Murder at the Columbarium by Emily Gallo
4 stars
Murder At The Columbarium is a relaxed paced contemporary mystery which is set in San Francisco.
Jed is the caretaker of the Columbarium which is a building with niches where funeral urns are stored. One morning he finds the body of a Pakistani woman inside the gates, and beside her a baby.
While the police investigate the murder, Jed takes it upon himself to also do some sleuthing.
The reader is easily enveloped into Jed’s multi-racial world and the story smoothly incorporates HIV, racialism, Parkinson’s disease, and several elements from the LGBTQ community lifestyle. The author wrote these parts without preaching to her audience, which I appreciated.
I liked Jed’s dedication to his caretaking job, especially the moments when he took time to sing to the ‘occupants’ during his daily rounds. He was a very likeable character and went out of his way to help others.
I understand that this book has some characters from a previous book, but I didn’t feel that I missed anything by not reading it.
Overall a pleasant amateur sleuth style mystery which expressed the current multi-culture of the American city in a natural and very readable format.
View all my reviews on Goodreads
Jed’s quiet life as caretaker of the San Francisco Columbarium is turned upside down when he comes upon a dead woman’s body and a crying baby just inside the gate. His search for answers thrusts him into a world of corruption, bigotry and drug trafficking and he becomes one of the principal suspects.
Rosie Amber 
Reblogged this on Loleta Abi Author & Book Blogger.
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