This excerpt is where you first meet the Undead Mother-in-law, Diane Newby. She’s invited her daughter and son-in-law over for Valentine’s Day dinner. Find out what happens right here:
Try Zombie Detective for .99. It’s not a detective who is a zombie, but one who solves zombie cases. And it’s now on sale for .99 from June 21st to 28th.
Ace zombie reporter Sam Melvin has been fired–by his wife, Lisa. Their paper, The Midley Beacon, is barely surviving. How will they make ends meet?
Sam decides to give being a detective a try. He advertises his business–but his zombie experience comes with it. All across the country, people bring their zombie problems to Sam. Zombie Squirrels? Zombie Bulls? Sam’s on the case. But can his experience with zombie turkeys transfer?
Sam finds out in a series of deadly adventures–and so will you when you read this book. See if you can keep from dying from laughter.
Try Zombie Detective – An Excerpt
Chapter 12 – Criminal
Criminal chapter icon
Sam walked into the office in Chicago Police Headquarters. “Superintendent Howell?”
“Yes. Please call me Gary, Sam.” A big smile creased his brown face below his glasses and bald head.
“Sure, Gary.”
“I’ve prepared a briefing for you. Here are the videos in time order.” Superintendent Howell pushed a button on his computer, and a wall-sized screen lit up, playing a black-and-white security video. A man wearing a ski mask punched a car window, opened the door, and took out a computer bag and a cell phone.
“That was the first crime. Here’s the next.” The same man knocked out a store’s plate-glass window and grabbed a television.
Sam watched all twelve videos with Gary Howell. They all happened late at night, all the break-ins done by the man’s fist. In the last video, taken from a policeman’s body camera, the man was shot, and he stumbled but kept running and vaulted over a six-foot barbed-wire fence, clearing it with a foot to spare.
“Whoa! I can see why zombiism is suspect number one.”
“Yes. We never found the bullets that were shot, and our video analysis show the man was hit in the leg and the back.”
“And then did the Olympic high-jump stunt.”
“Yes. We also analyzed his speed before the jump. Thirty miles per hour.”
“So an Olympic sprinter as well as a jumper. Have you interviewed any decathletes in Chicago?”
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Best of 2026 Reviews and Some of Mine. I just love it when my readers “get” my books. I’ve read 50 books so far this year. Read the reviews from my favorites.
Zombie Turkeys by Andy Zach is a wild horror comedy about one very unexpected apocalypse. When small town reporter Sam Melvin discovers turkeys that won’t stay dead, what seems like a strange local story quickly turns into nationwide chaos. The birds can’t be killed, they just come back stronger, and soon the country is overrun. Teaming up with his sharp, no nonsense editor Lisa, Sam chases the biggest story of his life while trying to avoid becoming turkey dinner himself. The tone is fast, gory, and deliberately over the top, mixing satire with full blown absurdity. If you enjoy horror that doesn’t take itself too seriously and like your apocalypse with a heavy dose of dark humor, Zombie Turkeys is a chaotic, entertaining ride
Restarting the Apocalypse – Old Trials Anew – Book 4
Len and his friend Rich continue to prepare the world for a massive apocalypse of mana bursting out of storms and dungeons. They both got new lives after they died when this happened previously. They found themselves in their 18-year-old bodies with all their knowledge of years of surviving when the apocalypse first occurred.
Now, in the fourth book, they must prepare for and face the first dungeon outbreak. Powerful creatures, twice as strong as Len and Rich, come boiling out of the dungeon by the thousands.
And there’s a civil war going on in their country, at the same time.
Rich and Len have prepared a fortress and a city to withstand the outbreak. Will it be strong enough, or must they destroy all their work to save the world?
Best of 2026 Reviews – Summary Blurb
Civil war is brewing, but Harmonia’s dungeon might end Yorel before the first banner is raised.
Len steps out of Kreni Hall without Rick or the other Titans, Daniela, and Dennis.
King Eardin, whose death sparked the Plynthia Civil War in his last life, is alive and well, summoning Rick to a ball in Eskon City. A ball where he aims to reassert his dominion as King of Plynthia.
An outcome that neither his sons nor their supporters desire. Rick is needed, and Len will go. Now is not the time Goran wants to be drawing the attention of others. Not when their focus is on Harmonia’s growing threat. They’ve changed the Titans’ fates, brought Dennis and Daniela into the fight, and pushed their skills past anything they had in their last lives.
It’s not enough. Harmonia dungeon spawns Rare grade creatures, over a hundred levels stronger than even Len. The Goran Army has been growing stronger, but not strong enough to face this threat head-on.
If the dungeon’s creatures ever break free, nothing on Yorel can stop them.
Threshold doesn’t just guard Goran or Plynthia—it’s the line between Yorel and annihilation. If the dungeon’s creatures escape, if Threshold falls, Yorel falls with it.
They’ve already watched Yorel die once. If they fail to control Harmonia, they’ll watch it happen again.
And this time, there’s no reset.
Best of 2026 Reviews – My Undead Mother-in-law
My Undead Mother-in-law cover. Click to get yours.
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I got a new review! Someone likes Diane Newby.
My Undead Mother-in-law: The Family Zombie With Anger Management Issues (Life After Life Chronicles)
Barbara
Fun adventure with some twisted humor
March 22, 2026
Once more, Andy Zach has transported us into his odd but wonderful world. This story is a bit different from his first two books, which introduced us to a new type of zombie and the regular folks who had to step up and deal with these regenerating monsters. This time, a new threat is introduced, and our heroes have to learn to control zombies in order to face it. Ian Fleming would have been a fan of this adventure. I loved reading this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys an action-adventure mystery with a bit of twisted humor.
My mother-in-law’s a zombie. And she has anger-management issues.
My mother-in-law, Diane Newby, zombified by accident. She still volunteers at her church bake sales and cooks pot roast for her daughter and son-in-law, Ron Yardley. What ticks her off is when people don’t treat her like a normal human being—with glowing red eyes and super strength and speed. And if she doesn’t get her own way, look out. She explodes and leaves broken plaster and body parts in her wake. Nothing stops her: not brick walls, the federal government, or middle-aged spread.
But the world’s most powerful criminal plans to control zombies. His only problem with zombies is that they have way too much free will. He has a solution for that. But will it work with Diane Newby?
The world divides into pro-zombie and anti-zombie factions. Battles break out everywhere. Which side will you take? Who will live and who will die?
You might not survive this book. But at least you’ll die laughing.
Barbara