Jutta Profijt Provides Mystery With Humorous Punches!

"So we didn't spend the night together, Marlene and me. Yes, even disembodied spirits have to spend the night somewhere, although sleep is ruled out due to a lack of the physical prerequisites. We don't release sleeping hormones, and we don't have eyelids to close. We're always awake. Which is beyond crappy..."
Morgue Drawer Four, US cover (Photo credit: robspiegel)

Morgue Drawer Next Door


By Jutta Profijt


I met Pascha Lerchenberg when he resided in Morgue Drawer Four. He has since had to give up that home because they buried his body and many others have used it since then. Still, when he met Marlene, he immediately indicated to her that she was in the drawer next door to his former domicile...

Martha, by the way, is her religious name. She had been a nun at the Convent of the Charitable Sisters of Saint Mary Magdalene. And she had been murdered. There had been a fire and the door to the room in which she had been located had been slammed shut. Another nun had heard her and had tried to get her out. Now she was in the critical care unit at the hospital, not expected to live.

Pasha was thrilled! Not because Martha was dead, of course, but he had been somewhat lonely since she was the first of the many individuals who had gone through the morgue in Cologne that had talked to him!

Funny thing though...Martin couldn't hear her...

Who's Martin? Well he was officially Dr. Martin Gansewein, a member of the staff, who had, unfortunately for him, conducted the autopsy for Pasha. Unfortunately, because he had been stuck with Pasha since then and, when the book opens, is still in the hospital due to injuries received during the murder investigation! You can easily guess who got him involved with that!

And now Pasha was ready to take on the investigation of who had killed Marlene--and naturally required assistance from Martin! So to get Martin up to date, Marlene had to first tell Pasha exactly what happened, who then had to pass on that information to Martin, who couldn't hear her.

Finding out who had set the fire at the convent and caused Martha's death was going to be quite difficult. The convent had opened an annex to house the homeless and the neighbors were very upset because during the day, the mostly men would sit on the wall out front and litter the sidewalk--just their presence was upsetting to those who had moved into this residential neighborhood... Then Martin stayed at the annex one night and saw one of the residents leave and later come back. Had one of the homeless done it, perhaps even accidentally?

But then the other nun died and briefly talked to Martha...they discovered she had been hit on her head and also murdered! But, for her, she immediately went into the light, while Martha began to wonder why she was still here. Had she done something to disappoint God?

And then there was the secret that nobody outside of the convent knew about, except...

The trail was difficult to follow even with two ghosts flying here and there trying to gain information! And then...

Well, first, I have to tell you that Martin has a girlfriend--a very beautiful girl. Pasha can't figure out how she fell for him, but is convinced that she does have strong feelings for him... Soooo, why not ask her to help with the investigation! Birgit enthusiastically got involved, even as Martin tried to think of an alternative. But she went undercover, only to be kidnapped!

The mystery is complex enough to keep you interested, although I did figure it out before the end of the book. But let's face it, when you have two ghosts, a lot of possibilities of people who want changes at the convent, potential fire bugs among the homeless, there is lots of options. But for those of you have enjoy humor, the exchanges between Pasha, Marlene, Martin and even Brigit will perhaps delight more than solving the mystery... Not to mention Martin's friends who know about Pasha but refuse to acknowledge him... Especially since one of them is a cop! But, at least he's willing to listen to Martin's issues as they all try to solve the case!

All I can say is that I was glad that Sister Marlene finally left to go into the light...I don't think Martin could have accepted having a female ghost floating into his home and perhaps seeing he and Brigit...

Enjoy! Oh, and if you discover all of your cell phone numbers now go to the Catholic Confession Hotline, don't blame Pasha!


GABixlerReviews

I was born in 1967 in Ratingen, a town near Düsseldorf (a town nobody outside Germany knows) and Cologne (a town the people from Düsseldorf hate - not only because it's more famous). After school I went to live in France for a bit more than one year. The town I lived in is known all over the world for the brandy produced there: Cognac. As quite a number of Cognac companies are in British, American or Canadian ownership, a lot of English-speaking people live in the litte town and some of these became my best friends. So I was able to improve my command of French and English at the same time.

Back in Germany I served an apprenticeship in the export business and passed international exams as a translator for English and French as well. For about nine years I worked as a project manager in companies importing or exporting plants and machinery. In 1996 I felt a need for change and set up my own business as a translator and teacher for Business English and Business French. Although my days were packed full of work I started writing my first novel in 2002 - and it became an unexpected success.

I've been working as a full-time freelance writer since 2006.