Review of Grim Like Me by Amanda M. Lee

Cormack Grimlock thought he was in for a day of meetings, and then his wife sprung something new on him: Take Your Daughter to Work Day. And, because he’s a Grimlock and his daughter is spoiled, that means taking Aisling and her best friend Jerry to work with him.
Though he’s not generally in the field, a work illness forces Cormack out on a case … and he must take Aisling and Jerry with him. Of course, since Cormack is a reaper, that means he’s visiting the dead. Unfortunately he has to take his young charges along for the ride.
What should have been an easy collection turns into something more for Cormack when his soul runs away and he’s left to solve the murder of an unlikable man with nothing but two eight-year-olds to help him. He also has to do it without his wife finding out what he’s up to because he has no intention of getting in trouble himself.
It’s one long day for the terrible trio, and it’s going to take everyone working together to ensure things turn out exactly how they should.

Note: This is a 28,000-word short set in the Aisling Grimlock world.

Available on Amazon and via Kindle Unlimited.

I finished the Aisling Grimlock series a while ago and was pleased to discover these cute ‘shorts’, which are novellas written by the same author, but set in the past when all the key players were younger. This is the first of the novellas that I’ve read and I really enjoyed it.

The story is not told from Aisling’s perspective, but from her father’s at a time when the kids are between the ages of 8-13. It’s definitely entertaining to view the children’s antics through Cormack’s eyes. Another lovely aspect of this back in time setting is that Lily is still alive so we see the whole family unit and their crazy shenanigans.

I think the main story thread of this novella is how Cormack survives the day with eight year old Jerry and Aisling in tow. They aren’t really out to solve the mystery of who killed Mayor Sanderson, but we do get that mystery resolved. The tale really centres around Aisling and Jerry and Cormack. It’s about family and about Cormack learning how to relate to his daughter, very differently from how he deals with his sons.

Grim Like Me is a fun, short novella that really is written for fans of the main series. It’s also a sweet introduction for new readers to get a peek into the Grimlock world. It is not a twisty, turny mystery though. Those are saved for the main series!

Overall I give this cute novella 4/5 espresso shots.