A Domestic Diva Mystery, No 5
Krista Davis
Berkley Prime Crime
September 2011/ ISBN 978-0-425-24378-7
Mystery / Cozyy
Amazon
Reviewed
by Laura Hinds
Sophie Winston
is a domestic diva and event planner. A divorcee, she lives with
her Ocicat, Mochie, and loveable dog, Daisy. It is Halloween week
and Sophie is helping to run the community haunted house. Some people
in town believe stories that the place is haunted and is being visited
by a local legendary vampire named Viktor Luca.
When a nasty
man named Patrick is murdered while at Sophie’s rival, Natasha’s,
Halloween Party, there are rumors that he was killed by a vampire.
Sophie doesn’t believe in vampires, but she did see someone
dressed as one running away from the murder scene. Does the killer
think Sophie can identify him or her? Will she be the next victim?
What about her niece, Jen, and Jen’s friends, who are involved
with working to set up and give tours of the haunted house-could
they be in danger too?
Davis does
a wonderful job of getting her readers so involved with her characters
lives that they don’t want to stop reading. I know I was itching
to find out whom the killer could be. Even though there were ample
clues, this murder mystery could have taken any one of several paths
and have a satisfactory conclusion.
The story is
well plotted, the dialogue realistic, and I just love the fun names
she gives to her characters. For example, Sophie’s rival is
Natasha, who is living with Sophie’s ex-husband, Mars. Natasha’s
teen-age cousin, Vegas, lives there too. Sophie’s boyfriend
is named Wolf, and other characters include a Dash, the ubiquitous
teen girl named Heather, and a police officer named Wong, who says
she got her name by marrying the “wrong guy.”
Fans of this
series will love this book, and as a fall release, it is perfectly
timed for a Halloween read. While adult cozy mystery lovers will
enjoy this book immensely, with so many teens in the story you can’t
go wrong sharing this book with a teen reader, boy or girl. I rate
this book at four and a half pumpkins. Enjoy!
Reviews of other titles in this series
The
Diva Runs Out of Thyme #1
The
Diva Haunts the House #5
The
Diva Digs up the Dirt #6
The
Diva Frosts a Cupcake #7
The
Diva Steals a Chocolate Kiss #9
The
Diva Serves High Tea #10 |