Dearly Departed by Hy Conrad is the second book in Amy’s Travel Mystery series. Amy Abel runs Amy’s Travel (they do custom travel excursions) with her mother Franny. If business does not pick up soon, though, they will have to close (the lawsuits do not help). Peter Borg (also has a travel agency) asks Amy to help him plan a trip for the mourners of Paisley MacGregor. Paisley was a maid who considered her employers her families. She collected their travel pictures and kept them on a piano in her apartment (she always wanted to travel). Unbeknownst to many of them Paisley was rich (thanks to an inheritance from employers). Her dying wish was for all of her families to go on a trip around the world (first class all the way) depositing her ashes as each destination. Amy will get to go along on the trip as well. To Amy’s shock all the families agree to the trip and they set off for their first destination. At their first stop in Paris, Laila Steinberg suffers a severe allergy attack (allergic to nuts). When they try her epi pen, it is empty. Laila is rushed to the hospital. Amy is highly suspicious. Did someone sabotage Laila? Amy goes into high alert when she notices a stranger following them. Then the stranger ends up dead. What is going on? Amy sets out to find some answers with the help of her mother, Franny and boyfriend, Marcus (both in the states). Do they have a murderer on the tour? After an incident with a volcano in Hawaii, they all head home. They need to find out the connection between the murdered man (stranger that was following them), Paisley, and the group. Will they find the answers they seek in Paisley’s apartment? Amy will not give up until all her questions are answered.

I found Dearly Departed to be too silly. Would a travel agent take ashes on an international trip without the proper paperwork (winging it seems very unprofessional and you know something is going to happen to those ashes). I wanted more substance and mystery (which was so simple to solve). It is not necessary to read the first book in the series (the author explains most of what happened). I found it to be a superficial book and a little boring (I started dreaming up my own alternate endings to the book). I give Dearly Departed 3 out of 5 stars (which means it was okay/decent). I will not, though, be reading any more books in this series. This series is just not my style.

I received a complimentary copy of Dearly Departed in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Business is quiet in the travel world, so when Amy's friend and fellow travel business owner Peter asks to join forces for an around the world wake, how can she say no? The recently deceased Paisley MacGregor was a maid for several well off families and in order to hear the reading of the will, must take one last trip in memory of their beloved maid. Each stop winds up introducing us more to whichever family/couple, stories are told, ashes scattered. Naturally, since Amy's Travels is involved, there is a close call in Paris for one of the characters and then a new character seems to be the victim of a mugging in India. Back in New York, the scenes between Amy's mom, Fanny and boyfriend Marcus are too few. They add a lot of color to these stories. The book is once again broken abruptly into two parts. After the last stop in Hawaii, most of the action and sleuthing takes place back in New York. I admit to enjoying the on the road section of this story more than the last part, but it was another clever read. ( )