Morgue Drawer: Do Not Enter!

I've been enjoying this series. The voice of Pascha has been alternately hilarious, touching, and exasperating-- and the attempts of Martin to tune him out can be funny as well. I feel for both these men; I understand Pascha's loneliness, and I can certainly understand Martin's frustration at being the only person who can hear this restless ghost-- especially since they are polar opposites in temperament.

As the series progresses, Pascha has found that his boundaries have changed a bit, and he takes advantage of that in an attempt to keep boredom at bay. He's found that he enjoys the "company" of a police detective named Gregor since he likes helping out during investigations, but Gregor can't hear him, and Pascha has found it show more increasingly difficult to get Martin to cooperate.

Morgue Drawer: Do Not Enter! deals with the very real problems with the drug trade as well as within immigrant communities and the mystery is a strong element in the book, as it has been in all the others in the series. However, the tone has changed, and at first I found it extremely annoying. It wasn't the fact that one of the children's spirits was a racist (although it didn't help). What bothered me was how Pascha had changed. It was almost as if that one child's behavior had set him free to express other, nastier, parts of his personality. Pascha's attitude is much darker in this book, and when it dawned on me why, I smiled. Profijt really thought through the progression of Pascha's character.

If the only person you could talk to was someone who couldn't stand you and went through all sorts of machinations to avoid you, wouldn't that get to you after a while? If you couldn't do the things you really love in life-- like go out with pretty girls or drive fast cars-- wouldn't you find your attitude changing for the worse? That's what's happening here, and it sets up the last book of the series beautifully. I'm looking forward to reading it. show less

“Being Murdered is Quite Special, You See.”


MORGUE DRAWER: DO NOT ENTER

Pascha, a young, ghostly former car thief, is on a new investigation. He explains, “My 25th birthday was a couple of months ago, but I was already dead then.” But this time, Pascha has to deal with four kids, not quit dead, but in an induced coma after an auto accident. The driver of their van is missing, which is mystery #1. A dead woman is found soon after, which is mystery #2. How are the two cases related?

Of course, the “bonsais,” as “Pascha calls the four comatose kids, are confused, disoriented, and not particularly cooperative. Pascha embarks on an investigation to see what happened to the driver, and why another young lady murdered.

To solve the show more crime, Pascha teams up with Martin Gansewein, M.D., the coroner, who is the only one who can communicate with Pascha. They developed a special relationship ever since Martin sliced Pascha open during his own autopsy: “Since then we’ve sort of been friends.” Nevertheless, Pascha often has to berate the sluggish Martin, who is sometimes more obsessed with drinking his expensive tea then investigating crime.

MORGUE DRAWER: DO NOT ENTER is full of clever, gritty humor—all from the mouth of Pascha. He explains how these four kids ruined his day: “Instead of sending me a hot babe or cool dude, the good lord or fate had tacked four whiny, snot nosed brats to my ass.“

Some of Pascha's expressions are priceless. Speaking of Angelina Jolie, “Pascha mentions how he would like to kiss someone like her except someone with a smaller mouth: “I could never kiss Jolie; I'd be terrified of being devoured whole.”

All in all MORGUE DRAWER: DO NOT ENTER is a fun read, with lots of comic witticisms to keep things light. This book, with the spirits/ghosts reminds me of the famous “Odd Thomas” books by John Grisham. At times, however, the action is a bit slow, but overall this latest MORGUE installment is a fun read. show less

[Do Not Enter] is my least favorite in the series, but I still enjoyed it. The main character is Pasha, a former criminal. Former in that he was one when he was alive. Now that he is dead and a spirit, Pasha helps solve crimes, flitting about at ethereal speed, gathering clues and trying to pass them on to his friend the coroner and the only one who can hear him. There is usually another spirit hanging about, one who hasn't seen the light and crossed over yet, often the victim of the most recent crime. In this book, Pasha's spirit companions are four children who are in a medically induced coma after a car crash. The driver is missing. Public opinion says she ran off to avoid prosecution, but the kids say she was kidnapped. Pasha is show more crude and sexist on the surface, but underneath, not far underneath, he is kind, intelligent and very funny. I will keep reading the series. show less

Morgue Drawer: Do Not Enter! (Pascha #4) by Jutta Profijt takes the reader along as Pascha meets four kids ghost! Now he is the first to tell you he doesn't do well with kids! The problem is these kids aren't dead! The mystery gets deeper...The driver of their car was kidnapped too. Why was their car crashed into and the drive taken? Why are the kids ghosts?
Great adventure! Loads of fun! I really like Pascha and this series!

This was a light, fast read, continuing in the story of a ghost who's caught here on earth with only one person, a coroner who can hear him.
This time he's after someone who may have kidnapped a teacher and caused an accident, which put four children into a coma--which gives four whiny, annoying children the chance to interact with Pasha as he tries to solve the multiple mysteries around this event, with very little help from his friend Martin, who has other things on his mind.
I didn't enjoy this story as much as the previous ones, as the children were rather annoying a great deal of the time and the interaction with Martin wasn't there as much. More like 2 1/2 stars.

We learn a little more about Pasha, and he seems to be reluctantly maturing (a little) as well. This time he has helpers, although they are children and their actual state of being is a bit nebulous. Fast reading fun.