Clara Marsh, is an emotionally fragile woman who works as an undertaker in Brockton, MA. She does not believe in God. When asked what she does believe, she responds by saying "I believe it is important to breathe". She spends her solitary life among the dead, preparing their last baths and bidding them farewell with a bouquet from her own garden. Her carefully structured life shifts when she discovers a neglected, possibly abused young girl playing in the funeral parlor, desperate for a friend.

Clara's ordered life changes even more when a detective starts questioning her about a body she prepared three years earlier. The body was of an unidentified young girl found murdered in the woods nearby. Unclaimed by family, the community christened her Precious Doe. Is there a link between the young girl who seeks the funeral parlor as a sanctuary to the same people who killed Precious Doe?

Wonderfully written and very compelling. Read in one sitting. ( )

I found this book on Stasia's list and I'm glad I trusted her judgment.

This is a highly crafted, well-written, grip your emotions and never let them go kind of book. Found in the mystery section, it actually transcends just one category.

It is raw, gritty and gripping and the heroine is a flawed, fascinatingly in-depth woman. Mackinnon crafted an entire set of complex, unfluffy characters and once I began reading this book, I was compelled to finish it in one sitting.

Clara Marsh is an undertaker who is more comfortable with the dead than the living. Badly bruised and emotionally, physically battered from a childhood none should endure, she looks at the world through eyes that have seen too much and a heart that craves to feel very little.

Her boss and his wife provide a haven of stability, and yet as the book progresses, that relationship also becomes tested and tempest tossed.

Clara's emotions are raw when three years prior, she prepared a burial for a beautiful little girl who was horrifically, brutally murdered and, lacking identity was named Precious Doe. When A small waif (Trecie) is found playing in the funeral home Clara sees the warning signs of a child who is badly abused.

From this point forward, the book takes a twisting, turning dark road as Trecie is somehow connected to Precious Doe. As Clara attempts to help Trecie, memories of her childhood are woven in the tale of pain, betrayal and neglect.

A local policeman Mike, who also has his share of tragedy, is like a bee buzzing, pestering Clara to help uncover the identify and killer of Precious Doe and to sew together the threads and pieces of Trecie and Precious Doe in an attempt to prevent a similar fate.

There is a portrayal of the seedy, underbelly of child pornography, and there are of a cast of town folk characters who are not all they appear to be. This book elicits suspicion and a whirlwind of emotions as it increasingly becomes difficult to discern who to trust.

The ending is unpredictable. While the story line is gripping and heart wrenching, the author did not portray the violence simply for the sake of gore.

Highly recommended for the excellent plot, the crisp writing and the portrayal of a redemptive soul, who despite terrible pain and darkness longs to be free of burden and bask in a ray of some sunshine. ( )

I really enjoyed this, although it isn't a typical book I would read. I was intrigued by an author interview where she commented that undertakers were typically people of faith. In this case, the main character Clara, is an undertaker without faith. Most of the story reads very closely to The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold, but this one isn't as bleak. Clara's faith is taken away from her by an abusive grandmother and a troubled childhood. That premise alone drives the book. It's a murder mystery of sorts, but it transcends that. It drives the plot, but the book is mostly a bleak story of how someone could face death everyday without any faith in anything. I seem to remember a story similar to this where a young child was murdered without identity, referred in the press as "precious doe" to get people looking for her. A quote at the beginning and at the end of the story can describe her. The beginning:"Death cannot kill their names.I already konw the image carved into the top.Two red roses...AdorationIt's a thoughtful gesture by the town to immortalize the soliders. But they are wrong death ends everything precious doe's name died with her her story too. wishful thinking and a granite stone cannot revive a life."Near the end:"Clara You're dead problem is you never lived all those flowers, whatever have you allowed to take root."It's love in the end that brings her back. The ending sequence is what brought this book from a three to a four for me. ( )

A lyrical and thrilling read. Very different. I can't wait to see what she does next. ( )

Clara is a reclusive undertaker who knows the pain the world has to offer. She rarely speaks and she never lets anyone touch her. She is deeply scarred but working in the mortuary brings her peace. But then she finds Trecie, the young girl that wanders the funeral home grounds. Trecie is a girl who understands as much about pain and survival as Clara does, and she has some kind of connection to Precious Doe, a little girl found dead in the woods, a mystery never solved.

I had to know about Clara and Trecie. But the book was not what I expected. I thought it would be a quiet, contemplative story. That's how it starts but it soon becomes anxious and then menacing. When the action kicks in it doesn't stop. It becomes a crescendo of danger and fear. This was definitely not contemplative. It was suspenseful. And I enjoyed every minute of it.

There were several mysteries to discover throughout. MacKinnon gave several possibilities for each one to keep the reader guessing. You're never sure who can be trusted and what will happen next. It was a little predictable but it wasn't always the storyline that kept me reading. I really liked Clara and I had to know what happened to her that made her so withdrawn and what she would do with the circumstances she found herself in. I also wanted to follow along as the mystery surrounding Trecie was brought to light. A book with great characters and a gripping story always make for a great book.

By way of warning: there are many gross issues laid out in the book. Clara is an undertaker so there is some little details about what that entails. There is also a connection with kiddie p*rn so if you are sensitive to that you may want to avoid reading this one. It's not detailed but enough information to give the reader some discomfort. I felt it was not out of line for the character of the book.

One word review:
Worthy ( )