The Last Four Days of Paddy Buckley

Massey's intelligent and suspenseful debut novel finds Irish undertaker Paddy Buckley up to his silk-lined casket in trouble with his libido and conscience, while desperately dodging Dublin's most notorious crime boss, who wants to put Paddy in the ground with the rest of his customers. Paddy is a hapless undertaker at Gallagher's Funeral Directors whose life quickly becomes a series of messy disasters. As he carnally comforts an attractive widow, she suddenly drops dead, leaving Paddy scrambling to cover his tracks and save his career. Then while driving home late that night, preoccupied with the threat of professional scandal and disgrace, Paddy strikes and kills a pedestrian with his car. The dead man is Dublin gangster Donal Cullen, brother of Vincent Cullen, the most vicious criminal in Ireland. Paddy panics and flees the scene, fearing the vengeance of a sadistic thug. Now he has a dead widow and a dead gangster on his mind, and he is assigned to conduct the funeral arrangements for both without revealing his guilt. Paddy matches wits with the suspicious Vincent, who vows brutal revenge on his brother's killer. Scenes of dark comedy and ruthless brutality follow, as Paddy tries to keep both secrets and stay alive. A hilarious funeral home scam and a quirky dead body mix-up add to this exciting, morbid tale. (May)