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Maralee Lowder
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The Mortician's Wife: #1 of the Mortician Series Paperback – January 9, 2015

by Ms Maralee Lowder (Author), Ms Laura Pallatin (Illustrator)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 317 ratings
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The honeymoon of Ada, a shy and innocent young girl and Horace, a dashingly handsome, charismatic, mortician, gets off to a rough start. The marriage goes down hill from there. Although the marriage continues to be unconsummated, Ada holds out hope that one day the love she has for her husband will destroy the emotional wall that continues to separate them.Unfortunately, before this happens, her father, a celebrated physician and owner of the local hospital, faces ruin, both financially and legally. It is then that Ada realizes the only reason Horace married her was because of her family's high standing within the local community. That is when all hope of sharing love with her husband vanishes, as he begins abusing her.Having no one to turn to, Ada quietly accepts her husband's abuse, until, after years of living in fear, Horace does the unthinkable. When he takes away her only reason for living, she shes him for what he as become--a monster of the highest order.When she learns the depth of his depravities, she comes to the realization that it is up to her to keep not only herself safe from him, but also any others who might come within his distorted vision.What she decides she must do will surprise most readers, and abhor others. She feels it is her duty to humanity to protect them from the man she once loved. Unfortunately, what she cannot possibly know is, that although she may have saved others from the living man, she has released an even more dangerous evil, his everlasting angered soul.
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Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 3
    The Mortician Series
  2. Print length
    279 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publication date
    January 9, 2015
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.66 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1502845660
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1502845665
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 3rd edition (January 9, 2015)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 279 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1502845660
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1502845665
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.66 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 317 ratings

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Maralee Lowder

Maralee Lowder

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
317 global ratings
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4 Stars
Must read
This book is so good it made my eyes year tear up and my tummy shocked made me very sad for Ada but happy with the ending must read
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Top reviews from the United States

PrincessMomo
5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2013
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I fell in love with this story quickly. Like other readers I thought I was getting into a horror story but was pleasantly surprised with a wonderfully sorrow filled confession. As a young girl Emily has an intriguing story of how she meets "the witch" of the mortuary, Ada, then finds her way to becoming a nurse and winds up taking care of Ada and hearing her sad life confession. Yes the ending is a little abrupt and left a bit open but I enjoyed this story so immensely I have to give it five stars. As a nurse myself, Thank you for this wonderful, intense story.
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KimberlyAnne
4.0 out of 5 stars Loved it until the abrupt ending
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2013
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We all remember that one spooky house that had many stories about the house and the owner that no one ever saw. That is how Emily and Ada's friendship starts. Their friendship is interrupted for years until Emily moves back to Dunsmuir as an adult and reluctantly takes on the position as Ada's caretaker. Ada has a story she needs to share with Emily before it's too late. Ada's story is filled with pain, heartache, love, murder and vengeance. In the end Emily will have a much better understanding of what she experienced years ago on that Halloween night.

Characters were well developed and the story flowed nicely. I read the entire book in an afternoon as I wanted to hear more of Ada's story. That being said, I was really disappointed with the abrupt ending. Hoping a sequel is in the works.
One person found this helpful
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WGV
5.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly good
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2022
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I was thinking it would be morbid or scary but it was kinda like Fried green tomatoes. An elderly woman telling her story. You know this stuff happened and you felt good justice was done. I don’t know if I’ll read the rest in the series because this was great as a stand alone.
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Ionia Froment
3.0 out of 5 stars Not quite what I was expecting
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2012
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Have you ever read one of those books where you just couldn't make a decision whether you liked it or not? That, for me, was this book. The writing was pretty good, the editing wasn't bad and the story had a plot, but I wasn't certain that this book lived up to the potential I felt it had.

Reading the blurb for this book, it sounded frightening and interesting. After I began reading, I wasn't sure exactly what to think. This story was not at all what I had mentally pictured based on what I had read about it. Although it is interesting in some ways, there is a decided lack of paranormal happenings. Most of this book is the memories and ramblings of an old woman who has suffered the hand of abuse for years. This book is definitely a journey, although I felt at times that the author could have walked a bit faster.

Throughout the entirety of this book I found myself wishing that something big would happen, but it never really delivered. Although this was not a terrible book, I felt a little more description in the blurb would have been useful to let potential reader's know exactly what they were getting. 3 stars.
3 people found this helpful
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Yappy Acres
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book, looking forward to sequel
Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2013
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It took me a little while to get into the book, but once I did, it was a quick read (which is exactly what I like). I am glad to know there is a sequel coming, as the book does leave a lot of unanswered questions. Hopefully, the sequel addresses them. As it stands, you can see the book ending this way long before it does, but it was rather anti-climatic (again, hoping the sequel addresses this).

