HUMAN REMAINS

the fifth Hope Sze medical mystery

by Melissa Yi

The blow flies come first.

Those pretty green flies, with the iridescent bodies that catch the eye and twinkle in the sunshine. Prettier than emeralds, and more practical, too. They land on the dead body within minutes. They eat the eyes and other soft and tasty bits as an appetizer. They buzz about, laying their eggs so the next generation of soft, white maggots can benefit from this bumper harvest. A buffet of soft, wet meat.

The beetles wait until the meat has dried out a little. They prefer human jerky instead of raw remains.

The insects eat and procreate and eat and procreate, a beautiful and unending cycle until the last bit of meat is stripped away, or another human stumbles upon the mess.

That human is me.

Note from Melissa

As soon as I finish up with the back pain book, I’m going to attack HUMAN REMAINS and figure out where it’s going. I wrote 82,000 words, but it’s a mess. You’ll be the first to hear when I sort it out! I know a few of you are eager to hear about how Hope’s negotiating with Tucker and Ryan, and I’m pretty happy with how the love triangle’s evolving. However, the mystery plot is…complicated.