Deadly Deadlines mysteries about an obituary writer who meets murder and mayhem in her Hallmark worthy hometown of Ridgefield, Connecticut. Her debut cozy, The Last Word was a finalist in the 21st Annual Best Book Awards sponsored by American Book Fest and an honorable mention in the Los Angeles Times 2025 Book Awards. Grave Words, is the second book in the series. During her career as an award-winning reporter, columnist and feature writer, Gerri has become a go-to person in her community for obituaries. When she is not helping her protagonist, Winter Snow, solve mysteries, she writes magazine features and is the Public Information Officer for the Ridgefield Office of Emergency Management. She lives with her husband in Ridgefield, Connecticut, the setting for her books.