Overall, I did enjoy it. The writing was good with few word usage/ spelling errors (not enough to detract from the book), and did leave me wanting to read the next one.
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Michael Thal
5.0 out of 5 stars A Character Study in Evil
Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2012
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Emily Hawkins is a nine-year-old girl living in the small town of Newkirk, a little California mountain town. The first Halloween she is permitted to join friends without mother tailing along was the night she began to learn the meaning of compassion. Led by Billy Shaw, and dressed as a gypsy, little Emily and her band of trick-or-treaters end up on Riverside Drive, the forbidden part of town. Then Billy had a brilliant idea.

Emily's weird premonition wasn't good, which bore true when they stopped in front of the old mortuary--the place "where the crazy lady lived, the one the kids liked to call `the witch'." Emily refused to throw a rock at the windows on the third floor. Angie Romero threw the rock instead breaking a window on the second floor. The kids scattered, all but Emily. She stood frozen as a "blast of nasty, hateful air gushed out of the broken window" and headed toward her. Soon, an old woman appeared covering the hole with a board. That's when Emily felt the old lady's sorrow and the beginning of a relationship that would span decades.

With The Mortician's Wife, Maralee Lowder creates a new genre of fiction--Horror/Revenge. As readers page through this riveting novel they will uncover a unique character study. They will watch Emily grow up into a compassionate nurse with wisdom beyond her years. Ada Carpenter is a sad nonagenarian who tells her life story to Emily in an attempt to unburden a horror story that would rival any thriller Dean Koontz would tell. As Emily listens to Ada's mind numbing tale, readers will be absorbed by the evil one human is capable of launching against another. This is one book you don't want to miss.

Michael Thal is the author of "The Legend of Koolura" and "Goodbye Tchaikovsky".
4 people found this helpful
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MomOfTwins
4.0 out of 5 stars Like the book a lot, but the ending?
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2013
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This book grabbed me from the very beginning. I thoroughly enjoy the book. I can feel the bond between Ada and Emily. I can feel the emotions in Ada's story like she was telling me in person. BUT what is the deal with the ending? It feels like the author ran out of time and had to hand it in to the publisher right away. I guess it also means if I want to find out how Emily is going to do with the mortuary - I'll have to buy the next book. My general rule is never to read/buy any "cliff-hanger" books ... now I am in a tough spot - should I break my own rule and buy the next book?
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Tami Anderson I
5.0 out of 5 stars Not as scary as it looks
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2013
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The thing about this book isn't the fact that it's super scary, it's the bond between Ada and Emily. If they bonded through music or telling her life story, it's a wonderful experience to read about. There are some creepy parts but the horror of it all comes from the marriage of Ada and her husband. I don't blame Ada for what she did. I did think it was a pretty clever way to do it. It's a long story but a good read if you like stories of females bonding over coffee.
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Top reviews from other countries

Elle Ess
5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Read
Reviewed in Canada on February 3, 2015
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It wasn't the ghost story I was hoping to find but it was still an excellent story with plenty of chilling events, twists and turns. It is the story of a chance meeting of a girl and the reclusive mortician's wife. It's a story of friendship developed through time via music and personal stories.

Maralee Lowder brings to life two very vivid characters and produces a novel that was hard to put down. It begins that Ada is the nurturer of hope and music in the young Emily. Later, Emily returns as a nurse to care for Ada. It is then that Ada unpacks the untold story of her life with the sociopath mortician who possessed a penchant for violence. But this is more than a story of sadness, it is a story of change in fortunes, justice and hope.

I was a little disappointed in the ending which was abrupt (as the end of life often is) because it did not entirely resolve the disposition of the mortuary and what lurked within. It would've made the book much better to have developed the sixth sense that Ada and Emily possessed just a little bit more.
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Mrs C Martin
5.0 out of 5 stars A gripping tale
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 8, 2012
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A gripping tale
A young girl goes out on Halloween night to visit a house where according to local gossip a mad women or a witch lives.She sees a face at the window of an old women and they immediately connect.She eventually learns the story of The women she sees Ada.I was very touched by Ada's story and wanted to know what had happened to her.I did not want to put the book down and there were so many twists and turns and the story remains with you long after you have finished the book.Very atmospheric
6 people found this helpful
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Cal
3.0 out of 5 stars Good Read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 10, 2013
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Enjoyed this one. Have to find out if there is a follow up as the end left me hanging a bit.
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MHD
5.0 out of 5 stars A good read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 2, 2014
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Really good book. I thoroughly enjoyed this from start to finish and can't wait to read the next one. Good characters, plot and excellent story-telling
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kim
5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 22, 2013
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Excellent book from start to finish.the author put her soul into writing this book.I will look out for more books by this author.10 out 10 Www
One person found this helpful
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