Excerpt: Skull Juggler: Columbarium (Book 2 in the Skull Juggler series)

“That,” he said, “is the absolute worst grave I’ve ever had the displeasure of seeing. Have you no shame? Can’t you put a little more strength into it? This is embarrassing.”
I clenched my teeth and resolutely ignored him. Typical Andreas – calm, collected, total pain in my rear end. He loved to lounge around in the grass, admire the flowers on several of the tombstones, and criticize my grave-digging technique. I had started out really bad at it, not having worked a day in my life, but I wasn’t too bad anymore. That and he didn’t exactly help me out when I needed it. No, he was more interested in watching the clouds go by and talking to any passing relatives of the deceased. “Nothing to see here,” he’d say in a pleasant voice. Or, “Are those tiger lilies? They’re quite lovely – match your eyes very nicely.” And his favorite, “Don’t worry, the boy’s only temporary help. He’ll never make it in this business.” He was of course referring to my prowess as a grave digger.
I wasn’t. A grave digger, I mean. I had never aspired to be one and being reduced to this job was not something I ever thought would be possible, when I was younger. Now, I just gritted my teeth and swallowed my insults. Because this was if not the job, then at least part of my job.